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CCASLA continues to monitor the Landscape Architects Technical Committee (LATC) Sunset Review Process. The latest information on the review process includes passage of SB543 (Price) legislation that includes extension of the LATC sunset date for another four years to January 1, 2016. This Bill also deals with other boards and commissions extension dates, including the California Board of Architects and the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists. Following action by the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee which included public input by CCASLA representatives, the Bill proceeded out of the Committee to the full Senate where it was passed nearly unanimously. The Bill has subsequently been sent to the Assembly for action. CCASLA will continue to monitor progress of the Bill and will request any actions needed from licensees in support of the Bill passage and signature by the Governor, should it become necessary. CCASLA has submitted several letters of support on behalf of all California licensees during this process and will continue to do so until final passage. For further information, contact your chapter's representatives to CCASLA or LATC at http://www.latc.ca.gov/. -- Jon Wreschinsky, CCASLA Delegate – San Diego Chapter |
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Evaluating California’s Boards and Commissions Some of these boards are highly paid, earning salaries of more than $100,000 a year for attending a monthly meeting. Other boards and commissions are composed of appointed volunteer members who may only earn travel reimbursements. These boards and commissions often have permanent staff, pay rent, and/or create other costs for the State, which is usually paid by annual license renewal fees associated with a particular board or commission. The goal of the State is to have boards, commissions and committees comprised of “experts” who would supposedly apply their expertise in a neutral fashion, influenced only by what worked and what was right to protect the State consumers as the theory went. Licensing boards, commissions or committees are established to protect the health, safety and welfare of the State's consumers from questionable practitioners. These boards, commissions or committees were not established to promote a profession, but to regulate it. All boards, commissions and committees within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) are subject to a regular sunset review by legislation approved in the early 1990s. The State has formed the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee to analyze the need for boards, commissions and committees under its mandate. The goal is to ensure that boards, commissions and committees perform their function of protecting the State consumers and spend their funds efficiently, effectively and in the public’s interest. Fulltime staff supports the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee. The review effort involves over a hundred State employees from the staff of the various boards, commissions and committees being reviewed each year. Renewal fees fund most of these employees associated with licensing programs. The Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee (Committee) will resume “Sunset Review” and Sunset Review hearings for the following boards and committees in 2011. The first hearing is tentatively schedule for the month of March 2011 by the State Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development. Athletic Commission The previous Chair of the Committee requested a report on each regulatory body be submitted to the Committee by October 1, 2010. The first part of the report consisted of an overview of the board or committee’s current regulatory program, and provided pre-formatted tables and charts to the Committee. The second part of the report included a response by each board or committee to particular issues that were raised by the Committee during the prior reviews. The LATC has done a great job in preparing the draft report, which the CC/ASLA Board has reviewed on behalf of our profession. Committee staff will be responsible for investigating and analyzing information provided by each board or committee, and then preparing a background report identifying issues to be addressed by the board or committee, and when possible, preliminary recommendations regarding the continuation of a board or committee for its capacity to oversee its profession. Public hearings in March 2011 by the Committee will provide a forum for discussing additional questions and concerns regarding a board, commission or committee. The results of the public hearings will then be forwarded to the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) for its review and recommendations. DCA will present its recommendations to the Committee for consideration in early spring of 2011. The Committee will then meet and vote upon recommendations, which will be forward to the full Senate and Assembly as a bill. If both houses approve the bill, then it would be forwarded to the Governor for his signature. If the final outcome does not support the continuance of LATC as the oversight body for the profession of Landscape Architects, then this function would revert back to the Department of Consumer Affairs, as it did when the Board of Landscape Architects was terminated in 1996. The profession itself should not be in question, just the current oversight body, which regulates the profession. The CC/ASLA Board and your Chapter Board will keep you informed as the Sunset procedure moves forward in the review process. Letters from your clients supporting the profession of landscape architecture and the LATC would be helpful. Please forward such letters to the CC-ASLA Board at: P.O. Box 81521, San Diego, CA 92138-1521 or e-mail to ccasla@sbcglobal.net. Back to Top History of California Licensure Back to Top What Can I do Regarding Sunset Review Please contact your local State Assemblyperson and State Senator to inform them that under State’s Business and Profession Code 5600 and California Code of Regulation: Title 16, Division 26 defines a Landscape Architect as a person who holds a license to practice landscape architecture from the State in performing or offering professional design services for the purpose of landscape preservation, development and enhancement, such as consultation, investigation, reconnaissance, research, planning, design, preparation of drawings, construction documents and specification, costs estimates and responsible construction observation. Landscape preservation, development, and enhancement is the dominant purpose of services provided by Landscape Architects. Implementation of the purpose includes: the preservation and aesthetic and functional enhancements of land uses and natural land features, the location and construction of aesthetically pleasing and functional approaches and settings for structures and roadways, and design for trails and pedestrian walkway systems, plantings, landscape irrigation, landscape lighting, landscape grading and drainage work including erosion control measures and on-site storm water management, and associated landscape structures. Landscape Architects can prepare environmental recommendations, feasibility studies, formulation of graphic and written criteria to govern the planning and design of land construction programs, preparation, review and analysis of master plans for use and development of the land, which includes the location, arrangement and design of such tangible outdoor objects and features that are incidental and necessary to provide public standards of health, safety and welfare. In short, Landscape Architects perform professional work in the planning and design of land for human use and enjoyment. To regulate the profession, the State has formed the Landscape Architects Technical Committee (LATC) under the California Board of Architects. The main role of the LATC is to protect the State consumers in the area of public health, safety and welfare by issuing licenses to competent professionals who have passed the National Landscape Architect Registration Exam and the California Supplemental Exam (CSE). LATC provides a forum to educate both practitioners and the consumers regarding any changes in the design law. LATC also addresses California consumer concerns regarding the practice of landscape architecture. There are three major design professions in California: Civil Engineering, Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Each of the three professions performs different tasks and is regulated by the State. Most architectural design work is reviewed and checked by the local building departments. Civil engineering work associated with subdivision and land development work are typically reviewed and approved by the City or County Engineers. Landscape architectural work is, however, not subject to review by a local public agency in many cases. By having an oversight body such as the LATC, with the authority to suspend or otherwise withhold a license from less than qualified practitioners is a way to ensure a level of competence and quality of care to the public. LATC provides consumers with a forum to express concerns when dealing with Landscape Architects in the enforcement of the profession under State law. In the letters to your local Assembly and Senate representatives, you may remind them that in 2011, the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee will place a bill in both Houses regarding oversight of professions by the State. We hope the recommendation will be a positive one supporting the continuation of LATC oversight on the profession of Landscape Architecture in the State of California. The California Council of ASLA urges you to support the continuation of the LATC. Back to Top
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Final Report from 2009-2010 California Legislative Session |
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The following is the final report from our Legislative Advocate, Terri Thomas of Thomas Advocacy, Inc., located in Sacramento, regarding this past legislative session on California bills that CC-ASLA was following. The final disposition of each bill (dead, chaptered, vetoed, or over-ridded) is indicated next to the bill number. Dead means the bill did not make it out of the legislature. Chaptered means the bill was approved by the legislature and signed by the Governor into law. Vetoed means the bill was approved by the legislature and rejected by the Governor. Over-Ridded means the Legislature rejected the Governor’s veto and approved the bill into law, aka Chaptered. The California State legislators crafted over 3,000 bills this year for consideration. The list below is those bills which CC-ASLA tracked though the review process. CC-ASLA action is noted in bold after the text information on the bill. AB 49 - DEAD - (Feuer [D] ) Water conservation: urban and agricultural water management planning. This bill would require the state to achieve a 20% reduction in urban per capita water use in California by December 31, 2020. The state would be required to make incremental progress towards this goal by reducing per capita water use by at least 10% on or before December 31, 2015. The bill would require each urban retail water supplier to develop urban water use targets and an interim urban water use target. Watch AB 1518 – DEAD – Anderson [R] ) State government: boards, commissions, committees: report. Existing law authorizes the creation of various state boards, commissions, and committees. This bill would require the Department of Finance, on or before July 1, 2011, to send a report to the Chief Clerk of the Assembly and the Secretary of the Senate that identifies every state board, commission, and committee created by statute that the department determines to be inactive, as defined, with respect to the reason for which it was established. Watch AB 1659 – CHAPTERED - Huber [D] ) State government: agency repeals. This bill would create the Joint Sunset Review Committee to identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency in government agencies and to conduct a comprehensive analysis of every "eligible agency," as defined, to determine if the agency is still necessary and cost effective. The bill would require each eligible agency scheduled for repeal to submit a report to the committee containing specified information. The bill would require the committee to take public testimony and evaluate the eligible agency prior to the date the agency is scheduled to be repealed, and would require that an eligible agency be eliminated unless the Legislature enacts a law to extend, consolidate, or reorganize the agency. Watch AB 1774 – DEAD - (Saldana [D] ) Recycled water: state agency landscape irrigation. This bill would state legislative findings and declarations that the use of potable domestic water for the irrigation of landscaping generally is a waste or an unreasonable use of water if recycled water is available for that use. The bill would authorize a public agency, including local public agencies, to require a state agency whose property is located within the jurisdiction of the public agency to use recycled water for landscape irrigation of the property of that state agency. Watch AB 1793 - VETOED - (Saldana [D] ) Common interest developments: artificial turf. This bill would provide that a provision of any of the governing documents of a common interest development would be void and unenforceable if it prohibits, or includes conditions that have the effect of prohibiting, the use of artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass by a Home Owner Association (HOA). Watch AB 1818 –DEAD - (Blumenfield [D] ) Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy: Upper Los Angeles River and Watershed Protection Program. Existing law establishes the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy within the Natural Resources Agency. This bill would establish the Upper Los Angeles River and Watershed Protection Program. The program would be administered by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to address the resource protection, public recreation, water conservation, and water quality goals of the Upper Los Angeles River watershed. Watch AB 1834 – VETOED - Solorio [D] ) Rainwater Capture Act of 2010. This bill would enact the Rainwater Capture Act of 2010, which would authorize a landowner to install, maintain, and operate, on the landowner's property, a rainwater capture system meeting specified requirements. Watch AB 2038 – DEAD - Eng [D] ) Franchise Tax Board: professional or occupational licenses. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, if an individual licensee fails to pay taxes for which a notice of state tax lien has been recorded and sent to a licensee, that the license of a licensee who fails to satisfy the unpaid taxes by a certain date shall be automatically suspended. Watch AB 2130 – CHAPTERED - Huber [D] ) Professions and vocations: sunset review. Existing law establishes the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and, until January 1, 2012, requires the committee to hold public hearings at specified times and to evaluate whether a board or regulatory program has demonstrated a need for its continued existence. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that all existing and proposed state boards be subject to review every 4 years to evaluate and determine whether each has demonstrated a public need for its continued existence, as specified. This bill would abolish the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection. Watch AB 2422 – DEAD – (Berryhill [R] ) Urban water demand management: model water efficient landscape ordinance: scientific panel. This bill would require the Department of Water Resources, on or before July 1, 2011, to convene an expert scientific panel to review, and provide recommendations for, updates to the model water efficient landscape ordinance and proposed rules, regulations, and guidelines relating to urban residential water demand management. Watch AB 2649 – DEAD - Eng [D] ) Franchise Tax Board: professional or occupational licenses. This bill would require those licensing entities to provide to the Franchise Tax Board the name and social security number or federal taxpayer identification number of each individual licensee of that entity. The bill would provide that the license of a licensee who fails to satisfy the unpaid taxes by a certain date shall be automatically suspended. Watch AB 2697 – DEAD - Hagman [R] ) Political Reform Act of 1974: former regulatory board employees. The Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibits a former public official, for a period of one year after leaving his or her office or employment, from representing for compensation an entity making oral or written communication with the official's former political organization or agency for the purposes of influencing statutory or regulatory action. This bill would prohibit a member of a state regulatory board, for a period of one year after leaving his or her position, from accepting employment with an entity that was regulated by the regulatory board. Watch AB 2701 – VETOED - Eng [D] ) State Historical Building Code: playgrounds. The State Historical Building Code authorizes the State Historical Building Safety Board to write regulations, and have consultation, review, and appellate functions for code and regulation issues relating to qualified historic buildings, structures, and properties. Existing law requires the replacement of equipment or modification of components inside existing playgrounds to conform to the playground-related standards set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials and the playground-related guidelines set forth by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. This bill would place qualified playgrounds and playground sites with historical or cultural significance under the exclusive jurisdiction of the State Historical Building Code. Watch AB 2707 – DEAD - (Berryhill [R] ) Department of Consumer Affairs: regulatory boards. Existing law creates various regulatory boards, as defined, within the Department of Consumer Affairs. This bill would make a nonsubstantive, technical change to that provision. (The bill listed 36 Boards and Committees including LATC, but did not provide text regarding the proposed nonsubstantive change.) Watch HR 27 – ADOPTED - ( Perez ) Relative to the Committee on Business and Professions. Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That, SB 189 – CHAPTERED – Lowenthal [D] ) Mechanics liens. The California Constitution provides that mechanics, persons furnishing materials, artisans, and laborers of every trade class cam place a lien upon the property upon which they have bestowed labor or furnished material for the value of the labor done and material furnished. The Design Professional Liens are included within this bill, which has been modified to include California Licensed Landscape Architects to the list of design professionals. This permits a California Licensed Landscape Architects to place a lien on client own property for lack of payment of design fees, for work constructed. Support SB 356 – DEAD – (Wright [D] ) Regulations: small businesses. The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. An agency that is considering adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation is authorized to consult with interested persons before initiating regulatory action, and requires an agency to do so when the regulation involves complex or numerous proposals. This bill would require the agency, if it does not, or is unable to, consult with these parties to inform in writing the Office of Small Business Advocate and the Department of Finance of its decision and the reasons for not consulting the impacted businesses. Support SB 972 – CHAPTERED – (Wolk [D] ) Indemnity: design professionals. This bill would provide, with respect to contracts and amendments to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2011, with a public agency for design professional services, that all provisions, clauses, covenants, and agreements contained in, collateral to, or affecting these contracts or amendments to contracts that purport to require the design professional to defend the public agency under an indemnity agreement, including the duty and the cost to defend, are unenforceable, except for claims that arise out of, pertain to, or relate to the negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct of the design professional. Support SB 1171 – DEAD - (Negrete McLeod [D] ) Regulatory boards: operations. This bill would abolish the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and would authorize the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature to carry out its duties. Watch SB 1173 – VETOED - (Wolk [D] ) Recycled water. The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act establishes a statewide program for the control of the quality of all the waters in the state. This bill would define rainwater and raw water per the Act. Watch SB 1234 – DEAD - (Kehoe [D] ) Water: unreasonable use. Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board to take appropriate actions to prevent the waste, unreasonable use, unreasonable method of use, or unreasonable method of diversion of water. This bill would require the board, by January 1, 2012, to adopt regulations to identify unreasonable uses of water during various periods of water shortage, as specified, and would set forth related legislative findings and declarations. Watch SBX8 60 – DEAD – (Harman  [R] ) Legislative procedure: committee referrals: Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer or Business Protection. The California Constitution authorizes each house of the Legislature to provide for the selection of committees necessary for the conduct of its business, including committees to ascertain facts and make recommendations to the Legislature on a subject within the scope of legislative control. This bill would enact the Jobs Protection Act. The bill would rename the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection as the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer or Business Protection, and would create a new legislative procedure with regard to any bill, as defined, that may have a statewide economic impact affecting business. Watch
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Report from Jon Wresnschinsky, San Diego Chapter CCASLA Representative Legislative Update |
Besides SB543, the CCASLA Board continues to remain very active in tracking other key bills in the current legislative session in Sacramento. Letters of support have been submitted for the following pieces of legislation: SB644 (Hancock)/AB587 (Gordon), Public works: volunteers – legislation specifically drafted to extend the ability of various volunteer organizations to provide free labor in order to help preserve both the natural and cultural resources throughout California. Many of these resources would otherwise fall into a state of further deterioration given that current governmental funding cannot support such actions. CCASLA's support of these bills is directly tied to protecting landscape architects from certain liability issues that could be associated with deterioration of built works and deferred maintenance. SB 190 (Lowenthal), Mechanics Liens/SB 424 (Rubio), Mechanics Liens: Design Professional – Legislation that includes amendments to the existing Mechanics Lien Laws to include the profession of landscape architecture is being actively supported by CCASLA. These bills will address practitioner's rights to pursue legal recourse for non-payment of design fees among other actions. SB 67 (Price), Public Contracts: Small Business Participation – Will amend existing law to establish goals for the participation of small businesses in public procurement contracts for the provision of goods, services, information technology and for the construction of state facilities and will provide for small business preferences in the award of these contracts, give special consideration and special assistance to small businesses, and, whenever possible, make awards to small businesses. This legislation will benefit landscape architects in their ability to pursue such work both as prime contractors and sub-contractors. SB 264 (Correa), Recreational Activities – Skate Parks – CCASLA has submitted a letter of support for this bill which will extend indefinitely recognition of skateboarding at a public skateboard park as a hazardous recreational activity. In doing so, it will help limit the liability of landscape architects who might be involved in the design and construction of such facilities. AB 275 (Solorio), Rainwater Capture Act of 2011; AB 685 (Eng), State Water Policy; AB 745, California Water Plan; AB 849 (Gatto), Water: Use Efficiency – CCASLA will continue to follow these bills, each which pertains in some manner to the use of water in the landscape and advocate for the interests of landscape architects. This advocacy includes recent actions where on May, 18, CCASLA monitored and provided public comment at a meeting of the Assembly Select Committee on Regional Approaches to Addressing the State Water Crisis. The meeting focused on several issues including local implementation of the Model Landscape Water Ordinance, the advent of rainwater capture systems and other regional innovations in landscape water use. CCASLA will be following up this meeting with the Chairman of the Committee, the Hon. Jose Solorio (Dem-69) who has expressed an interest in learning more about our profession and the contributions landscape architects are making on a daily basis to help solve the State's water issues. For further information on these and other legislative issues, please feel free to contact me jswreschinsky (at) pacbell.net, 619-916-6956 or ASLA-NCC representatives to CCASLA, Ann Baker and Dave Mitchell. -- Jon Wreschinsky, CCASLA Delegate – San Diego Chapter
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| Back to Top From ASLA Headquarters |
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Today, stormwater runoff is a serious threat to the nation's waterways and public health, costing Americans hundreds of millions of dollars each year in increased drinking water treatment costs. Fortunately, Congress is recognizing that green infrastructure provides an effective, cost-efficient and environmentally sound approach to managing stormwater and reducing combined sewer overflow pollution. Contact your legislators today and urge them to support this important legislation that will help their communities address critical water infrastructure needs! Thank you! On March 2, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Hon. ASLA (OR), introduced HR 4722, The Active Community Transportation Act of 2010, which directs the Secretary of
Transportation to provide matching grant funding to communities for the
construction of safe and convenient bicycling and pedestrian networks. The bill
prioritizes projects in communities that would facilitate modal shifts and
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