The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, businesses, residences, and open space, as specified. This bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from approving a discretionary or ministerial permit or other entitlement that would result in the construction, or an expansion that increases the maximum peak water use, of a data center unless specified conditions are satisfied, including, among others, that the applicant provides the city, county, or city and a county prescribed information. The bill would include in this prescribed information a water scarcity plan and a water supply assessment, each as provided. The bill would also include in the specified conditions that the applicant assumes responsibility for the full cost of any required water conveyance, treatment or storage, or distribution infrastructure improvements necessary to serve the project, as determined by the applicable water supplier. The bill would provide that this provision is severable. By expanding the duties of local agencies to administer these provisions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC, on or before March 31, 2024, to evaluate each customer renewable energy subscription program to determine if the program meets specified goals and to determine whether it would be beneficial to ratepayers to establish a new tariff or program for an electrical corporation, or modify an existing tariff or program administered by an electrical corporation, to establish a community renewable energy program, as provided. If the PUC determines that it would be beneficial to ratepayers to establish the community renewable energy program, existing law requires the PUC, on or before July 1, 2024, to establish the program and require each electrical corporation to participate in the program. This bill would revise the requirements of the customer renewable energy subscription program, as provided, among other things, to promote participation by low-income customers at levels commensurate with the opportunity provided to certain customer-generators, to provide bill credits to subscribers based on the avoided costs of community renewable energy generators, as defined, participating in the program if the community renewable energy generator is determined to be a load-modifying resource, to require all community renewable energy generators participating in the program to have no more than 5 megawatts of generation capacity and no more than 5 megawatts of energy storage, and to limit the total program capacity to 4 gigawatts or end the enrollment of new community renewable energy generators in the program after 7 years, whichever occurs first. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in a public process that includes opportunity for public comment, to evaluate the load-modifying potential of community renewable energy generators, as specified, and, if the evaluation finds that community renewable energy generators have load-modifying potential, to, on or before December 1, 2027, in a public process with opportunity for public comment, identify attributes that the Energy Commission would expect a community renewable energy generator to meet in order to be classified by the PUC as a load-modifying resource, as provided. The bill would require the PUC, within 180 days following the identification of attributes by the Energy Commission, to adopt or modify a customer renewable energy subscription program consistent with the revisions to the program made by the bill, and would require the PUC to establish in the program a mechanism to determine whether community renewable energy generators are load-modifying resources, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, within 24 months of establishing a community renewable energy program and annually thereafter for the duration of the program, to submit to the Legislature a report on the facilities deployed and customers subscribed, as provided. This bill would instead require the PUC, within 24 months of the adoption or modification of a customer renewable energy subscription program and annually thereafter for the duration of the program, to submit to the Legislature a report on the community renewable energy generators participating in the program and customers subscribed. The bill would repeal this requirement on January 1, 2034. Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because a violation of a PUC action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA defines various terms, including "natural and protected lands" for its purposes. This bill would revise the definition of that term to include habitats for protected species identified as candidate, sensitive, or species of special status by state or federal agencies. CEQA exempts from its requirement projects that consist exclusively of a day care center that is not located in a residential area and projects that consist exclusively of an advanced manufacturing facility located on a site zoned exclusively for industrial uses. This bill would additionally exempt projects consisting exclusively of a family day care home, as defined. The bill would, for the exemption for the day care center and family day care home, instead require the projects for those facilities not be located in an area zoned for industrial use or within 3,200 feet of a facility that actively extracts or refines oil or natural gas in order for the exemption to apply. The bill would revise the exemption for advanced manufacturing facility projects to require those projects to be used exclusively for final tier manufacturing, as defined. The bill would require an applicant of an advanced manufacturing project that is exempted from CEQA under the bill's requirement to enter into a bona fide community benefits agreement, as provided, and to comply with certain labor requirements, as provided. The bill would require the lead agency, before determining that an advanced manufacturing project is exempt from CEQA, to hold at least one public hearing on the project and to ensure that the applicant complies with the requirement to enter into a bona fide community benefits agreement and the labor requirements. CEQA exempts from its requirements a rezoning that implements the schedule of actions contained in an approved housing element. CEQA specifies that this exemption does not apply to a rezoning that would allow for the construction of certain facilities, including oil and gas infrastructure. CEQA also specifies that this exemption does not apply rezoning that would allow for construction to occur within the boundaries of any natural and protected lands, except as provided. This bill would repeal the exception from the CEQA exemption for rezoning that would allow for oil and gas infrastructure. The bill would specify that the definition of "natural and protected land" does not include habitats for protected species that would be added to that definition by this bill for purposes the exception for rezoning that would allow for construction to occur within the boundaries of any natural and protected lands to the CEQA exemption. CEQA specifies, for a proposed housing development project that would otherwise be exempt from its requirements but for a single condition required for the exemption to apply, that the application of CEQA is limited to the effects upon the environment that are caused by that single condition. CEQA provides that this limited application of CEQA does not apply if the proposed housing project is located on natural and protected land, but does not include "natural and protected land" that is a site within a very high fire hazard severity zone or within the state responsibility area, except as provided. This bill would additionally specify that "natural and protected land" does not include habitats for protected species that would be added to that definition by this bill. Because the bill would imposes additional duties on a lead agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts certain projects from its requirements and authorizes a lead agency, if it determines a certain project is exempt from CEQA, to file a notice of exemption, as provided. This bill would exempt from CEQA the closure of a railroad grade crossing by order of the Public Utilities Commission if the commission finds the crossing to present a threat to public safety. The bill would provide that the exemption is inapplicable to any crossing for high-speed rail or any crossing for a project carried out by the High-Speed Rail Authority. The bill would require the lead agency to file the notice of exemption with specified public entities, as provided. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency with regard to the filing of the notice of exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA, until January 1, 2033, exempts from its requirements certain actions for affordable housing projects that meet specified requirements, including confirmation by a public agency that, among other things, the project site satisfies specified requirements and a vacant project site does not contain tribal cultural resources that could be affected by the development that were found pursuant to a consultation and the effects of which cannot be mitigated, as provided. This bill would extend the operation of the above-described exemption to January 1, 2037, and would expand the exemption to also include a public university or public college housing project, as defined, that meets specified requirements. Because the bill would extend the operation of the exemption and would increase duties on a lead agency related to the expansion of this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Under the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, the Legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and responsible forest management of nonindustrial timberlands by approving working forest management plans in advance. Existing law regulates nonindustrial tree farmers and working forest landowners for timberland management purposes, including by setting a maximum acreage each may own, and authorizes a person who intends to become a nonindustrial tree farmer or a working forest landowner to submit to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection a nonindustrial timber management plan or a working forest harvest plan, respectively, regarding that acreage. Existing law provides a maximum of 2,500 acres owned for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial timber management plans and a maximum of 10,000 acres owned for working forest landowners and working forest management plans. This bill would increase the maximum acreage for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial management plans to 4,000 acres and for working forest landowners and working forest management plans to 15,000 acres. Existing law requires the harvest area of a working forest management plan to be contained within a single hydrological area, as defined. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the harvest area of a working forest management plan be contained within a single hydrological area. Existing law requires the working forest landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a given year, to file a working forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing. Existing law exempts the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as described in regulations, from these provisions regarding working forest management plans. This bill would eliminate this exemption.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law exempts from CEQA a public project for the improvement, institution, or increase of passenger rail service, including the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities that will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or specified rolling stock or locomotives, as provided. This bill would exempt from CEQA, except as specified, a public urban, intermodal rail station project within a long-urbanized area within the statewide passenger rail network, at which high-capacity light, commuter, and intercity rail services converge that meets specified conditions, including, among other requirements, a requirement for compliance with various environmental laws and for the adoption of a plan for how any displacement from the project will be fully addressed, as provided. The bill would require a lead agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA pursuant to this exemption, and it determines to carry out the project, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the county clerk of the county in which the project is located, as provided. The bill would permit exemption only for projects for which a notice of exemption is filed before January 1, 2032. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Under existing law, the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. The State Oil and Gas Supervisor supervises the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production, as provided. Existing law divides the state into districts and requires the supervisor to appoint one chief deputy and at least one district deputy for each of the districts. Existing law requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility, as soon as it is reasonably possible, but no later than the date when the acquisition of the well or production facility becomes final, to notify the supervisor or the district deputy, in writing, of the person's operation, as provided. Existing law further requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility to file with the supervisor an individual indemnity bond or a blanket indemnity bond in an amount determined by the supervisor to be sufficient to cover, in full, all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration, as provided. Existing law requires a person who intends to acquire the right to operate a well or production facility, by purchase, transfer, assignment, conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, to submit a request to the supervisor for a determination of the amount of the bond required before completing the acquisition and prohibits that person from completing the acquisition until the determination is received and the bond has been filed with the supervisor. A person who violates, fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with requirements of the oil and gas laws, including the bonding requirements described above, is guilty of a misdemeanor, as provided. This bill would make the above-described requirements applicable to a person who acquires, or intends to acquire, as applicable, the right to control a well or production facility and would make conforming changes, as provided. The bill would provide that, for purposes of filing an indemnity bond, a person who "acquires a right to operate or control a well or production facility" includes, but is not limited to, the rights a person acquires through the direct or indirect sale or exchange in a single or series of related transactions resulting in the acquisition of more than 50% of the voting stock of the operator or through a liquidation or dissolution of the operator, among other transactions. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law exempts from the above-described requirements relating to filing an indemnity bond a well that has an average daily production level that exceeds 15 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas during the 12 months preceding the date of acquisition or a natural gas storage well, as provided. This bill would delete that exemption. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon the enactment of AB 2716 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which has the power of general supervision over specified state entities. Existing law requires the agency to develop and report on legislative, budgetary, and administrative programs to accomplish comprehensive, long-range, coordinated planning and policy formation in the matters of public interest related to the agency. This bill would establish specified goals for the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) , consistent with state law.
Existing law, the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, authorizes the forfeiture and seizure of property involved in, or purchased with the proceeds from, a controlled substance offense. Existing law authorizes a police or sheriff's department, the Department of Justice, or the Department of the California Highway Patrol to, with an order from the court, destroy controlled substances, instruments, or paraphernalia, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Justice, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, and in consultation with the Department of Toxic Substances Control and other relevant state and local agencies, to develop and publish guidance, on the Department of Justice's internet website, for proper management and disposal of controlled substances in the possession of law enforcement, as specified.
