Business News
SACRAMENTO – The state Board of Equalization (BOE) has received the Bronze Award in the Governor's State Agency Recognition Awards (SARA) for 2009.
The SARA award honors California departments and employees for their best practices, creativity and outstanding achievements to advance the State's Small Business (SB) and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) programs.
The award was discussed by the board at Thursday's public meeting in Sacramento.
The BOE was recognized for its hard work toward the State's SB/DVBE goals. In addition to increasing business with SB/DVBEs whenever possible, the BOE has also endeavored to identify SB/DVBE vendors within leveraged procurement agreements.
The BOE increased its SB participation by 16.6 percent and its DVBE participation by 4.48 percent.
The Governor's Executive Order S-09-06 requires state agencies to award at least 25 percent of their annual contracting dollars to SBs and at least 3 percent to be awarded to certified DVBEs in order to further participation in state contracting, promote competition, and encourage greater economic opportunity.
BOE achieved a 36 percent SB and 8 percent DVBE participation level in their annual contracting. Every year state agencies must report to the governor and the legislature their total contracting participation.
Chairwoman Betty T. Yee was elected to her post in November 2006. Her district includes many of California’s coastal counties, from Del Norte to Santa Barbara, and includes the entire San Francisco Bay Area.
The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board.
The BOE collects more than $53 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes.
For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov .
For more information on the SARA visit www.pd.dgs.ca.gov/smbus/SARA2009.htm .
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – The final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) project has been certified and a notice of determination filed with the State Office of Planning and Research.
The notice and other EIR documents may be viewed by visiting www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/envimpactrpt.html .
When certifying the EIR, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) issued a clarification that aerial treatment with moth pheromones is not a management tool in the program.
Additionally, CDFA concurs with the USDA’s recent announcement that the program has shifted from eradication to suppression and control.
The EIR determined that it was unlikely that the approaches in the LBAM program would cause human harm or environmental damage, and found that greater potential for human and environmental harm would come from widespread pesticide use by private parties and organizations in the absence of an LBAM program.
Groups opposed to the spraying, including Stop the Spray East Bay and Mothers of Marin Against Spray disputed the EIR's findings and pointed to nine significant defects in the document, which they outlined in a letter sent earlier this month to US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and CDFA Secretary AG Kawamura.
In addition, the groups asked for an end to the multi-year, multimillion-dollar program.
The approaches evaluated include the use of moth pheromone, organically-approved materials, and sterile moths.
The only two treatment methods being considered currently are the placement of pheromone twist ties on trees and plants, and the release of sterile moths.
The LBAM program will now move forward to evaluate treatment options.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
How to resolve AdBlock issue?