Existing law defines "disadvantaged communities" and requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and for other purposes. This bill would require the agency to do specified things regarding farmworker communities for purposes of identifying disadvantaged communities including, among other things, assessing whether designating farmworker communities as disadvantaged communities would increase those communities' access to investment opportunities and identifying potential barriers faced by low-income farmworker communities in accessing investment opportunities, as specified. The bill would require the agency to make its findings publicly available on its internet website and consider those findings when identifying disadvantaged communities. The bill would require the agency and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to develop and implement a strategy for engaging with farmworker communities on environmental, health, and socioeconomic burdens, as provided.
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 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. The act authorizes the department to permit the removal or trimming of a dead western Joshua tree or trimming of a live western Joshua tree, without payment of fees or other mitigation, provided that the dead western Joshua tree or any limb to be removed satisfies a specified condition. The act requires a property owner seeking a permit to submit a permit request to the department with specified information, including a signed attestation or certification, as provided. This bill would alternatively allow the agent of a property owner to submit the permit request and to satisfy other related requirements imposed on a property owner. The bill would delete the requirement for the permit request to include a signed attestation or certification. The act authorizes the department to enter into memoranda of understanding with California Native American tribes to provide for the taking and possession of western Joshua trees for tribal cultural purposes. This bill would instead authorize the memoranda to include the taking, possession, purchase, or sale of western Joshua trees for tribal cultural purposes.
(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the department to coordinate programs of fire protection, fire prevention, pest control, and forest and range maintenance and enhancement. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2029, in consultation with the Department of Insurance, the Natural Resources Agency, the Office of Emergency Services, and other relevant departments, to develop standards for state and local agencies to aggregate and make available data related to parcel-, neighborhood-, and community-level wildfire risk for the purpose of enabling a wildfire data sharing platform, as provided. The bill would require the department to incorporate those data standards into community wildfire risk reduction metrics. (2) Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and prescribes their powers and duties. Existing law requires, on or before April 1, 2026, and every 2 years thereafter, an admitted insurer with written California premiums totaling $12,000,000 or more to submit a report to the Insurance Commissioner on its residential property experience data for the previous 2 years for policies written in California, as specified. Existing law requires this information submitted to the commissioner to be confidential, exempt from the California Public Records Act, and not subject to subpoena, as provided. This bill would authorize the Department of Insurance to provide information submitted to the department, including, among other things, the property experience data described above, to researchers and government agencies for the purpose of evaluating California wildfire risk, insurance protection gaps, or wildfire risk mitigation, as provided. The bill would require any published data product collected pursuant to the above-described authority that is provided to a researcher or government agency to be anonymized and aggregated sufficiently to avoid identification of individual company losses, claims data, or information on confidential business practices, as specified, and would prohibit subsequent reports from identifying an individual respondent or insurer. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to annually provide to the Legislature a report detailing the department's fire prevention efforts and annually post on its internet website information regarding hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management projects funded or conducted by the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department to develop a standardized protocol for monitoring implementation and evaluating the positive and negative ecological and fire behavior impacts from vegetation management projects undertaken by the state, as provided. This bill would repeal those requirements and would instead require the department, on or before March 1 of each year, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the detailed efforts made in California towards wildfire prevention and community preparedness, as provided. Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, including the Natural Resources Agency and the department, among others, in coordination with certain public agencies, to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, and the State Hazard Mitigation Officer to prepare a comprehensive statewide community wildfire preparedness strategy, as provided. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to support communities in the development of optional county-level community wildfire protection plans that align with the community wildfire preparedness strategy, as provided. The bill would require a local entity, in order to receive state funding to implement its community wildfire protection plan, to provide annual updates and progress on its efforts to meet the goals of its plan. (4) Existing law establishes the Continuation Account in the Wildfire Fund, to be administered by the Wildfire Fund Administrator, and continuously appropriates moneys in the Continuation Account for purposes of payment of eligible claims arising from wildfires ignited on or after September 19, 2025, as provided. Existing law requires each large electrical corporation to provide to the Public Utilities Commission a written notification of its election to participate, or not to participate, in the Continuation Account, and requires the commission, if all participating electrical corporations have provided their election to participate in the Continuation Account, to provide the administrator and other entities notification of their elections. Existing law authorizes the administrator, on or after the date the commission provides that notification, but not later than December 31, 2028, to determine if annual contributions from large electrical corporations are needed to enable the Continuation Account to fund the timely payment of eligible claims, as provided. Existing law requires the commission, within 15 days of receiving notification from the administrator that additional annual contributions are required, to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider using its authority to require the large electrical corporations to collect a nonbypassable charge from ratepayers to support the Continuation Account, including the payment of any bond issued for the support of the Continuation Account, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Department of Water Resources to issue bonds, in an aggregate amount up to $9,000,000,000, as provided, to support the Continuation Account. If the commission imposes the nonbypassable charge to support the Continuation Account, existing law requires the large electrical corporations, from calendar years 2029 to 2045, inclusive, to provide to the administrator their annual contributions, as specified, for deposit into the Continuation Account. This bill would, if the administrator provides that notification, additionally authorize the administrator to incur indebtedness and issue bonds solely for purposes of supporting the Continuation Account and other related expenses incurred by the administrator, provided that bonds authorized under this provision are payable solely from annual contributions and additional contributions, as provided. The bill would authorize bonds issued by the department, at the discretion of the administrator, to be secured solely by ratepayer contributions, as specified. The bill would prohibit the Wildfire Fund or Continuation Account from being terminated while bonds issued by the department remain outstanding, unless an amount sufficient to pay remaining debt service on those bonds has been irrevocably set aside for those purposes, as specified. Upon the determination of the administrator that the Wildfire Fund should be terminated, the bill would require any remaining Wildfire Fund assets to be transferred to the Continuation Account, and upon the determination of the administrator that the Continuation Account should be terminated, the bill would require any remaining funds to be transferred to the General Fund. By transferring those moneys into a continuously appropriated account, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would make additional technical and conforming changes. Existing law requires revenues and bond proceeds received by the department to be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund and continuously appropriates the moneys in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund to the department for specified purposes, including transfers to the Wildfire Fund and payment of the bonds. This bill would require revenues and bond proceeds received by the department pursuant to the provisions related to the Continuation Account to be deposited into an account or subaccount within the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund, and to be held separate and apart from amounts held in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund pursuant to provisions related to the Wildfire Fund, as specified. (5) This bill would create the California Wildfire Relief Fast-Pay Program and would require the California Catastrophe Response Council to appoint a fast-pay administrator to administer the fast-pay program. The bill would require the fast-pay administrator to establish and approve procedures for the review, approval, and timely payment of claims by individual claimants for damages as a result of an activating wildfire, as defined. If the eligible entity, defined as an electric utility or public agency that has a wildfire mitigation plan approved by the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (office) , is a participating electrical corporation, as defined, the bill would require settlements pursuant to the fast-pay program to count as settlements of eligible claims and to be paid from the account, as specified. If the eligible entity is not a participating electrical corporation, the bill would require the eligible entity to be solely responsible for directly paying amounts to satisfy settlement offers pursuant to the fast-pay program. This bill would, among other things, prohibit an individual, business corporation, or other entity from selling, assigning, or transferring any wildfire claim, or any right of recovery on a wildfire claim, to a private equity group, and would prohibit an individual, wildfire attorney, corporation, or other entity from selling, assigning, or transferring, in whole or in part, any contingency fee on an interest in a contingency fee, except as provided. This bill would prohibit a private equity group from paying any wildfire expenses with respect to a wildfire claim and from funding wildfire advertising costs with respect to any applicable wildfire that damages or destroys (1) more than 100 structures, or (2) more than 10,0000 acres of land, and would authorize the Attorney General or any district attorney to bring a civil action to enforce that prohibition, as specified. (6) Existing law regulates, among other things, fee agreements, legal advertising and referral services, the sale of financial products to a client, and unlawful solicitation. This bill would require an attorney who contracts to represent a client involving a claim against an electric utility involving an applicable wildfire shall provide a disclosure to the client the options and requirements involving the fast-pay program, as provided. The bill would prohibit a person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation from making an unsolicited targeted communication to solicit any business for any attorneys concerning a potential action for wrongful death, personal injury, or property damage within 30 days of an event, defined as an incident resulting in the proclamation of a state of emergency, as specified. The bill would prohibit, for any claim based on inverse condemnation against an electrical corporation arising from a covered wildfire caused by an electrical corporation, the fee for an attorney representing an insurer involving a subrogated claim from exceeding 10% of the settlement or judgment. (7) Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. Existing law authorizes certain state bodies to hold closed session meetings for certain purposes, including authorizing the governing board or advisory panel of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) to hold closed sessions when addressing the development of rates, reinsurance, and strategy when discussion in open session concerning those matters would prejudice the position of the CEA. This bill would additionally authorize the California Catastrophe Response Council to hold closed sessions when addressing either the administration or evaluation of individual claims submitted for reimbursement from the Wildfire Fund or the Continuation Account, or the development of strategy related to reinsurance or other mechanisms to extend the durability of the Wildfire Fund or Continuation Account, as specified. The California Public Records Act requires a public agency, defined to mean a state or local agency, to make its public records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and the payment of a fee, unless the public records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would exempt records held by the California Catastrophe Response Council, or the California Earthquake Authority as the Wildfire Fund Administrator, that relate to the administration or evaluation of claims submitted for reimbursement from the Wildfire Fund or Continuation Account from the California Public Records Act, as specified. (8) 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. (9) Existing law requires the Director of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety to issue a certificate to an electrical corporation if the electrical corporation provided documentation of certain conditions, including a condition that the electrical corporation has established (1) an executive incentive compensation structure approved by the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety and structured to promote safety as a priority to ensure public safety and utility financial stability with performance metrics for all executive officers, which may include denying all incentive compensation if the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that results in one or more fatalities and (2) a compensation structure that meets certain principles. This bill would revise the recast the requirement related to the executive incentive compensation structure, among other things, to require the electrical corporation to file the approved written executive incentive compensation structure with the office at least one year before the executive incentive compensation structure would become effective. The bill would require the office to approve an electrical corporation's executive incentive compensation structure if it is structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety and utility stability with performance metrics, includes a provision denying all short-term incentive compensation, as defined, to the chief executive officer, or the officer holding an equivalent position, for a calendar year in which the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that results in one or more fatalities, and meets the principles specified in existing law for the compensation structure. For a large electrical corporation, as defined, the bill would additionally require the executive incentive compensation structure to meet certain requirements, including a requirement for the structure to include a written presumption that 35% of the total incentive compensation for each executive officer will be denied for at least one year in the event the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that result in one or more fatalities. (10) Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, 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. (11) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) , in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, and affected local air quality management districts, to adopt regulations to establish management standards for metal shredding facilities for hazardous waste management activities within the DTSC's jurisdiction, as provided. Existing law provides that treated metal shredder waste that is managed in accordance with those regulations is deemed to be solid waste, and not hazardous waste, as provided. This bill would repeal those provisions. The bill would establish a comprehensive scheme for the regulation of metal shredding facilities that would be administered by the DTSC pursuant to authority separate from laws governing the control of hazardous waste. The bill would prohibit an owner or operator from operating a metal shredding facility, as defined, in the state unless they have a permit from the DTSC or are deemed to have a permit. The bill would prescribe the requirements for obtaining a permit, for being deemed to have a permit, for operating a metal shredding facility, and for transporting certain materials related to metal shredding, as specified. The bill would require, before a decision is made to approve or deny a permit application, the DTSC to hold a public meeting, as provided. The bill would require the DTSC to take final action on a permit application by an existing facility within 3 years, as provided. The bill would require the DTSC to post on its internet website general information about each metal shredding facility that has applied for or obtained a permit, and to conduct at least one site visit to the applicant's facility after receipt of the permit application. The bill would provide that certain materials related to metal shredding are not hazardous waste if they meet specified requirements. The bill would require any report required to be submitted by a metal shredding facility pursuant to a permit issued to be signed by the owner or operator and certified under penalty of law, including criminal penalties, as specified. The bill would require the DTSC to have primary responsibility for enforcing these provisions, would require the DTSC to conduct an annual compliance evaluation inspection of each metal shredding facility, and would authorize the DTSC to refer violations to a district attorney or the Attorney General for prosecution. The bill would also require the DTSC to inform the local health officer and the director of environmental health of a county, city, or district within 15 days after the DTSC becomes aware of any unlawful disposal of materials, as provided, and of any enforcement action against a metal shredding facility as a result of that unlawful disposal. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require an owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to report to the DTSC certain emergency situations, as specified. The bill would require an owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to submit to the DTSC a closure plan and a cost estimate for closing the metal shredding facility, as specified. The bill would also require the owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to provide written notice to the DTSC at least 60 days before transferring ownership or operation of the facility. The bill would authorize the DTSC to enforce these provisions by revoking permits and by other specified means. The bill would authorize the DTSC to adopt regulations for the operation of metal shredding facilities as necessary to implement the requirements of the bill. The bill would require the DTSC to post information provided by owners and operators regarding a metal shredding facility on the DTSC's internet website in a manner that is readily accessible to the public, except as otherwise required pursuant to existing law. Existing law authorizes the DTSC to collect an annual fee from all metal shredding facilities subject to the requirements of hazardous waste control laws or the DTSC's management standards for metal shredding facilities, as provided. Existing law requires the DTSC to adopt regulations necessary to administer the fee and authorizes the DTSC to adopt those regulations using emergency procedures, as provided. Existing law requires the Controller to establish a separate subaccount in the Hazardous Waste Control Account and for all fees collected to be placed into that subaccount, to be available for expenditure by the DTSC upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would make the requirement to collect an annual fee inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2028. This bill would instead require the DTSC to impose an annual fee on all metal shredding facilities subject to the provisions of the bill, as specified. The bill would require, beginning in the 2027–28 fiscal year, the rates established by the DTSC to be reviewed and increased or decreased annually, as provided. The bill would require the DTSC to adopt regulations necessary to administer the fee and would authorize the DTSC to adopt the regulations using emergency procedures, as specified. The bill would require a person who applies for a metal shredding facility permit to enter into a written agreement with the DTSC pursuant to which that person would be required to reimburse the DTSC for the direct costs reasonably incurred by the DTSC in processing the application, as provided. The bill would require the Controller to establish a new and separate Metal Shredding Facility Subaccount to be administered by the Director of Toxic Substances Control and would require all fees collected to be placed into that subaccount and made available for expenditure by the DTSC solely for the purpose of implementation and administration of these provisions, upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law establishes the Board of Environmental Safety in the Department of Toxic Substances Control with specified duties. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2030, the Board of Environmental Safety, at a specially scheduled public meeting, to hear from the DTSC and receive input from the public, metal shredding facilities, and other stakeholders about the implementation of the bill, as provided. The bill would require the fees established pursuant to the bill to be sufficient to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the Board of Environmental Safety in administering and implementing its duties and responsibilities established by the bill. Existing law requires the DTSC to require metal shredding facilities to monitor hazardous waste constituents requested by the DTSC and to report the results of that monitoring to the DTSC. Existing law also requires the DTSC to collect and analyze light fibrous material at the fence lines to determine the potential for release of hazardous waste. Existing law requires, on or before July 1, 2027, the DTSC to develop a procedure for community notification of the public for the area in which the metal shredding facility is located if that monitoring indicates any release of light fibrous material. In addition, existing law requires, on or before January 1, 2027, an air pollution control district or an air quality management district the jurisdiction of which includes metal shredding facilities, in consultation with the DTSC and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) , to develop requirements for facilitywide fence-line air quality monitoring at metal shredding facilities. Existing law authorizes any reasonable regulatory costs incurred by the DTSC in implementing, and requires that the OEHHA's costs to implement, the above-described duties be reimbursed from a subaccount established in the Hazardous Waste Control Account for the deposit of fees from metal shredding facilities. This bill would limit the scope of those provisions to metal shredding facilities that are subject to the other provisions of the bill and would provide for the reimbursement of those costs from the Metal Shredding Facility Subaccount. Existing law establishes in the General Fund the Toxic Substances Control Account for specified purposes, including the removal or remediation of toxic substances. This bill would require the DTSC to deposit all penalties collected pursuant to the provisions of the bill into the Toxic Substances Control Account. 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.
(1) Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants and sources of air pollution. Existing law authorizes blends of gasoline containing 10.5% to 15% ethanol by volume to be sold in the state for use as a transportation fuel until specified actions are taken by the California Environmental Policy Council and the state board. Existing law requires the state board to adopt performance standards for gasoline vapor control systems during gasoline marketing operations and to certify any gasoline vapor control system that meets those performance standards and other specified requirements. Existing law also requires the State Fire Marshal, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Division of Measurement Standards to adopt rules and regulations on various aspects of gasoline vapor control systems and components and to certify compliance of those systems and components with their respective rules and regulations. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2029, vapor control systems and their components that are certified or approved by the state agencies listed above for use with gasoline and ethanol blends containing 10% ethanol to also be used with gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% and up to 15% ethanol if the manufacturer of the equipment submits a statement of compatibility, signed under penalty of perjury, to each of those state agencies. The bill would require the service station dispensing an ethanol blend containing more than 10% and up to 15% ethanol to comply with certain labeling required by the State Fire Marshal. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2026, the State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations governing the labeling and safe use of gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% and up to 15% ethanol with vapor control systems and their components that have been authorized for use pursuant to the above-described provisions. (2) Existing law generally regulates the storage of hazardous substances in underground storage tanks and requires underground storage tanks that are used to store hazardous substances to meet certain requirements. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board and the State Air Resources Board to certify that the equipment that meets certain requirements for enhanced vapor recovery systems at gasoline dispensing facilities also meets the underground storage tank laws, as specified. This bill would require, until January 1, 2029, that any enhanced vapor control system at gasoline dispensing facilities suitable for gasoline and ethanol blends containing 10% ethanol be deemed certified or approved for the use of gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% ethanol and up to 15% ethanol if the manufacturer of the equipment submits the aforementioned statement of compatibility. (3) Existing law establishes in the Department of Industrial Relations the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and authorizes the board to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. Existing law imposes various requirements on occupational safety and health standards, including that those standards be at least as effective as federal standards, as specified. This bill would require, until January 1, 2029, that any device used for dispensing flammable liquids with an ethanol content of up to 10% be deemed approved for purposes of occupational safety and health standards and orders for the use of gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% ethanol and up to 15% ethanol if the manufacturer of the equipment submits the aforementioned statement of compatibility. (4) 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.
SB 195 is a procedural bill that merely expresses the Legislature's intent to later enact statutory changes related to the upcoming Budget Act of 2025. It does not make any concrete budget changes or affect specific groups or programs. The bill serves as a formal step to signal future legislative action on budget processes, without detailing any specific provisions or funding allocations. This is a standard procedural measure to guide future budget discussions, not a substantive policy change.
Existing law, the Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022, establishes a stewardship program, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, as provided, for the collection, transportation, and recycling, and the safe and proper management, of covered batteries in the state in an economically efficient and practical manner. The act defines a "covered battery" to mean a device consisting of one or more electrically connected electrochemical cells designed to receive, store, and deliver electric energy. Existing law defines a "covered battery" to include a loose battery that is designed to be easily removed from a product by the user of the product with no more than common household tools. Existing law excludes from the definition of a covered battery a primary battery weighing over 2 kilograms. Existing law defines a "primary battery" for this purpose to mean a nonrechargeable battery, including, but not limited to, alkaline, carbon-zinc, and lithium metal batteries. Existing law also excludes from the definition of a covered battery a rechargeable battery weighing over 5 kilograms and having a watthour rating of more than 300 watthours. This bill would revise the description of a loose battery, for purposes of the definition of a covered battery, by providing that a key, application, or other locking device provided to the consumer by the producer of the product or battery that is warranted by the producer of the product or battery to serve solely to prevent theft of the battery or tampering by persons other than the consumer and not to inhibit the consumer's ability to remove, replace, or recycle the battery would not prevent a battery from being considered designed to be easily removed from a product by the user of the product with no more than common household tools. The bill would remove the exclusions from the definition of a covered battery for a primary battery and a rechargeable battery, described above. The bill would categorize all covered batteries as either a small format battery or a medium format battery. The bill would define a "small format battery" to include a rechargeable battery weighing no more than 11 pounds with a rating of no more than 300 watthours and a nonrechargeable battery weighing no more than 4.4 pounds. The bill would define a "medium format battery" to include a rechargeable battery that weighs more than 11 pounds or that has a rating of more than 300 watthours, or both, but that does not weigh more than 25 pounds or have a rating more than 2,000 watthours, and a nonrechargeable battery weighing more than 4.4 pounds but fewer than 25 pounds. The act requires a producer of covered batteries, individually or through a stewardship organization, to develop and implement a stewardship plan for the collection, transportation, and recycling, and the safe and proper management, of covered batteries in the state. The act requires the stewardship plan to describe how the producer or stewardship organization will provide a certain number of collection sites for covered batteries in each county, as provided. This bill would instead require the stewardship plan to describe how the producer or stewardship organization will provide a certain number of collection sites for small format batteries and medium format batteries, as specified. The act requires a stewardship plan to include, among other things, consultation with the California Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Justice Task Force and coordination with certain entities, including, but not limited to, other program operators, as provided. This bill would require a stewardship plan to include consultation with the department's Office of Environmental Justice, Tribal Relations, Education and Outreach instead of the Environmental Justice Task Force. The bill would require the stewardship to additionally include coordination with California Native American Tribes. The bill would require a stewardship plan to demonstrate that the stewardship organization has adequate financial responsibility and financial controls in place to ensure proper management of funds. The act requires the program operator to retain an independent public accountant to annually audit the accounting books for the program operator. This bill would require the annual audit to be prepared in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board's accounting standards codification. The bill would require a program operator to annually demonstrate achievement of minimum recycling rates for rechargeable, nonrechargeable, and primary batteries. This bill would authorize the Department of Toxic Substances Control and certain local officers and agencies to enter and inspect any collection site, establishment, or any other place or environment, where hazardous wastes are stored, handled, processed, disposed of, or being treated to recover resources, as a result of the requirements of the act, as specified. The bill would, to ensure compliance with the act, authorize the department to inspect and investigate producers, program operators, stewardship organizations, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, importers, recyclers, and collection sites. The act requires records required by the act to be maintained and accessible to the department for 3 years. The act requires all reports and records provided to the department to be provided under penalty of perjury. This bill would require records required by the act to be maintained and accessible to the department for 5 years. By expanding the document retention period and by expanding the scope of the act, the bill would expand the scope of the crime of perjury, thereby imposing 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 the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which is permitted to adjudge children who have suffered abuse or neglect to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances, and prescribes various hearings and other procedures for these purposes. Existing law requires the county welfare department to submit reports at the first regularly scheduled review hearing after a dependent minor has attained 16 years of age and at the last regularly scheduled review hearing before a dependent minor attains 18 years of age, and at every regularly scheduled review hearing thereafter, verifying that the county welfare department has provided certain information, documents, and services to the minor or nonminor. Existing law prohibits the court from terminating dependency jurisdiction over a nonminor dependent until the county welfare department has submitted a report verifying specified information, documents, and services have been provided to the nonminor, including the nonminor's family history and placement history. This bill would additionally require the above-described assistance include providing the minor or nonminor the last known whereabouts of their parents and siblings and the last known contact information for them. The bill would require that the minor or nonminor have the option to decline this information. By increasing the duties of county welfare departments, 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. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 391 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 2764 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2764 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law creates the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program to provide operating and capital assistance for transit agencies to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and improve mobility. Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to administer the program and to adopt guidelines, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, that describe the methodologies to be used by a recipient transit agency to demonstrate that proposed expenditures will meet specified program expenditure requirements and establish the reporting requirements for documenting ongoing compliance with those expenditure requirements. This bill would repeal the requirement for the department to adopt guidelines. Existing law continuously appropriates a specified amount of money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the program and requires the Controller to allocate those moneys according to the requirements of the program. Existing law requires a recipient transit agency to demonstrate that expenditures of program moneys allocated to the agency reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and do not supplant other sources of funds. Existing law requires moneys for the program to be expended to provide transit operating or capital assistance that directly enhances or expands transit services, increases transit mode share, or is related to the purchase of zero-emission buses, as specified. Before seeking a disbursement of funds pursuant to the program, existing law requires a recipient transit agency to submit to the department a list of proposed expense types and documentation required by the guidelines that demonstrates compliance with the above-described expenditure requirements. For capital projects funded by the program, existing law requires a transit agency to specify the phases of work for which an allocation of program moneys is sought, identify sources and timing of all moneys required for those phases of work, and describe intended sources and timing of funding for subsequent phases of work, as provided. Existing law requires a recipient transit agency to provide an annual report to the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department and a recipient transit agency to comply with guidelines developed by the State Air Resources Board to ensure that the requirements of a certain investment plan are met to maximize the benefits to disadvantaged communities, as provided. This bill would revise and recast the program to, among other things, require program funds to be expended only on maintenance or expansion of bus, rail, or ferry services, transit fare subsidies, and network and fare integration technology improvements. By altering the permissible uses for which continuously appropriated funds may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. Before receiving program funds, the bill would require a recipient transit agency to submit to the department a list of services or programs to be funded by those funds, as specified. The bill would require the department to report to the Controller the recipient transit agencies that have submitted the list, and would, upon receipt of the report from the department, require the Controller to allocate program funds. The bill would require a recipient transit agency to report to the department on the expenditure of program funds, as specified.
Existing law requires a public guardian to apply for appointment as a guardian or conservator of the person, the estate, or the person and estate, if there is an imminent threat to a person's health or safety or the person's estate, there is no one else who is qualified and willing to act, as specified, the appointment would be in the best interests of the person, and the person is domiciled in the county. Existing law similarly requires a court to order a public guardian of a county to apply for appointment as a guardian or conservator if it appears that there is no one else who is qualified and willing to act, that the appointment as guardian or conservator appears to be in the best interests of the person, and the person is domiciled in the county. Existing law requires the public guardian to begin an investigation within 2 business days of receiving a referral for conservatorship or guardianship. This bill would require the public guardian to also acknowledge receipt of the referral within 2 business days and conclude the investigation within a reasonable period of time. For referrals for conservatorship, the bill would require the investigation to include a determination of whether or not a temporary or general conservatorship is warranted and would require the public guardian to inform the referring party of the investigation status upon request. By imposing new duties on the public guardian, a county officer, 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.
