California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Brown Drops Bill for Regional Boards

In the face of stiff opposition from local government, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown said he is dropping his regional government bill this year. The San Francisco Democrat said he will reintroduce a modified bill when the new legislative session convenes in January. “The greatest challenge facing California is to forge the will and consensus to meet the demands of our growing population,” Brown said. “Local government is a necessary place to start.” His bill would have created regional agencies in the seven largest areas of the state to handle land use planning, infrastructure planning and development, and siting of undesirable things such as dumps. It would have abolished 20 air pollution control districts, 27 regional transportation planning agencies, seven regional water quality control boards and 30 local agency formation commissions.