📘 Warren–Alquist Act / Energy Budget Notes
Warren–Alquist Act
- Mandates performance standards for buildings.
- Sets an energy budget based on energy consumption per sq ft of floor space.
Calculation Requirements:
- Involves detailed estimates of energy use.
- Typically done using energy modeling software due to complexity.
🛑 Iran Contracting Act (2010)
Codified in Public Contract Code Sections 2200–2208.
Overview
- Prohibits vendors engaged in investment activities in Iran from bidding on or entering contracts with California worth ,000,000 or more.
Key Restrictions:
- Vendors may not:
- Bid or submit proposals
- Enter into or renew contracts if involved in Iran investments
DGS (Department of General Services) Role
- Maintains and updates a list of ineligible vendors
Vendor Certification:
- Must certify they are not on the ineligible list before bidding.
Procurement Types Affected:
- RFPs, IFBs, and non-competitive awardsrds
Buyer Responsibility:
- Must verify vendor eligibility during bid evaluation
Financial Institutions:
- Must certify they don’t finance ineligible vendors
🔥 California Office of the State Fire Marshal
Mission: Protect life and property through fire prevention, education, and enforcement.
Role within CAL FIRE:
Focuses primarily on fire prevention and safety support.
🌲 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
Responsibilities:
- Protects over 31 million acres of private wildlands
- Provides emergency services in 36 of 58 counties
Emergency Response Includes:
- Wildfires
- Structure fires
- Car accidents
- Medical emergencies (e.g. heart attacks, drownings)
- Lost hikers
- Hazardous spills
- Train wrecks, floods, earthquakes
Fire Hazard Severity Zones:
- Required by CA law
- Based on:
- Fuel
- Slope
- Fire weather
- Zones: Medium, High, Very High
💧 California Water Code – Key Agencies & Acts
State Water Board
Structure:
- Five-member board
- Oversees statewide water quality policy
Responsibilities:
- Enforces the Clean Water Act
- Manages 211,000 mi. of rivers and 1.6M acres of water bodies
Regional Water Quality Control Boards
Role: Address region-specific water issues
Variability:
- Local climate, geology, and hydrology affect needs
- Regions: North Coast, Central Coast, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, Southern California Coastal, Desert-Modoc
Duties:
- Set regional standards
- Enforce regionally tailored regulations
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) – 2014
- Requires local agencies to form Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs)
- GSAs must adopt and implement Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs)
- Goal: Protect CA’s groundwater — especially in drought conditions
Porter–Cologne Water Quality Control Act
- Protects surface and groundwater quality
- Empowers CA Water Boards
- Ensures state compliance with federal Clean Water Act
🐸 California Wetlands
Definition:
- Areas saturated long enough to produce anaerobic soils and water-tolerant vegetation
Protection:
- Strengthened in 2019
- Governed by Porter–Cologne Act and additional CA-specific rules
🌊 California Streams
Stats:
- Source of drinking water for 7.3 million people
- 66% are intermittent or ephemeral
Regulation:
- Managed under CA Water Boards
- Focus is shifting from perennial streams to temporary ones as science evolves
Regional Stream Distribution:
- Perennial streams dominate North Coast and Sierra Nevada
- Temporary streams found in arid regions and mountain headwaters
📍 How to Identify Protected Waters On Your Project Site
Environmental Consultants:
- Conduct manual surveys
- May take weeks or months
Transect Protected Waters Map:
- Uses machine learning
- Evaluates precipitation history + current hydro data
- Outputs:
- Likelihood/confidence of protected waters
- Permit checklist for federal, state, local compliance
- Generates reports in minutes
🏛️ California State Parks Office of Historic Preservation
Mission:
Oversee federal and state historic preservation across California.
Leadership:
- Directed by the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO)
- Supported by the State Historical Resources Commission
Responsibilities:
- Identify, register, and evaluate historic properties
- Administer federal tax incentive programs
- Provide architectural review and technical assistance
Local Government Support:
- Help cities & counties:
- Create preservation ordinances
- Develop local districts (e.g., HPOZs, historic conservation zones)
- Fulfill CEQA duties related to historic resources
🛍️ California Main Street Program
- Launched in 1985, transferred to OHP in 2004 via SB 1107
- Aims to revitalize historic downtowns
- No direct funding is allocated for staff or operations
Additional Areas of Assistance
Guidance on:
- Secretary of the Interior’s Standards
- California Historical Building Code
- ADA compliance for historic properties
- Sustainable reuse strategies