Existing law grants to the City of Martinez all right, title, and interest of the state to 4 specified parcels of land in the County of Contra Costa, to be held in trust by the city, as trustee, for the benefit of all the people of the state for purposes consistent with the public trust doctrine, including the protection of maritime or water-dependent commerce, navigation, and fisheries, and the preservation of the lands in their natural state for scientific study, open space, wildlife habitat, and water-oriented recreation. Existing law authorizes the city to lease the trust lands under specified conditions for purposes consistent with the trust grant for limited periods, not to exceed 49 years. Existing law requires the city to reimburse the commission for all expenses incurred in administering these provisions. This bill would instead authorize the city to lease the trust lands for up to 66 years, or, subject to State Lands Commission approval, for a term longer than 66 years if the commission finds that a longer lease term is in the best interest of the state. The bill would expressly require the city to bear the costs of any study or analysis that the commission undertakes, reviews, or requests in consideration of whether a longer lease term is in the best interest of the state, as provided.
(1) Existing law declares that all water within the state is the property of the people of the state, but the right to the use of the water may be acquired by appropriation in the manner provided by law. Existing law requires the appropriation to be for some useful or beneficial purpose. Existing law provides, however, that the diversion of floodflows for groundwater recharge does not require an appropriative water right if certain conditions are met, including that a local or regional agency that has adopted a local plan of flood control or has considered flood risks as part of its most recently adopted general plan has given notice, as provided, of imminent risk of flooding and inundation of lands, roads, or structures. Existing law defines "floodflow" for these purposes to include circumstances in which flows would inundate ordinarily dry areas in the bed of a terminal lake to a depth that floods dairies and other ongoing agricultural activities, or areas with substantial residential, commercial, or industrial development. Existing law applies those requirements to diversions commenced before January 1, 2029. 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 prohibits an entity from substantially diverting or obstructing the natural flow of, or substantially changing or using any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river, stream, or lake, or from depositing or disposing of certain material where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake, without first notifying the Department of Fish and Wildlife of that activity, and entering into a lake or streambed alteration agreement if required by the department to protect fish and wildlife resources, except as specified. This bill would revise and recast those conditions required for the appropriative water right exemption for a diversion of floodflows for groundwater recharge, would apply the requirements to a diversion commenced before January 1, 2034, and would further exempt those diversions from the requirements of CEQA and requirements relating to lake or streambed alteration agreements, subject to conducting tribal consultation, as provided. The bill would expand the definition of "floodflow" to include flows downstream of a dam that is releasing water for flood control purposes, as provided. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to operate the State Water Resources Development System, known as the State Water Project, to supply water to persons and entities in the state. Existing law designates as the Central Valley Project a system of works for the conservation, development, storage, distribution, and utilization of water, with incidental generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. This bill would provide that the inclusion of certain proposed terms in an application to divert water within or upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to underground storage pursuant to certain permits, and its adoption in the applicable permit, would satisfy the State Water Resources Control Board's finding that water may be diverted and used without injury to the legal users of water from the Central Valley Project or the State Water Project, including the United States Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Water Resources, or any contractors to the project. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037. (3) Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to consider and act upon all applications for permits to appropriate water, and requires the Division of Water Rights to conduct a field investigation of all minor protested applications, except under a specified circumstance. Existing law defines a "minor application" to include an application by a groundwater sustainability agency or local agency for a diversion previously authorized by a conditional temporary permit for diversion of surface water to underground storage, as specified, without complying with other procedures or provisions previously authorized by a temporary permit. Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans, except as specified. Existing law requires a groundwater sustainability plan to be developed and implemented to meet the sustainability goal, established as prescribed. This bill would expand that definition of minor application to include an application by a private entity under a memorandum of understanding or other agreement with a groundwater sustainability agency for specific diversions. The bill would create an additional exception from the requirement to conduct a field investigation if the application involves a diversion substantially similar to a diversion previously authorized by temporary permits for at least 5 years, involves no greater amount of diversion and no other points of diversion than authorized in the last preceding temporary permits, and includes specified information based on the applicant's experience under prior temporary permits, including specified documentation and proposed terms. The bill would also require the board to give public notice of the minor application within 30 days of the application's filing, to allow 45 days from the date of the notice for the filing of comments, as provided, and to issue a decision within 180 days of the deadline for submitting comments on the application, as provided. The bill would require the board to approve the application if it determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed diversion would not injure a legal user of water, as specified, and would not unreasonably affect fish, wildlife, or other instream beneficial uses. The bill would exempt the permit issued by the board pursuant to these provisions from CEQA, except as specified, and requirements relating to lake or streambed alteration agreements, subject to specified conditions. The bill would make inoperative or repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037. The bill would require the board to, on or before January 1, 2035, compile information on the permits issued and diversions conducted pursuant to these provisions, and post the information on its internet website. Existing law authorizes any person who has an urgent need to divert and use water to apply for, and authorizes the board to issue, a conditional, temporary permit, as prescribed. Existing law defines "urgent need" for these purposes. This bill would expand the definition of "urgent need" to include, in a basin for which the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requires a groundwater sustainability plan, the application of a local agency, groundwater sustainability agency, or private entity operating under a memorandum of understanding or other agreement with a groundwater sustainability agency, to divert and use water determined to be available using specified criteria, as provided, to augment the basin's recharge in order to support implementation of the sustainability goal in that basin. The bill would exempt the board's issuance of a temporary permit from CEQA and requirements relating to lake or streambed alteration agreements, subject to specified conditions. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037. The bill would require the board to, on or before January 1, 2035, compile information on the permits issued and diversions conducted pursuant to a temporary permit and post the information on its internet website. (4) Existing law requires the state water board to appoint a deputy director for the Division of Water Rights. This bill would, for applications submitted before January 1, 2037, authorize a certain temporary permit to authorize the diversion to be initiated more than 180 days after date of issuance, except that authorization to divert would automatically expire 5 years after diversions commence, as provided. The bill would authorize the Chief Deputy Director of Water Rights to limit diversion under those temporary permits in favor of competing temporary permits based on, among other things, consideration of public interest, as provided. (5) Existing law requires each person or entity who holds a permit or license to appropriate water, and each lessor of water, as provided, to pay an annual fee according to a fee schedule established by the board, as specified. This bill would require the board, in setting fees for minor applications and for temporary urgency permits, to set those fees at a level that encourages those applications. The bill would prohibit the board from requiring a separate application or fee for consumptive and nonconsumptive uses of diverted water. The bill would make inoperative or repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to establish a regulatory proceeding to develop and implement a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California's existing residential and nonresidential building stock. Existing law requires the PUC to investigate the ability of electrical corporations and gas corporations to provide various energy efficiency financing options to their customers for the purpose of implementing the program developed by the Energy Commission. Existing law imposes requirements for custom projects and other custom programs for industrial, agricultural, commercial, residential, and public sector customers. Existing law requires the PUC to develop and maintain rules for custom energy efficiency projects that include eligibility criteria or metrics for determining if a project is eligible for funding. This bill would delete the requirement on the PUC to develop and maintain those rules, and would instead require the commission, as part of the approval of the next Tier 2 advice letters submitted after January 1, 2027, by program administrators for mid-cycle review pursuant to a specific commission decision, to revise the rules adopted for custom agricultural and industrial efficiency projects to replace the commission's ex ante review process with a process that ensures the provision of incentives pursuant to these provisions for custom agricultural and industrial efficiency projects, as specified. 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.
Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. Existing law requires the conservancy to act as a primary state agency to implement ecosystem restoration in the Delta and to support efforts that advance environmental protection and the economic well-being of Delta residents. Existing law specifies the composition of the governing board of the conservancy, including 11 voting members, and requires liaison advisers to serve in an advisory, nonvoting capacity. Existing law requires the conservancy to prepare and adopt a strategic plan to achieve the goals of the conservancy and requires the strategic plan to be consistent with certain plans. Existing law authorizes the conservancy to engage in partnerships with nonprofit organizations, local public agencies, and landowners, and authorizes the conservancy to provide grants and loans to state agencies, local public agencies, and nonprofit organizations to further the goals of the conservancy. Existing law establishes the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Fund in the State Treasury. Existing law makes moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of these provisions. This bill would expand the area covered by the conservancy to include the Valley and Lake, as defined. The bill would rename the conservancy the Valley, Lake, and Delta Conservancy and make conforming changes. The bill would rename the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Fund the Delta Conservancy Fund and create the Valley and Lake Conservancy Fund in the State Treasury, moneys in which would be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes of the conservancy in the Valley and Lake. The bill would add to the governing board one additional voting member who is appointed by the Lake County Board of Supervisors and one who is a tribal representative appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. By imposing additional requirements on the Lake County Board of Supervisors, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would add one additional liaison adviser who is a designee of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and one who is a designee of the California Central Valley Flood Control Association. The bill would also authorize the conservancy to engage in partnerships with, and to award grants and loans to, tribal organizations. The bill would establish the Valley and Lake Program, under the administration of the conservancy, to support efforts that advance the environmental protection and the economic well-being of Valley and Lake residents. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Senate Resolution 108 formally recognizes May 5, 2026, as World Asthma Day in California. The measure highlights the disproportionate impact of asthma on vulnerable populations, including communities of color and farmworker families, who face higher risks due to poor air quality and limited healthcare access. While the resolution does not create new laws, it expresses the Senate's support for asthma education, improved air quality standards, and evidence-based management practices in schools and healthcare settings. Additionally, the bill honors the Central California Asthma Collaborative for its work in community health programs.
(1) Existing law, until January 1, 2030, generally prohibits a person from possessing, importing, shipping, or transporting in the state, or from placing, planting, or causing to be placed or planted in any water in the state, invasive mussels, and authorizes the Director of Fish and Wildlife or the director's designee to engage in various enforcement activities, including ordering the areas in conveyance that contain water be drained, dried, or decontaminated, as provided. Existing law requires a public or private agency that operates a water supply system to cooperate with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement measures to avoid infestation by invasive mussels and to control or eradicate any infestation that may occur in a water supply system. Existing law requires, if invasive mussels are detected, the operator of a water supply system to, in cooperation with the department, prepare and implement a plan to control or eradicate invasive mussels within the system, and eliminate or minimize any potential downstream transport of an invasive mussel. Existing law requires, on or before December 31, 2026, the department to review all approved plans and require all plans that do not specifically address all invasive mussel species known to be present in bodies of water in the state as of January 1, 2026, to be updated or revised appropriately to include all invasive mussel species, on or before September 30, 2027. Existing law requires every invasive mussel species to be addressed in a plan no later than 180 days from the date that the species is listed in a certain regulation. Existing law defines "invasive mussel" for these purposes as any nonnative detrimental mussel, as provided. Under existing law, except as otherwise provided, any violation of the Fish and Game Code, or of any rule, regulation, or order made or adopted under the code, is a crime. This bill would prohibit a conveyance from being launched until a specified drying period has completed, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to require water supply system operators to update their plans to address all invasive mussel species present in the operator's water system as of January 1, 2026, as provided. The bill would require a plan to address every invasive mussel species detected in a water supply system after January 1, 2026, no later than 180 days from the date the species is detected. The bill would require a plan to minimize or eliminate the spread of invasive mussels. The bill would revise the definition of "invasive mussel" to mean any nonnative biofouling mussel, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would enact a comprehensive inspection and decontamination program to be administered by the department under which the department would license inspection and decontamination stations with qualified inspectors to inspect and decontaminate conveyances for aquatic invasive species and issue certificates of compliance or notices of noncompliance, as prescribed by standards adopted by the department. The bill would establish a length of 2 years for those licenses and qualifications and would impose related application fees. The bill would impose requirements on various entities as part of the program, including requiring inspection and decontamination stations and waterbody managers to use a specified data sharing system for tracking the movement of conveyances, equipment, and other vectors among California waterbodies. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes a registration fee and a renewal fee for vessels, and imposes an additional fee, known as the invasive mussel infestation prevention fee, on a vessel required to pay the registration fee or renewal fee, as provided. Existing law requires the Division of Boating and Waterways to issue a vessel an invasive mussel infestation prevention sticker to the vessel owner upon payment of the invasive mussel infestation prevention fee. Existing law authorizes a vessel operator to be issued a citation for operating a vessel or a recreational vessel in nonmarine waters without a valid state-issued invasive mussel infestation prevention sticker. This bill would enact similar provisions that would impose an additional invasive mussel infestation prevention fee of $20 per nonmotorized vessel every 2 years, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue an invasive mussel infestation prevention sticker to be affixed to the nonmotorized vessel upon payment of the invasive mussel infestation prevention fee. The bill would authorize a vessel operator to be issued a citation for operating a nonmotorized vessel without that valid state-issued invasive mussel infestation prevention sticker. This bill would require the $20 fee to be deposited into the Nonmotorized Vessel Invasive Mussel Infestation Prevention Account, which the bill would create within the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund. Moneys in the account would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for reasonable regulatory costs of the department and the division and for specified grants. The bill would require any citation moneys to be deposited into the Nonmotorized Vessel Invasive Mussel Infestation Prevention Penalty Account, which the bill would create within the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund. Moneys in the penalty account would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified grants and to expend on certain educational materials and signage. (3) 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. (4) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and sets forth the duties of that department, which include administering various programs for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife. Existing law authorizes the department to take feasible actions to conserve monarch butterflies and the unique habitats they depend upon for successful migration. Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, establishes the California Coastal Commission and provides for planning and regulation of development in the coastal zone, as defined. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2028, the department, in coordination with the commission, to identify known monarch butterfly overwintering habitat sites in the coastal zone and current local government monarch butterfly overwintering habitat management plans or policies. The bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2029, the department, in coordination with the commission, to develop and provide guidance on model policies to be used by a local government for the protection of monarch butterfly overwintering habitat, including habitat restoration and enhancement. The bill would require, after the above-described guidance on model policies is finalized, a local government with a monarch butterfly overwintering habitat site located within its jurisdiction and the coastal zone, as described, to, on or before July 1, 2031, develop and implement enforceable monarch butterfly overwintering habitat site protection policies, as provided. By imposing additional duties on a local government, 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, composed of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible for the restoration, protection, and management of the state's natural and cultural resources. This bill would authorize the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to appoint an individual or to identify one or more University of California centers to oversee and administer a Secretariat for International Climate Coordination and Cooperation to assist the legislative and executive branches' engagement in international climate policy, as specified.
The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act prohibits any person or public agency from importing into the state, exporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state, a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree, except as specified. The act authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to permit the taking of a western Joshua tree if specified conditions are met, including, but not limited to, that the permittee mitigates all impacts to, and taking of, the western Joshua tree through measures that are roughly proportional in extent to the impact of the authorized taking of the western Joshua tree. The act authorizes, in lieu of completing the mitigation measures, a permittee to elect to satisfy the mitigation obligation by paying fees pursuant to a specified fee schedule, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to include permit conditions that require the permittee to relocate one or more of the western Joshua trees, as specified. Existing law requires the department to adopt guidelines and relocation protocols, based on the best available science, to relocate western Joshua trees successfully. This bill would authorize the department to authorize, by permit, and without payment of fees or other mitigation, the relocation of up to 10 individual western Joshua trees from a parcel, as provided. The bill would require a person seeking a relocation permit to submit a permit application to the department and meet certain conditions including, among other conditions, that the tree identified in the application would be relocated within 2.5 kilometers of its original location and that the relocation be consistent with the guidelines and relocation protocols adopted by the department. The bill would require the department to maintain a list of relocation permits issued pursuant to this authority and sufficient information regarding each relocation to be able to assess the success or failure of the relocation and the factors contributing to that success or failure.
Existing law authorizes various conservancies to acquire, manage, direct the management of, and conserve lands in the state. This bill would establish the Grassland Ecological Area Conservancy within the Natural Resources Agency, with jurisdiction over the Grassland Ecological Area and the Grassland Focus Area, as defined, for specified purposes, including to protect, conserve, and restore the physical, cultural, archaeological, historical, and living resources of the Grassland Ecological Area and the Grassland Focus Area and to provide increased opportunities for tourism and recreation. The bill would require the conservancy to be governed by a board composed of designated voting members, including certain members appointed by certain local agencies, and nonvoting liaison advisers. The bill would set forth the powers, duties, and limitations of the governing board and the conservancy, as provided. The bill would create the Grassland Ecological Area Conservancy Fund and would make moneys in the fund available for expenditure by the conservancy, upon appropriation by the Legislature, only for the purposes of these provisions. The bill would require all funds or income received by the conservancy, including proceeds from donations or a lease, rental, sale, exchange, or transfer of an interest or option in real property, to be deposited into the fund. By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would create 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
