Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) , to determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans. This bill would require the PUC, when requiring procurement of resources under an integrated resource plan, to account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and would require the PUC to enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as specified, to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers. This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions, and to request the ISO to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind. The bill would require the commission to designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources for purposes of the ISO's scoring in its interconnection process, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2476 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2476 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2111 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2111 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
(1) Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , to provide transmission-focused guidance to the Independent System Operator (ISO) about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, including the allocation of those resources by region based on technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers, as specified. On December 23, 2022, the PUC, the Energy Commission, and the ISO entered into a memorandum of understanding related to resource and transmission planning, transmission development and permitting, procurement, and interconnections to achieve reliability and policy needs and to coordinate the timely development of resources, resource interconnections, and needed transmission infrastructure. Existing law requires the Energy Commission and the PUC, in coordination with the ISO, every 5 years, to review the memorandum of understanding and a related workplan to ensure the memorandum and workplan reflect the coordination that is needed to help meet the state's energy goals. This bill would require those entities, on or before January 1, 2028, to update the memorandum and workplan to, among other things, ensure that the memorandum and workplan reflect the requirements of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 1920, as applicable. (2) Existing law vests the PUC with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy and resource diversity in a cost-effective manner, as specified. This bill would require that the portfolio provide optimal integration in a cost-effective and risk-prudent manner, as specified. (3) Existing law requires that the above-described transmission-focused guidance provided to the ISO provide projections each year to support planning and approvals by the ISO in its annual transmission planning process, including projections of resource portfolios and electricity demand by region for at least 15 years into the future, as specified. Existing law expresses the state policy that planning for new transmission facilities include consideration of the goal of increasing systemwide reliability and cost efficiency, among other state policy goals. This bill would require that the transmission-focused guidance takes into account uncertainty and optionality, is risk prudent, and supports compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders, as specified. The bill would remove the requirement that the projections be provided annually and would require the projections of resource portfolios and electricity demand by region to be for at least 20, rather than 15, years into the future. The bill would add to those state policy goals reducing resource interconnection timelines and supporting achievement of the state's energy, climate change, and air quality goals. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2369 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2369 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of a PUC action implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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 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 requires the department to annually adjust the fees, as specified. This bill would require the department to consider making the fees proportionate to the impact of a project and the use of tiered fees by project type, size, or other criteria. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1927.8 of the Fish and Game Code proposed by AB 1808 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1808 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act, establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and prescribes the authorities, duties, and responsibilities of the commission pertaining to energy matters. This bill would require the commission, in consultation with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and other relevant state agencies, to identify and designate Strategic Clean Energy and Critical Mineral Development Zones. The bill would authorize the county in which a proposed zone is located to submit a request for designation and would authorize the county board of supervisors to, by resolution, authorize the request for designation. The bill would authorize multiple counties to submit a request for designation if a proposed zone crosses the jurisdictional boundaries of the counties, as provided. The bill would require the commission to approve or deny a complete submission within 180 days. The bill would require a zone to consist only of geographic areas located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the county submitting the request for designation and would require that certain criteria be satisfied, including that the zone be in an area identified by state or federal agencies as containing significant deposits or identified production potential of critical minerals used in battery, clean energy, or advanced manufacturing supply chains, as specified. The bill would require the commission to review the designated zones at least every 5 years and authorize the commission to update the designated zones as appropriate based on changes in energy resources, infrastructure, or economic development planning. The bill would require state agencies administering programs related to economic development, advanced manufacturing, workforce development, or critical mineral supply chains to give priority consideration to projects, infrastructure investments, and technical assistance located within designated zones that support large-scale clean energy production or energy-intensive industrial development. The bill would require the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to consider designated zones when administering programs intended to support advanced manufacturing, clean technology industries, energy storage supply chains, and other energy-intensive industries. The bill would authorize the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to coordinate with the commission and other relevant state agencies to support site readiness, infrastructure development, and attracting investment within designated zones. The bill would require the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and state agencies administering programs related to economic development, advanced manufacturing, workforce development, or critical mineral supply chains to give priority consideration to projects that will provide for the payment of prevailing wages, the employment of apprentices from state-approved projects, and the use of a skilled and trained workforce.
Existing law authorizes a person that owns or controls brush-covered land, forest lands, woodland, grassland, and shrubland within a state responsibility area to apply to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for permission to use prescribed burning for certain public purposes. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to enter into an agreement for prescribed burning with a person to conduct the prescribed burning operations for certain purposes. Existing law requires the department to develop a training program for prescribed fire users to certify professionals as burn bosses. Existing law requires the department to conduct an experimental program of wildland resources management through prescribed burning and other methods in 2 areas of wildlands. This bill would require the department, on an annual basis, to allocate not less than 10% of funding appropriated to the department for local assistance and other grant programs where prescribed or beneficial fire is an eligible activity, consistent with the term of the appropriation, to expand training, organizational capacity, and support for community-led beneficial fire programs, including, but not limited to, those developed by California Native American tribes, nongovernmental organizations, universities and colleges, resources conservation districts, volunteer fire districts, and other local or special districts, as provided. The bill would require at least 25% of that allocation be awarded to California Native American tribes or tribally led or indigenous-led organizations, except as specified.
Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, including the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 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. Existing law requires the task force, on or before March 1, 2026, and every 5 years thereafter, to update that action plan, as provided. Existing law establishes, in the Department of Conservation, a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to support regional leadership to build local and regional capacity and develop, prioritize, and implement strategies and projects that create fire-adapted communities and landscapes, as provided. Existing law requires the department to, upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes of the program, provide block grants to regional entities, as defined, to develop regional strategies that develop governance structures, identify wildfire risks, foster collaboration, and prioritize and implement projects within the region to achieve the goals of the program, as specified. Existing law authorizes the regional entities, as defined, to implement activities pursuant to this program, directly or by providing subgrants or contracts, and collaborative planning efforts with local entities to accomplish development of regional priority strategies, among other objectives. Existing law authorizes the department to, until July 1, 2025, authorize advance payments of grants awarded pursuant to the program. This bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Conservation to directly award regional landscape grants to regional entities to implement the above-described regional priority strategies to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. The bill would extend the authorization for the department to award advance payments of grants awarded pursuant to the program indefinitely. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires moneys appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for landscape-scale projects to be allocated to subsidize the removal of small-diameter material and dead trees, for multiple benefit projects, and for activities on national forest lands, as provided. This bill would additionally require moneys appropriated to the department for landscape-scale projects to be allocated for projects that improve ecosystem health and for regional landscape grants that the director would be authorized to directly award to regional entities, as defined, to implement the above-described regional priority strategies. The bill would also require the director, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to, before the issuance of these grants, establish guidelines for funding the grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening education activities in the state and extends eligibility for grants to, among others, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified community conservation corps, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. Existing law requires eligible activities under the local assistance grant program to include, but not be limited to, vegetation management along roadways and driveways to reduce fire risk, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to, until July 1, 2025, authorize advance payments from grants awarded pursuant to the local assistance grant program. This bill would expand eligible activities to include vegetation modification and specify that the vegetation management and modification along roadways and driveways includes wildfire ignition risk. The bill would also add ignition prevention, as defined, to the eligible activities. The bill would extend the authorization for the department to award advance payments from grants awarded pursuant to the program indefinitely. The Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947 establishes the Wildlife Conservation Board within the Department of Fish and Wildlife to investigate, study, and determine what areas within the state are most essential and suitable for wildlife production and preservation, among other things. Under existing law, the board administers various habitat conservation programs. This bill would authorize the Wildlife Conservation Board to award regional landscape grants to local entities, as defined, to implement regional priority strategies as described above. The bill would also require, before the issuance of these grants, the board, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to establish guidelines for funding these regional landscape grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4799.05 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 1699 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1699 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
(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 with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Under existing law, the commission administers, or otherwise oversees, various public purpose programs, including energy efficiency and conservation programs, cost-effective energy efficiency programs, the Family Electric Rate Assistance program, the California Alternate Rates for Energy program, rate assistance programs for eligible food banks, and home insulation financial assistance programs. Under existing law, those programs are generally funded through a charge on electrical service, which is collected through customer rates. This bill would require the commission, no later than 180 days after filing, to consider and approve an electrical or gas corporation's application to discontinue administration of an energy efficiency program or an energy efficiency portfolio because the program is not cost effective, not reliable, or, in the case of an electrical corporation, because the program is not being used to meet unmet resource needs in its integrated resources planning framework, as provided. Because a violation of a commission order implementing this provision 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 the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program to protect California's rangeland, grazing land, and grasslands through the use of conservation easements, for specified purposes. Existing law authorizes, under the program, funds to be expended by the Wildlife Conservation Board for the acquisition of conservation easements over qualified property, as defined, and authorizes the board to make grants of funds to a state agency, local public agency, or nonprofit organization for the acquisition of conservation easements over qualified property. The Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, approved by the voters as Proposition 4 at the November 5, 2024, statewide general election, authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs. The act makes available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, $870,000,000 to the board for grant programs to protect and enhance fish and wildlife resources and habitat and achieve the state's biodiversity, public access, and conservation goals. This bill would appropriate, from the above-described bond funds made available to the board, $90,000,000 to the board to award under the program as grants to eligible entities, as defined, to acquire conservation easements on privately owned qualified property that supports food and fiber production and ecosystem services, including wildfire fuel reduction, groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, and scenic open space. The bill would require, on or before June 30, 2029, a grantee to expend the grant funds to acquire a conservation easement and record the conservation easement. The bill would authorize the board to partner with, and receive funds from, land trusts that are certified by the United States Department of Agriculture, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Natural Resources Agency. Under existing law, the department has jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. This bill would require the department to develop and make publicly available a roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable, and the extent to which the ecological functions once provided by the grizzly bear may be restored through human-mediated landscape restoration, including through reintroduction of the species. The bill would also require the department, by June 30, 2030, to submit the roadmap document to relevant budget and policy committees of the Legislature, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Fish and Game Commission. The bill would prohibit reintroduction of the grizzly bear in the state until the department or others have carried out various actions, including, among other things, completion of the roadmap, determinations, based on the best available science, that establishment of a self-sustaining grizzly population in the state is biologically viable, and a consultation with California Native American tribes and engagement with communities, as specified. The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation, except as specified.
