Existing law authorizes any corporation organized for or engaged in the business of selling, distributing, supplying, or delivering water for irrigation purposes, and requires any corporation organized for or engaged in the business of selling, distributing, supplying, or delivering water for domestic use, to provide in its articles or bylaws that water shall be sold, distributed, supplied, or delivered only to owners of its shares and that those shares are appurtenant to certain lands, as specified. Under existing law, these corporations are known as mutual water companies. This bill would prohibit a mutual water company from charging, issuing a bill, or otherwise seeking to hold tenants of shareholders responsible for the costs of water or its delivery, except for specified tenants, and would require all notices of charges for water to be sent to the last known address of the shareholder or tenant, as applicable, or by electronic mail if the shareholder or tenant, as applicable, has provided and verified the use of an electronic mail address to the company within the last year. Existing law authorizes a mutual water company that is not a public utility to levy assessments upon its shares, except as provided. This bill would require a mutual water company that operates a public water system and that proposes to levy an assessment or to increase the charge for water to shareholders by more than 20% to comply with specified notice and public meeting requirements before it seeks to collect the assessment or increase the water charge. The bill would require the mutual water company to prepare a written proposal at least 45 days before a public meeting to adopt a proposal to collect an assessment or to increase a water charge, as specified, and to convene a public meeting regarding the proposal, as provided. The bill would require the mutual water company to provide or send a copy of the written proposal and the notice of the public meeting, at least 45 days beforehand, to specified persons, along with other information, and to also provide or send a copy of the written proposal and the notice to a newspaper of general circulation or another specified communication outlet. The bill would also require the company to post a copy of the written proposal and the notice, at least 45 days beforehand, on the company's internet websites or social media platforms, as applicable. The bill would require the individual votes of board members of the mutual water company on the assessment or the increase of the water charge to be recorded in the minutes of the board meeting. The bill would prohibit the mutual water company from beginning to collect an assessment or increase a water charge earlier than 30 days after the public meeting where the proposed assessment is adopted. Existing law requires a mutual water company that operates a public water system to make certain records promptly available upon written request to an eligible person, as defined, upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication, including, among other documents, agendas and minutes of board meetings and copies of the mutual water company's annual budget and accounting report. Existing law defines "eligible persons" for purposes of this requirement to include, among others, shareholders of the mutual water company, a person who is an occupant, pursuant to a lease or rental agreement, of commercial space or a dwelling unit to which the mutual water company sells, distributes, supplies, or delivers drinking water, and an elected official of a city or county who represents people who receive drinking water directly from the mutual water company, as specified. This bill would additionally require a mutual water company to make available to those eligible persons, upon request, a copy of a written proposal to levy an assessment or to increase a water charge. The bill would also include as an eligible person, for purposes of all of the above-described provisions, the chief administrative officer for each city, county, and government water agency in the mutual water company's service area, as specified. The bill would prohibit a mutual water company that provides the requested records in digital form from charging for any duplication costs, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Maddy Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fund and authorizes each county to establish an emergency medical services fund for reimbursement of costs related to emergency medical services. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, requires 15% of the fund to be used to, among other things, improve access to, and coordination of, pediatric trauma and emergency services, with specified preferences, and requires the cost of administering money deposited into the EMS Fund to be reimbursed from the money collected, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, authorizes county boards of supervisors to elect to levy an additional penalty, for deposit into the EMS Fund, in the amount of $2 for every $10 upon fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected for criminal offenses. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, requires 15% of the funds collected pursuant to that provision to be used to provide funding for pediatric trauma centers. This bill would extend the operative date of these provisions until January 1, 2037.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, when amending or adopting regulations that may impact the visitation of inmates, to recognize and consider the value of visiting as a means to improve prison safety, the important role of inmate visitation in maintaining connection with family and community, and the role of inmate visitation in preparing for successful release. This bill would require each facility, as defined, to establish at least 3 days of visitation per week. The bill would require a facility, if it will not be open for visitation, to provide notice to the impacted population as soon as possible. The bill would authorize a facility to deny contact visits only for specified reasons, including, among others, possession of contraband or pending or sustained rules violations that result in a restricted housing unit term. The bill would require facility staff to take specified actions with regard to correctable issues with a visitation, including, among other things, allowing the visitor a reasonable opportunity to correct the issue and return to visiting up to one hour before the end of the visiting period. The bill would prohibit denial of visitation if a visitor has traveled more than 170 miles to attend a visit and has not visited within 30 days, unless there has been a finding of a credible and documented security threat. The bill would prohibit a facility from searching visitors without their voluntary, informed, and written consent. The bill would authorize a facility to respond to refusal of that search only with denial of contact visiting for that day, and would require the facility to offer a noncontact visit on the same day, if space is available. The bill would authorize other restrictions and procedures for searches of visitors, as specified.
Existing law requires a housing development project to be an allowed use as a transit-oriented housing development if certain requirements are met. Existing law provides that these provisions do not apply to a local agency until July 1, 2026, unless the local agency takes specified actions. Existing law defines various terms for these purposes. Existing law prohibits a local government from adopting any requirement that applies to a project solely or partially on the basis that the project is seeking approval as a transit-oriented housing development, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit a local government with an existing or planned transit-oriented development stop from taking specified actions with respect to transit agencies and transit projects.
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.
