Little Hoover Commission Chair Pedro Nava will speak at Special Districts Legislative Days on Tuesday, May 16. Chair Nava is expected to speak to climate adaptation challenges facing special districts, as well as Commission studies now underway related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and organic waste recycling.
Little Hoover Commission Chair Pedro Nava
In 2016-2017, Chair Nava and the Little Hoover Commission oversaw a study of special districts in which CSDA actively engaged and provided several rounds of in-person and written testimony. That report, entitled, Special Districts: Improving Oversight & Transparency | Little Hoover Commission (ca.gov), included five recommendations related to climate change adaptation (Recommendations 16-19).
In its CEQA study, the Commission is surveying the debate that surrounds CEQA, examining CEQA’s role in protecting the environment, and evaluating the nature and extent of CEQA’s impact on housing, land use, and other issues. The Commission is also exploring the present state of the CEQA process and considering whether changes to CEQA or the CEQA process may be merited—and how to best ensure those changes, if needed, preserve the environmental protections and public accountability that the law affords.
By 2025, the State of California aims to reduce organic waste by 75 percent and rescue at least 20 percent of edible food that is thrown out. Yet in Fall 2020, CalRecycle reported that the state does not have the organics recycling infrastructure necessary to fully support compliance with the new law. The Little Hoover Commission’s organic waste recycling study is assessing how California’s organics recycling law is implemented, examining what impact it has on the state’s environmental goals, and providing recommendations to the Governor and Legislature for any changes.
Reelected to eight consecutive terms as chair in March 2021, Pedro Nava is a former State Assemblymember from 2004 to 2010. A government relations advisor and former civil litigator, deputy district attorney, and member of the California Coastal Commission, Nava was appointed to the Commission by Assembly Speaker Emeritus John Pérez in April 2013 and reappointed by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in January 2017 and again in 2021.
Special Districts Legislative Days will occur May 16-17 at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento. To learn more and register, visit Home - Special Districts Legislative Days (csda.net).
If you would like more information about the Little Hoover Commission’s CEQA study, please contact Tristan Stein at Tristan.Stein@lhc.ca.gov. If you would like more information about the organic waste recycling study, please contact Ethan Rarick at Ethan.Rarick@lhc.ca.gov. To be notified electronically of meetings, events, or when the review is complete, please subscribe to Little Hoover Commission updates: https://bit.ly/LittleHooverNews.
The Little Hoover Commission, formally known as the Milton Marks "Little Hoover" Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, is an independent state oversight agency created in 1962. The Commission's mission is to investigate state government operations and policy, and – through reports and legislative proposals – make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature to promote economy, efficiency and improved service in state operations. In addition, the Commission has a statutory obligation to review and make recommendations on all proposed government reorganization plans.
The Commission has broad and independent authority to evaluate the structure, organization, operation and function of every department, agency and executive branch of state government, along with the policies and methods for appropriating and administering funds. Unlike fiscal or performance audits, the Commission’s studies look beyond whether programs comply with existing statutes and regulations. They instead explore how programs can and should function today and in the future.
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