Acterra in Action July 2026

Happy New Year! July kicks off new fiscal years and budgets for most companies, governments and nonprofits.* The first days of July also mark the summer break in California legislative activity after the frenzy of budget season and the voting bills from second house policy into the respective appropriations committees.

We are closely following a wide range of legislative and regulatory proceedings and will be posting targeted actions you can take in future newsletters, across social media and, coming soon, a new page on our website (See our new newsletter archive page).

Stop H.R. 8870 EV Fees,

Fix CalEnviroScreen 5.0

House Transportation and Infrastructure's five-year Surface Transportation Reauthorization, HR 8870 (the so-called "Build America 250 Act") unfairly penalizes electric vehicles, proposing to charge more than double what ICE drivers pay in gas taxes. Budget bills are complicated, but they should not be vindictive. Learn more and take action.

At a recent Palo Alto workshop for Cal EPA’s CalEnviroScreen 5.0 draft, arranged by Senator Josh Becker’s office, we asked why the screening tool for billions of dollars of state disadvantaged community spending does such a bad job of identifying Bay Area communities. We were glad to see the 17 members of the Bay Area Caucus identify this as a problem that needs fixing and resolve to advocate for upgrades in the foundational component indicator formulas and increased geographic granularity. Earlier versions moved from zip codes to the current census track units but there are many pockets still not seen by the model. Considering how detailed a picture voter redistricting software presents, it may be time to use these dark arts for good. Send the Governor a letter.

State Legislation Update

Here is a review of some of the bills we are supporting:

AB 1167 (Berman) prohibiting investor owned utilities from using rate payer funds on lobbying activities, has passed and been signed into law by Governor Newsom.
SB 868 (Wiener) legalizing “plug-in” solar will be heard soon in Assembly Appropriations.
AB 2313 (Berman), the Home Energy Choice Act, would give consumers a choice about gas line replacement. It is currently in Senate Energy.
AB 1857 (Aquair-Curry, Wicks) battles food insecurity by restricting covenants against property used as a grocery store or supermarkets. It will be heard in Senate Appropriations August 3rd.
SB 905 (Becker) directs the Energy Commission to develop metrics and alternative methods for finance of electrical generation, distribution and transmission projects in order to lower consumer energy costs. Sent to Asembly Appropriations.
AB 1761 (Rogers) seeks to Improve energy data and billing transparency by requiring investor owned utilities to essentially show their math in calculating mysterious fees on consumer’s energy bill like the “Power Charge Indifference Adjustment” or PCIA. It allows other entities to “check the work," reduce potential errors, and help protect consumers from sudden rate shocks. It is in Senate Appropriations.
AB 1738 (Carillo, Wicks) gives homeowners and their contractors the option of remote inspections in one or two family dwellings. Currently in Senate Housing.

In “other” news, the forces of opposition to the clean energy agenda (some the former thankers for smoking), have seized upon and twisted the legitimate issues of affordability and cost effectiveness to make false economy arguments to postpone or deny progress, in some instances using an AI chatbot army to intimidate elected officials. Building on last year’s controversial AB 130 multiyear freeze on new building code standards, these groups have taken a disruptive, perscriptive approach to the regulatory process.

Bills we are opposing:

AB 2748 (Quirk-Silva) proposes to exempt affordable housing development from CalGreen 2025 EV charging standards, creating a two-tier system and making upgrades substantially more expensive. Currently in Senate Housing.
AB 2044 (Petrie-Norris) orders the Building Standards Commission to reject submissions that do not have additional cost compliance documentation on top of the agency’s existing cost compliance documentation. Currently in Senate Appropriations.
AB 2057 (DeMaio) seeks to prevent a city or county from prohibiting the use of natural gas in a residential unit. Currently in Assembly Housing.

In Brief

Acterra recently joined coalition efforts ranging from unnecessary and duplicative electrical code for EV chargers (NEC 625.43) to avocado industry deforestation in Mexico.
The Bay Area Air District will be voting on Rule 9-6 for heat pump waters in October.
The upcoming November elections will determine a new governor and House and Senate majorities. There also will be 14 state referendums as well as the critical Connect Bay Area five-county transit funding and other local measures like Menlo Park affordable housing.
Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA)/Farms Together program update: The budget bill signed by Governor Newsom includeds $15 million to keep LFPA running for another year of linking producers and local demand by connecting small, under-resourced farms to food banks in need of fresh produce. Please check out the LFPA/Farms Together Toolkit for more information about sustaining LFPA funding long term.

Best 250 4th Wishes

"At its heart the US has always been an experiment, an argument, and a question with countless answers, which is to say

it was never and will never be one thing…"

-Rebecca Solnit

“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work …

that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,

shall not perish from the earth.”
-Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg

It is sad that on this 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, there is a shrinking sense of national pride, according to a recent Gallop poll. One way to get in and take back the spirit is to follow the 1776 breaking news of the day streams on Bluesky and Twitter/X.

We would like to wish you, your family and friends a Happy July 4th weekend and look forward towards working together to build back that pride in the years ahead.

*Yes, you can help Acterra Bay Area climate action efforts

and get us off to a good start in our new year.

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