Transcript Highlights:

• I'm a licensed professional engineer, and I'm the director of Austin Water.
• I'm a licensed professional engineer, and I'm the director of Austin Water.
• Regulations allow the possibility of new wastewater discharge permits, which could introduce pollutants
• HB 2128 requires Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service to conduct a study to evaluate the disparities
• Relating to the restriction on permits authorizing direct discharge of waste or pollutants into water

Committee: Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Summary: The committee met with limited attendance at first, then took up a series of water, agriculture, and rural affairs measures. HB 3898 would allow the Texas Water Development Board to provide financial assistance for brackish water desalination projects in certain border counties and related nonprofit suppliers even if the projects are not in the state water plan. Supporters said it is needed to address severe water shortages in places like Webb County and to support future planning; opponents, including the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts, argued it bypasses the regional and state water planning process. The bill was left pending after testimony. The committee also heard HB 5339, which would create a higher-education grant program for regenerative agriculture research. A rancher testified that regenerative methods improved soil health, water retention, and farm viability, while a senator noted existing university research but said better coordination could help. Public testimony was closed and the bill was left pending. Members then heard HB 1523, a temporary prohibition on TCEQ issuing Austin a Class 5 injection well permit for an aquifer storage and recovery project in Bastrop and Lee counties until December 2027. Local officials from Bastrop supported the pause, citing unanswered questions about water treatment, recovery rates, and impacts on the aquifer, while Austin Water opposed the substitute, saying the project is central to its long-term water plan and that stakeholder talks were already underway. TCEQ explained its ASR permitting process and said public participation is possible but not always used in the current authorization process. The bill was left pending. HB 5659, concerning the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District and requiring majority city-council approval before certain water sales or interbasin transfers, drew testimony from district officials who said the change could interfere with existing contracts and district authority, but the chair emphasized the need for local buy-in and said the stakeholders had reached a workable compromise; testimony was closed and the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HB 1690, which would expand notice requirements for groundwater export permits so neighboring landowners and potentially affected aquifer areas are informed by certified mail and publication. The sponsor tied the bill to impacts from the Vista Ridge project, and no one testified against it; it was left pending. HB 3333 would prohibit TCEQ from issuing new wastewater discharge permits directly into the Devils River in Val Verde County. The sponsor and a conservation witness said the bill protects one of Texas’s most pristine rivers and reflects a local stakeholder agreement, while TCEQ said it can ensure water quality but acknowledged the river’s unique sensitivity; the bill was left pending. The committee also heard HCR 108 urging continuation of the U.S.-Mexico tomato suspension agreement, with supporters warning of major Texas job and consumer-price impacts if it ends, and HCR 76 urging federal action on imported shrimp, citing public health and industry concerns; both were left pending. Additional measures heard and left pending included HB 4158 on compensation for Texana Groundwater Conservation District directors, HB 654 creating a dismissal path for certain first-time deer hunting violations after self-reporting and hunter education, HB 4530 requiring Texas Water Development Board review of groundwater rights placed in the Texas Water Trust, HB 2128 directing a study of rural versus urban firefighting and rescue disparities, and HB 278 requiring groundwater districts and management areas to track progress toward desired future conditions over shorter intervals. On HB 278, witnesses split over whether the bill’s interim tracking would improve accountability or create new triggers that could be used against local districts, but no final vote was taken and the bill was left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• what would work out is multiple major companies have new generation hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen engines
• what would work out is multiple major companies have new generation hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen engines
• :14:22.720><c> jobs</c> ecosystem and jobs clean energy jobs ecosystem and jobs clean energy jobs engine
• </c> engine. Lost opportunity. engine. Lost opportunity.
• </c> the additional air pollution we'll have. the additional air pollution we'll have.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><01:54:08.840><c> review</c> third parties to do engineering review third parties to do engineering
• </c> 50-page rule that imposes new engineered 50-page rule that imposes new engineered restrictions<01
• Stormwater pollution is the number one source of water pollution in the state of New Hampshire.
• Stormwater pollution is the number one source of water pollution in the state of New Hampshire.
• We need housing dramatically. engineering firm that talking about engineering firm that talking about

Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources

Transcript Highlights:

• So it's as much as important as engineering is to transportation: how environmental justice can inform
• of environmental justice is to improve outcomes for those communities that are overburdened with pollution
• , that have, in abundance, industrial sources of pollution or high-traffic corridors nearby, all of which
• The presence of, you know, too much air pollution in a community—that none of that has a racial component
• This is one of the main hazards continuing to threaten Washington: wildfires and smoke pollution.

Summary: The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held a work session on HEAL Act implementation, beginning with an orientation from Environmental Justice Council member David Mendoza. He described the law’s purpose as integrating environmental justice into agency decision-making, community engagement, tribal consultation, strategic planning, and environmental justice assessments, with the goal of reducing environmental health disparities and improving accountability to communities and tribes. He also discussed the council’s role, the interagency work group, challenges with limited volunteer and agency capacity, and concerns about inconsistent assessment formats and future funding pressures. Committee members asked about council composition, including the balance of tribal, community, business, and other representation, whether the HEAL Act increases permitting time or costs, how “overburdened” and “vulnerable” populations are defined, and whether the council should be refreshed or audited. Mendoza said the statute is not limited to racial categories and can include rural and low-income communities, that the council has not quantified permitting delays, and that there is no formal audit requirement, though the council is discussing how to improve its work. Members also raised questions about the relationship between the Environmental Justice Council and the Office of Equity, with Mendoza saying the bodies are complementary but should coordinate more closely. The Department of Agriculture then reported on its HEAL Act work. Director of Equity and Environmental Justice Nicole Johnson said WSDA conducts environmental justice assessments for significant actions, applies an equity lens to licensing, funding, rulemaking, and strategic planning, and has completed 11 EJ assessments to date. She highlighted pesticide regulation, animal health, and weights-and-measures work as examples of environmental and economic justice, and said the department recently hired a full-time tribal consultant and has only 1.5 FTE supporting HEAL implementation. Members asked whether WSDA’s assessments apply to its role on boards such as the Forest Practices Board; Johnson said the department’s current understanding is that assessments are conducted on agency work. The Department of Natural Resources then presented on its HEAL Act implementation, focusing on strategic planning, community engagement, tribal consultation, environmental justice assessments, and equitable funding. DNR officials said environmental justice is being embedded in the agency’s 2025-2029 strategic plan, in its Community Access and Impact Plan, and in its advisory committee and board representation efforts. They reported conducting EJ assessments for sustainable harvest calculations, agency request legislation, and a prescribed burn manager certificate program, and said DNR has invested about $130 million in overburdened communities and vulnerable populations in fiscal year 2025 through wildfire resilience, youth education, and urban forestry programs. Committee members pressed DNR on how it identifies impacted communities, why landowners were not more visible in the process, how agency-request legislation is being assessed, and whether assessments are required for actions taken through other boards and commissions. DNR said its current interpretation is that assessments apply to internal agency actions, that some notices may appear on OFM’s notices page rather than the completed-assessments dashboard, and that it would follow up on specific questions about its posted assessments and process.

Transcript Highlights:

• Residents live with a constant risk of toxic emissions, heavy metal pollution, and fires that release
• You'll have residues in the engines, residue in the transmission, what have you.
• I believe it's important to pass now rather than waiting until pollution gets worse to take action.
• Those are used for our most polluted water water water.
• Those are used for our most polluted waterways—the waterways that are too polluted to swim, fish, or

Summary: The committee heard SB 404 on metal shredding facilities, SB 601 on water quality protections after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett decision, SB 682 on phasing out PFOS in certain consumer products, and later SB 646 on prenatal vitamins and toxic metal contamination. SB 561 had been pulled from the hearing. In each of the measures, the authors and supporters emphasized environmental and public health protections, while opponents raised concerns about overregulation, implementation, and unintended economic impacts. The committee also spent time on the policy details of each bill, including how smaller operators would be treated under SB 404, how “nexus waters” would be defined under SB 601, and whether alternatives and testing standards were adequate under SB 682 and SB 646. For SB 404, Senator Caballero said the bill would create a permitting and enforcement framework for metal shredding facilities, with operational standards for fire prevention, stormwater, and releases of shredder residue, while supporters argued it would bring needed certainty to a critical recycling industry. Opponents, including small recyclers and community/environmental advocates, said the bill was either too broad or not strong enough, with some warning it would burden smaller facilities and others arguing it would fail to protect overburdened communities. The committee approved SB 404 on a due-pass-as-amended motion to Appropriations, with recorded support from the chair and some members and opposition from others. SB 601 sought to restore state-level protections for waters that lost federal Clean Water Act coverage after Sackett, using a “nexus waters” framework and revised enforcement provisions after amendments removed the private right of action. Supporters said California needed to preserve protections for seasonal streams and wetlands and avoid backsliding, while opponents from business, agriculture, water districts, and local governments argued the definition remained too broad and could create uncertainty, costs, and unintended consequences. The committee also approved SB 601 on a due-pass motion to Appropriations, again with split votes. SB 682, which the committee also advanced, would phase out intentionally added PFOS in six product categories, including cleaning products, cookware, dental floss, ski wax, food packaging, and juvenile products, with an amendment delaying cookware implementation until 2030. Supporters framed it as a source-control measure to reduce PFAS contamination and lower long-term water treatment costs, while manufacturers and cookware interests argued the bill was overbroad, lacked workable testing standards, and could push consumers and businesses toward uncertain alternatives. The committee chair recommended an aye vote, and the measure passed to Appropriations. SB 646 was then introduced on prenatal vitamins, with supporters saying it would require testing and disclosure of heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury, while the opposition said disclosure must be handled carefully so as not to confuse consumers or undermine confidence in prenatal supplements.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> environment from forms of pollution environment from forms of pollution other<00:42:40.240><c> than
• can also result in water pollution can also result in water pollution<00:45:36.040><c> so</c><00:45:
• </c><00:45:53.559><c> as</c> resources they do um soil pollution as resources they do um soil pollution
• </c> to deal with the problem of pollution to deal with the problem of pollution from<04:17:13.760><c
• <04:38:38.719><c> and</c><04:38:38.879><c> permitting</c> engineering and permitting engineering and

Summary: The Environment and Agriculture Committee held an introductory orientation for members, many of whom were new or newly assigned to the committee. Leadership emphasized that the committee is intended to operate in a nonpartisan, collaborative way, and members introduced themselves and described their backgrounds in farming, gardening, food service, environmental work, water and waste issues, veterinary work, and related fields. Several members noted personal ties to homesteading, livestock, orcharding, food security, landfill concerns, and animal welfare, while others said they were eager to learn the committee’s work. The chair then reviewed committee procedures and expectations. Members were told the committee would generally meet on Tuesdays, with hearings starting around 10 a.m. and often running until about 4:30 p.m., and that absences, substitutes for executive sessions, and email communications would be handled through House rules and the committee’s email system. The chair also covered decorum rules for live-streamed meetings, including professional dress, limiting food and drink at the table, and giving full attention to witnesses. Members were reminded that legislative emails are subject to public records laws and that the committee may soon transition to a new email domain. The chair also explained logistics such as bill folders, committee room storage, and emergency procedures for evacuation or shelter-in-place. No bills were debated or voted on in this meeting, but the chair noted that the committee already had roughly two dozen bills pending, including animal welfare, landfill, policy, and cat-and-dog related measures. Members were told to expect a broad mix of topics beyond agriculture, including solid waste and animal-related legislation.

Transcript Highlights:

• know, under the provisions number two it says that it continues to declare science, technology, engineering
• , mathematics, and workforce... ...It continues to declare science, technology, engineering, mathematics
• residential solar energy devices, for renewable energy production, residential solar energy devices, pollution
• When we’re talking about renewable energy or residential, not residential, but pollution control equipment
• When we’re talking about renewable energy or residential, not residential, but pollution control equipment

Transcript Highlights:

• that would be provided, there are extra services and cottage industries that would come about from engineering
• The negative externalities like air pollution and climate and road deaths.
• The negative externalities like air pollution and climate and road deaths.
• The negative externalities like air pollution and climate and road deaths.
• The negative externalities like air pollution and climate and road deaths.

Summary: House Republicans held a Transportation Committee press event to promote several bills they said would make driving cheaper and transportation more innovative. The main measures discussed were House File 3526, which would reduce vehicle tab fees; House File 3513, which would legalize automated driverless vehicles with regulatory guardrails; and a bill to consolidate metro-area bus operations and reduce administrative overhead and subsidies. They also said other transportation-related bills, including a school bus stop-arm clarification and a distracted-driving bill, were scheduled for the House floor on Monday. Representative Patti Anderson argued that Minnesota vehicle registration fees have become unaffordable, citing examples of high costs for newer and older vehicles, and said the state should roll fees back to pre-2023/2024 levels. On automated vehicles, Republicans said the bill had been revised after concerns from committee members, MnDOT, and stakeholders, adding a weight limit to avoid autonomous trucking, accessibility provisions for wheelchair users, a U.S.-based support person requirement, a labor/economic/congestion study, and tighter permitting. They said the bill should advance to the next committee and rejected delaying implementation for further study. On transit, Republicans said the metro has too many separate bus systems and that consolidation would save taxpayer money by cutting redundant service and administrative costs. They cited high per-ride subsidies and claimed combined reserve funds and reduced waste could save tens of millions of dollars. In questions, they defended using general-fund dollars for transportation, said the system benefits all residents, and argued that autonomous vehicles and related industries would create new opportunities even if some driving jobs are displaced. No formal votes were taken in the press event, though the speakers said they expected committee action on the automated-vehicle bill and that other bills would move to the floor or other committees.

Transcript Highlights:

• 26:05.520><c> something's</c><00:26:05.919><c> going</c><00:26:06.000><c> to</c><00:26:06.080><c> pollute
• </c> whether something's going to pollute whether something's going to pollute your<00:26:06.559><c>
• ,</c><00:28:33.919><c> I</c><00:28:34.080><c> mean</c> uh to prevent that pollution, I mean uh to prevent
• that pollution, I mean there<00:28:34.720><c> our</c><00:28:35.039><c> dollar</c><00:28:35.679><c> there
• , um, I spent a lot of time with my wife, um, I spent a lot of time with my wife, the industrial engineer

Transcript Highlights:

• unless the engine is removed.
• These are the oldest and most polluting engines.
• once we replace them with cleaner engines.
• They destroy homes and pollute our air and lungs, releasing smoke, toxins, and greenhouse gases.
• That cuts pollution and creates new opportunities for our rural communities.

Summary: The Assembly convened, established a quorum after a roll call, offered a prayer, observed a moment of silence for John Burton, and then proceeded through a long floor session with numerous procedural motions, committee referrals, and bill actions. Members also suspended rules to allow certain speeches and committee notices, and later recessed for caucuses before resuming business. Several items were moved to the inactive file or held on the file, and one rule-suspension motion to allow chaptering-out amendments on SB 271 and SB 67 passed 54-12. The chamber then took up many Senate bills on third reading, with most measures passing on strong bipartisan votes. Topics included civil rights and enforcement (SB 477), reparations-related administration (SB 518), autism provider licensing parity (SB 402), protections for undocumented students (SB 307), juvenile records access (SB 413), cancer registry funding (SB 717), protections for unhoused service providers (SB 634), EV charging payments (SB 533), tribal gaming compacts (SB 864), locomotive emissions (SB 30), battery storage safety (SB 283), Jack London Square land use (SB 304), campus enrollment planning (SB 486), vehicle-related cleanup (SB 586), public official roster updates (SB 482), threats against sensitive locations (SB 19), pregnancy as a qualifying event for insurance (SB 257), port emissions planning (SB 298), rural telehealth for farmworkers (SB 338), habitat conservation funding (SB 427), public defender removal standards (SB 485), privacy protections for legally protected health care (SB 497), Medi-Cal access standards (SB 530), chosen-family paid leave (SB 590), charter school loan fund reserves (SB 631), wildfire property tax relief (SB 663), maternity care access in rural areas (SB 669), direct CSU admission (SB 640), indoor heat safety in housing (SB 655), health data exchange governance (SB 660), demographic reporting on appointees (SB 702), solar property tax exclusions (SB 710), tax conformity (SB 711), menstrual product contaminant disclosure (SB 754), counterfeit lighter safety (SB 793), and price gouging after disasters (SB 36). Vote totals were generally high, with a few measures drawing notable opposition, including SB 580, SB 660, SB 610, SB 485, SB 41, and AB 1340. The Assembly also concurred in Senate amendments to AB 671, a restaurant permitting bill, and then took up AB 1340, a major gig-worker labor bill. Supporters described it as a historic expansion of collective bargaining rights for rideshare drivers, while opponents argued it would raise consumer costs and mainly benefit unions and political interests. The transcript ends during debate on AB 1340, before the final vote is recorded.

Transcript Highlights:

• My career was as a regional director for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
• Trails both take up and chop habitat and produce dust, noise, and erode trails and pollute streets and
• </c><00:08:01.919><c> streets</c><00:08:02.319><c> and</c> and erode trails and pollute streets and and
• erode trails and pollute streets and lakes.<00:08:03.199><c> Thank</c><00:08:03.360><c> you</c><00:08
• ,</c> Service, the US Army Corps of Engineers, Service, the US Army Corps of Engineers, tribal<00:21:

Summary: The committee heard House File 1012, as amended by the A1 amendment, and the author moved the bill to be laid over for possible inclusion in a future bill. The amendment, adopted on a voice vote, changed the timing for public input in trail planning, removed language on decommissioning trails, and combined the measure with another ATV-fee bill. The author said the bill would unify ATV trail signage policy statewide, align statute with DNR best practices, and not affect the forest trail inventory, existing ATV-accessible miles, or hunting exemptions. Testimony was sharply divided. Supporters, including representatives of the Minnesota Public Lands Coalition, tribal officials from the Max Band and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, a retired DNR conservation officer, a retired wildlife manager, and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, argued the bill would better protect wetlands, wildlife habitat, and culturally significant areas, improve transparency and tribal consultation, and make trail planning and enforcement more workable. The EQB said the amended bill’s rulemaking timeline was more workable, and the DNR described its existing multi-step trail review and consultation process. Opponents, including ATV Minnesota, county commissioners from northern counties, and a representative of the Minnesota Trappers Association, argued the bill would burden or restrict existing trail systems, increase costs, and threaten tourism and local economies. They said current trail development already involves DNR and local review, and that the bill could reduce access for riders, trappers, and other users. In member questions, the author and a Minnesota Association of Townships representative said the bill was intended to codify DNR best practices and bring local governments into the process earlier, while confirming that hunting exemptions were not removed.

Transcript Highlights:

• outreach, and also components of our consent decrees with the federal government and with the Air Pollution
• outreach, and also components of our consent decrees with the federal government and with the Air Pollution
• to maintain our ability to recruit and retain talented individuals, whether they're scientists, engineers
• to maintain our ability to recruit and retain talented individuals, whether they're scientists, engineers
• Individuals, whether they're scientists, engineers, lawyers, biologists, or maintenance folks, we have

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 387, which would amend MSD governance and spending rules in Louisville. The sponsor said the bill was intended to add oversight and accountability in response to large MSD rate increases, though the original rate-approval provision had been removed because of concerns about contracts and bond ratings in Oldham and Bullitt counties. MSD Executive Director Tony Parrott testified that MSD is a public utility serving more than 800,000 people through wastewater, stormwater, and flood protection services, and argued that most rate pressure comes from federal and state mandates tied to a consent decree and other orders. He said MSD already provides annual notice and bond approvals through Metro Council, offers customer assistance programs, and needs flexibility for advertising, public notices, recruitment, and compliance. Members discussed stormwater funding, aging infrastructure, flood control, and the bill’s limits on advertising and other expenditures. The committee substitute was adopted and the bill passed on a roll call vote. The committee then considered House Concurrent Resolution 22, as substituted, which expressed support for exploring nuclear energy and included language noting Kentucky’s ability to use nuclear waste, uranium tailings, and spent fuel in ways described by the sponsor as cleaner. Supporters said Kentucky faces an energy shortage and that nuclear, including small modular reactors, should be part of the state’s future energy mix. Some members said they would support the resolution but wanted a feasibility study or noted that it does not carry the force of law. The resolution passed. Finally, the committee began House Bill 519, sponsored by Representative Fugate, which would prevent utility companies from passing demolition costs for retired coal-fired or fossil-fuel plants on to ratepayers. The sponsor cited sharply rising electricity bills in eastern Kentucky, the decline in coal employment, and the burden of demolition costs from the Big Sandy plant being placed on customers. He argued that utilities should absorb those costs rather than shifting them to ratepayers. The bill was introduced with a motion and second, and the committee was preparing to hear further questions and testimony when the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> 21st century careers in Tech engineering 21st century careers in Tech engineering and<00:16:04.480
• Rondo needs an economic engine to get started again. We need small businesses.
• land bridge is designed to restore connectivity, enhance mobility, improve safety, and mitigate pollution
• 31:33.760><c> safety</c><00:31:34.480><c> and</c><00:31:34.679><c> mitigate</c><00:31:35.559><c> pollution
• </c> improve safety and mitigate pollution improve safety and mitigate pollution these<00:31:37.000><

Transcript Highlights:

• Army Corps of Engineers funding. In addition, MassDOT and the U.S.
• But I also know that rail has happened at Buzzard’s Bay; we just need an engine.
• We have staff that are literally— their title is snow and ice engineer.
• We have staff that are literally their title is snow and ice engineer.
• So jet traffic and, of course, the pollution. Yes, but it is an expansion plan, and the...

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Transcript Highlights:

• You know, this is the engineers that are assigned to those districts. They're very comprehensive.
• You know, these are the engineers that are assigned to those districts.
• And I'll just use an example that, you know, many years ago, we were fighting a polluter.
• And I'll just use an example that, you know, many years ago, we were fighting a polluter.
• This was a polluter, right? And so now this is what we have.

Bills: SB251 , SB150 , SB154 , SB73 , SB111 , SB172 , SB76 , SB181 , SB235

Committee: Senate Senate Tax, Business & Transportation

Keywords: horse racing, program training, program owning, state licensing, racehorses, regulation, local news, newspaper printing, journalism, media tax credit, print media, digital news, news publisher, newsprint, press operator, printing industry, local journalism, tax credit, income tax, corporate income tax

Transcript Highlights:

• of rehabilitation costs on the aqueduct, where they actually have to get in there and do civil engineering
• The clean air, we have H-FIPP for the medium- and heavy-duty, which are the biggest polluters in the
• But transitioning and providing funding for the medium- and heavy-duty, those are the biggest polluters
• , and many of those truck drivers... ...polluters, and many of those are truck drivers.
• I'm here in support of Assemblymember Berman's proposal to add $30 million to the small off-road engine

Transcript Highlights:

• , well, what would a cap-and-trade like California do in this situation, and then try to reverse engineer
• Above all, that is short-lived climate pollutant reduction, the most urgent thing we can do.
• Chair, members, Brendan Tuig on behalf of the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association.
• And finally, it's all methane, so it's a short-lived climate pollutant, which means we're getting the
• It's because in the world where the cost of cutting pollution is so varied and so hard to figure out,

Summary: The Budget Subcommittee No. 4 hearing focused on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and cap-and-trade reauthorization, with members and panelists discussing how to balance climate goals, affordability, and legislative oversight. The chair emphasized the hearing as a broad review of past GGRF spending and future options, while the LAO outlined how GGRF revenues are generated, how variable they have been, and the tradeoffs between continuous appropriations and annual budget control. Two academic panelists, Dr. Kyle Meng and Danny Cullen Ward, argued that cap-and-trade remains an effective climate policy, but stressed that future revenue will depend heavily on market design, allowance allocation, and price levels. They also raised the idea that GGRF could be used more directly for affordability, especially by lowering electricity costs, and for targeted investments in technologies that the market would not otherwise support. Committee members pressed the panelists on where revenues come from, how much has actually been spent, and whether continuous appropriations reduce oversight. CARB staff said more than $33 billion has been generated to date and a little over $11–12 billion has been spent, with the rest committed or in process, and noted that project timelines can be lengthy. Members also asked about ways to lower electricity rates, reduce wildfire-related utility liabilities, and support electrification. The panelists said transportation fuels are the largest source of GGRF revenue, that industrial emitters receive a smaller share of free allowances, and that reducing wildfire liability and investing in grid-scale batteries could help lower costs and speed decarbonization. Public commenters largely urged the Legislature to preserve or expand continuous appropriations for specific climate programs. Speakers supported funding for nature-based solutions, natural and working lands, urban greening, agricultural climate solutions, waste and composting programs, clean transportation, AB 617 community air protection, clean cars, transit, affordable housing near transit, and dairy digesters. Several groups argued these programs are cost-effective, provide public health and affordability benefits, and should receive dedicated shares of GGRF. Others urged reducing free allowances and using more GGRF revenue to directly lower energy costs for households. No votes were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• 48:34.160><c> and</c><00:48:34.319><c> other</c> engineers, city engineers, and other engineers, city
• That is incredibly polluting.
• That is incredibly polluting.
• That is incredibly polluting.
• That is incredibly polluting.

Transcript Highlights:

• With the commitment to have no resource shuffling, no unbundled RECs, and no increased air pollutants
• This is my understanding, that the use of hydrogen shall result in a net decrease of air pollutants and
• Anthony Crocee, I represent operating engineers, and we're in full support. Good morning.
• I represent the operating engineers and will enforce full support. Thank you very much.

Committee: Senate Environmental Quality

Transcript Highlights:

• The agency will inspect the pits as part of its inspection. to ensure no oil and gas activities pollute
• Many experienced engineers, hydrologists, and other STEM-based staff with valuable expertise have left
• on polluted water for public water for public roads responding to the road expanding area and roads
• We need to be able to retain engineers, engineering specialists, hydrologists, chemists, geoscientists
• This also includes $0.3 million in general revenue and one FTE for a flood control dam safety engineer

Bills: SB1 , SB 1

Committee: Senate Finance