Public resources.

(1) Existing law regulating commercial fishing imposes, or authorizes the imposition of, various license, permit, and registration fees. Existing law requires specified persons to pay commercial fishing fees, referred to as a "landing tax," calculated on the total weight of fish delivered, based on a rate-per-pound schedule applicable to specified aquatic species. This bill would rename the "landing tax" as a "landing fee" and would revise the rate schedule by increasing certain fees while decreasing other fees to specified amounts. The bill would make conforming and other related changes. (2) Existing law requires every operator of a subsurface installation, except the Department of Transportation, to become a member of, participate in, and share in the costs of, a regional notification center. Existing law requires an excavator planning to conduct an excavation to delineate the area to be excavated before notifying the appropriate regional notification center of the planned excavation, as provided. Existing law requires an operator, before the legal start date and time of the excavation, to locate and field mark, within the area delineated for excavation, its subsurface installations. Existing law defines the term "delineate" to include the physical identification of the area to be excavated using pink marking. Existing law would, commencing November 1, 2017, establish a process for an excavator to request and obtain a continual excavation ticket for an area of continual excavation that would be valid for one year from the date of issuance and eligible for renewal. Existing law would require this process to include onsite meetings to develop a mutually agreed-upon plan. Existing law defines an "area of continual excavation" to mean a location where excavation is part of the normal business activities of that location. This bill would delay the commencement date of the above-described process to July 1, 2020, would prescribe liability for failure to comply with this process, and would revise the definition of "delineate" to include the use of alternative marking methods and the definition of an "area of continual excavation" to limit it to a location where excavation is part of the normal business activities of agricultural operations and flood control activities. (3) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations, electrical corporations, water corporations, and pipeline corporations. Existing law requires the PUC and the Office of the State Fire Marshal to enforce the requirement to locate and field mark subsurface installations and lines against operators of gas corporations, electrical corporations, water corporations, and operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities, as specified. Existing law also authorizes a local governing board to enforce these provisions on local agencies under its jurisdiction. Existing law creates the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board under, and assisted by the staff of, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and requires the board to enforce, as specified, these provisions as to persons not listed above as operators or a local agency. Existing law also authorizes the board to prescribe rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper to carry out the purposes of these provisions and to exercise the power and duties conferred upon it. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2018, requires the board to investigate possible violations of the provisions described above, and, if it finds a probable violation, to transmit the investigation results and any recommended penalty to the state or local agency with jurisdiction over the activity or business undertaken in the commission of the violation, as specified. This bill would delay until July 1, 2020, the operative date of the board's duty to investigate possible violations of the above-described provisions. This bill would require the board to adopt, on or before January 1, 2020, regulations to establish the minimum elements for the onsite meeting and plan requirements discussed in paragraph (2) , above. (4) Existing law imposes a uniform oil spill response fee on specified persons, except specified independent crude oil producers, owning petroleum products and on pipeline operators transporting petroleum products into the state by means of a pipeline operating across, under, or through the marine waters of the state, during any period that the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund contains less than a designated amount. Existing law provides that if a loan or other transfer of money from the fund to the General Fund or special fund pursuant to the Budget Act reduces the balance of the fund to less than or equal to 95% of the designated amount, the administrator for oil spill response is not required to resume collection of the oil spill response fee if the annual Budget Act requires the transfer or loan to be repaid to the fund with interest calculated at a rate earned by the Pooled Money Investment Account and on or before June 30, 2019. This bill would postpone the requirement to repay such a transfer or loan until June 30, 2020. (5) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms in its regulation of greenhouse gases. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law requires the state board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to adopt regulations to reduce methane emissions from livestock manure management operations and dairy manure management operations, as specified. Existing law requires the department, prior to awarding grant funds from moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, to review the applicant's analysis identifying potential adverse impacts of a proposed project. Existing law prohibits a project from receiving funding from the department unless the applicant has made certain demonstrations to the department. Existing law requires the department to prioritize projects based on the criteria pollutant emission benefits achieved by the project. This bill would limit the applicability of those restrictions on awarding grant funds from moneys from the fund to projects that reduce methane emissions from livestock manure management operations and dairy manure management operations using digester technology, as specified. The Administrative Procedure Act governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. This bill would exempt from the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act guidelines governing the award, eligibility, and administration of funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund appropriated by the Budget Act of 2016, developed by a state agency that receives an appropriation from the fund. (6) Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement standards for the control of emissions from new motor vehicles that the state board finds to be necessary and technologically feasible. Existing law imposes specified civil penalties on manufacturers and distributors that violate specified motor vehicle emissions standards. This bill would require the state board and the state agency appointed by the Governor to implement a certain consent decree between the state board and certain motor vehicle manufacturers and distributors to take certain actions with respect to the investment and expenditure of funds received pursuant to that consent decree. (7) The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities. Existing law authorizes a registered professional forester in an emergency to file, on behalf of a timber owner or operator, a specified emergency notice with the department that allows for the immediate commencement of timber operations. Existing law requires the department, on or before December 31, 2017, to review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, these exemptions and emergency notice provisions. Existing law requires either the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources or the Senate Committee on Natural Resources to hold a hearing if the report is not submitted to the Legislature, as provided. This bill would instead require the report on or before December 21, 2018, and would require the report to contain additional information relating to the exemptions, including whether the exemptions are having the intended effect. The bill would also delete the requirement for a hearing if the report is not submitted. (8) Decisions of the PUC adopted the California Solar Initiative. Existing law requires the PUC to undertake certain steps in implementing the California Solar Initiative, including that the PUC ensure that not less than 10% of the funds for the California Solar Initiative are utilized for the installation of solar energy systems, as defined, on low-income residential housing, as defined. Pursuant to this requirement, the PUC adopted decisions that established the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing Program, pursuant to which the electrical corporations provide monetary incentives for the installation of solar energy systems on multifamily low-income residential housing. Existing law, beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2016, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, requires the PUC to annually authorize allocation of the lesser of $100,000,000 or 10% of the available funds from certain revenues set aside for clean energy and energy efficiency projects for the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing Program. This bill would require the PUC to annually authorize the allocation of the lesser of $100,000,000 or 66.67% of the available funds for those 4 years from those revenues for the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing Program. (9) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue lifetime sportsman's licenses, and certain lifetime hunting privileges to holders of those licenses, upon the one-time payment of specified fees. Existing law requires the department to issue lifetime hunting licenses and lifetime sport fishing licenses, under specified conditions. This bill would repeal the authorization to issue lifetime sportsman's licenses and would make conforming changes. The bill would require the department to issue similar lifetime hunting privileges currently issued to holders of lifetime sportsman's licenses to holders of the lifetime hunting licenses, upon payment of specified one-time fees. This bill would specify that the lifetime hunting licenses and the lifetime sport fishing licenses are valid for a one-year period, as specified, and may be renewed at no cost to the licensees. Existing law allocates the fees collected from the lifetime sportsman's licenses and privileges, lifetime hunting licenses and privileges, and lifetime sport fishing licenses and privileges to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and the Lifetime License Trust Account in the fund. For each lifetime license issued, existing law requires certain amounts of moneys in the account to be transferred to the fund and provides that the remaining principal balance of the account shall be used for investment purposes only. This bill would specifically allocate all of the fees collected from the lifetime sportsman's licenses and privileges, lifetime hunting licenses and privileges, and lifetime sport fishing licenses and privileges, and would repeal the account. (10) Existing law regulates the production, marketing, and sale of market milk by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, and authorizes the secretary, among other things, to prescribe marketing areas and determine minimum prices to be paid to producers by handlers for market milk, as specified. This bill would provide that, if a federal milk marketing order is established in California, the secretary is authorized to establish a stand-alone quota program in accordance with specified procedural requirements. The bill would specify that the stand-alone quota program may be funded by an assessment on milk produced in the state and would authorize the secretary to require handlers to make reports necessary for the operation of the stand-alone quota program. (11) Existing law authorizes the Division of Boating and Waterways in the Department of Parks and Recreation, subject to the approval of the Legislature in accordance with specified provisions of law, to make loans to qualified cities, counties, or districts having power to acquire, construct, and operate small craft harbors, for the design, planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of small craft harbors and facilities in connection with the harbors, and connecting waterways, if the division finds that the project is feasible. Existing law requires the division to submit any project for which it recommends any loan to be made to the Governor for inclusion in the Budget Bill. Existing law also authorizes the Division of Boating and Waterways, subject to the approval of the Legislature in accordance with specified provisions of law, to grant funds to a county, city, district, or other public agency for the construction and development of small craft launching facilities and to establish general policies for determining those projects for launching facilities that the division will recommend to the Legislature for grants of Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund moneys on the basis of which facilities will serve the public recreational boating needs. Existing law requires the division to submit any project for which it recommends any grant to be made to the Governor for inclusion in the Budget Bill. This bill would remove the requirement that the division submit any project for which it recommends any loan or grant be made to the Governor for inclusion in the Budget Bill. (12) Existing law provides that the money in the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for expenditure by the Department of Parks and Recreation for boating facilities development and other purposes. Existing law requires the department to submit to the Legislature, on or before January 1 of each year, a report describing the allocation and expenditure of funds made available to the department from the fund and from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund attributable to taxes imposed on the distribution of motor vehicle fuel used or usable in propelling vessels during the previous fiscal year. This bill would require that the report described above required to be submitted to the Legislature instead describe those allocations and expenditures from the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund and from that portion of the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund, transferred annually pursuant to a specified item in the Budget Act, attributable to taxes imposed on the distribution of motor vehicle fuel used or usable in propelling vessels during the previous fiscal year. (13) Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with coordinating efforts to attain and maintain ambient air quality standards, to conduct research into the causes of and solution to air pollution, and to systematically attack the serious problem caused by motor vehicles. Existing law requires the state board, when awarding contracts for air pollution research, to consider the capability of the University of California, as specified. This bill would additionally require the board, when awarding contracts for air pollution research, to consider the capability of the California State University, as specified. (14) Existing law states that any reference in law or regulation to the California Integrated Waste Management Board shall apply to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. Existing law requires the department to implement a recycling plan to collect and sell waste materials generated by state and legislative employees. Existing law prohibits any individual, group of individuals, state office, agency, or its employees from establishing a similar collection program or entering into an agreement for a similar program unless approved by the department. This bill would make technical changes to update the references from the board to the department. The bill would eliminate the provision that prohibits an individual, group of individuals, state office, agency, or its employees from establishing a similar collection program or entering into an agreement for a similar program unless approved by the department. Existing law authorizes revenues received from this plan or any activity involving the collection or sale of recyclable materials in state and legislative offices to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of offsetting recycling program costs. Existing law continuously appropriates, upon approval of the department, revenues derived from the sale of recyclable materials by a state agency or institution that do not exceed $2,000 for expenditure by the state agencies and institutions for the purposes of offsetting recycling program costs, and requires that revenues over $2,000 be available for expenditure by those agencies and institutions when appropriated by the Legislature. This bill would repeal the provisions related to recycling program revenue appropriations and would, instead, require the proceeds received from this plan or any other activity involving the collection and sale of recyclable materials in state and legislative offices located in state-owned and state-leased buildings to be utilized to offset program recycling costs. (15) Under existing law, various bond acts have been approved by the voters to provide funds for projects, facilities, and programs. The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative bond act approved by the voters as Proposition 84 at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5,388,000,000 for the purposes of financing a safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, and resource protection program. The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, a bond act approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $7,545,000,000 to finance a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement program. This bill would create the Natural Resources and Parks Preservation Fund in the State Treasury, to be administered by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and to consist of moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to any law. The bill would authorize moneys in the fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for programs to restore, preserve, protect, manage, or enhance California's natural, historical, or cultural resources or the environmental quality of the state. The bill would provide that eligible programs include, but are not limited to, programs that would further the purposes of the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006 or the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. (16) Under existing law, there is in state government a Native American Heritage Commission. Under existing law, the commission is empowered to do certain things, including to identify and catalog places of special religious or social significance to Native Americans, and known graves and cemeteries of Native Americans on private lands. Existing law authorizes the commission to prepare an inventory of Native American sacred places that are located on public lands. Existing law defines "California Native American Tribe" as a tribe located in California and that is on a contact list maintained by the commission, as provided. This bill would authorize the commission to establish and assess a fee on a person or public or private entity that is reasonably related to the cost of conducting a search of catalogs, inventories, or contact lists, described above, for that person or entity. (17) Existing law establishes the Agricultural Protection Planning Grant Program within the Department of Conservation, to provide planning grants to improve the protection of agricultural lands and grazing lands, including oak woodlands and grasslands. Under existing law, the program authorizes a local government entity, nonprofit organization, authority, or joint powers authority to apply for a grant under the program, to be used for the protection of agricultural lands and grazing lands, and requires those applicants to demonstrate that the changes to the existing goals, objectives, policies, or programs of the city, county, or city and county that will logically result from the grant will improve protection of agricultural land, grazing land, or grasslands. This bill would state that the Agricultural Protection Planning Grant Program is instead established to provide planning grants for new specified purposes. The bill would authorize applicants for grants to instead demonstrate that the changes that will logically result from the grant will have a beneficial effect on climate change goals for agricultural land, grazing land, or grasslands. Existing law requires the department to develop and adopt guidelines and criteria for awarding grants under the program that achieve the greatest lasting preservation of agricultural land. This bill would instead only require the department to develop and adopt guidelines and criteria for awarding grants under the program. Existing law prohibits the department from awarding an Agricultural Protection Planning Grant in excess of $250,000 to any applicant and $500,000 if the department determines that the grant application is for collaborative planning activities proposed to include 2 or more adjacent counties, cities, or city and county. This bill would change these limits to $500,000 and $750,000, respectively. (18) Existing law establishes the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and authorizes the board to engage in various flood control activities along the Sacramento River, the San Joaquin River, their tributaries, and related areas. Existing law establishes the Flood Risk Management Fund in the State Treasury and requires all penalty funds received from administrative or civil enforcement actions to abate and remedy any interference or potential interference with facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control, designated floodways, or streams that are regulated by the board to be paid into the fund and to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the board to carry out certain enforcement actions. This bill would authorize the board, after holding at least one public hearing, to set and charge fees sufficient to cover the reasonable cost for the services it provides, as specified. The bill would require all funds received from these fees to be paid into the fund. (19) Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to supervise the maintenance and operation of dams and reservoirs as necessary to safeguard life and property. Existing law prohibits the construction of any new dam or reservoir or the enlargement of any dam or reservoir from being commenced until the owner has applied for and obtained from the department written approval of plans and specifications. This bill would require any person who unlawfully constructs or operates a dam without approval from the department to pay a specified fine. The bill would authorize the department to impose reservoir restrictions and levy property liens on an owner of a dam who fails to comply with certain provisions relating to dam safety or any approval, order, rule, regulation, or requirement of the department. The bill would authorize the department to impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day, in addition to any other penalty, upon any owner of a dam who fails to comply with these provisions relating to dam safety. The bill would require, if a dam is owned by one or more persons or entities, that the owners form or delegate legal and financial authority to a single entity that is required to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the dam, as well as the payment of any fees or other costs associated with dam ownership. (20) Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, requires the Director of Emergency Services to coordinate the emergency services of all state agencies in connection with a state or local emergency. The act requires local governmental organizations, utilities, or other public or private owners of a dam to submit an inundation map that delineates potential flood zones that could result in the event of dam failure when the reservoir is at specified capacities and requires the Office of Emergency Services to review the maps to determine whether the maps meet prescribed requirements. This bill would make an owner of a dam that is regulated by the state responsible for emergency preparedness with regard to the potential for loss of life and property resulting from the failure of a dam or its critical appurtenant structures, as defined. The bill would require the Department of Water Resources, not later than July 1, 2017, to classify the public safety risk of all state jurisdictional dams, as prescribed, and to revise the classification of a dam to reflect changes in downstream population, critical infrastructure, and land use. The bill would require the owner of a dam that is regulated by the state, except for a dam classified as low hazard, to prepare and submit to the department for approval an inundation map showing the area that would be subject to flooding under various failure scenarios unique to the dam and the critical appurtenant structures of the dam. The act requires the Office of Emergency Services to designate areas within which death or personal injury would, in its determination, result from the partial or total failure of a dam. The act authorizes the appropriate public safety agencies to adopt certain emergency procedures for the evacuation and control of these areas and requires the office to review and make recommendations concerning the procedures. Under the act, any person who violates any of the provisions of the act or who refuses or willfully neglects to obey any lawful order or regulation promulgated or issued as provided by the act is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would instead require the owner of a dam, on or before a date determined by the level of hazard classification of the dam, to develop and submit to the Department of Water Resources and the Office of Emergency Services an emergency action plan with certain components, based upon the inundation map or maps approved by the department. The bill would require the office to review and approve an emergency action plan, as prescribed, and to give priority in its review to dams with the highest hazard classification. The bill would require the owner of a dam to update this emergency action plan, including an inundation map, no less frequently than every 10 years, or sooner under prescribed conditions. The bill would require the owner of a dam who fails to comply with a department order to prepare an acceptable emergency action plan to pay the cost and expense incurred by the department to prepare the emergency action plan. The bill would require a dam owner to develop an emergency action plan in consultation with a local public safety agency that may be impacted by an incident involving the owner's dam, to the extent the local public safety agency wishes to consult. The bill would require a dam owner to conduct an emergency action plan notification exercise at least once annually with a local public safety agency that wishes to participate. The bill would authorize a public safety agency that adopts emergency procedures to review and update these procedures, as specified. The bill would exempt an emergency action plan from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. Because a violation of provisions added to the act relating to an emergency action plan or the willful neglect to obey any order or regulation relating to an emergency action plan would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (21) Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to adopt, by regulation, a schedule of fees to cover the department's costs in carrying out the supervision of dam safety. Existing law requires the annual fee of $400 per dam, plus $110 per foot of height, adjusted as prescribed, to be paid on or before July 1. This bill would require the department to adopt, by emergency regulation, a schedule of fees based in part on the height of the dam to cover the department's reasonable regulatory costs in carrying out the supervision of dam safety, including, among other things, the costs of reviewing an inundation map, the amounts necessary to repay budgetary loans, and a prudent reserve. Existing law limits the total annual fee for a dam or reservoir located on a farm or ranch property or a privately owned dam with less than 100 acre-feet of storage capacity to $150 per dam and $16 per foot of height, adjusted as prescribed. This bill would limit the total annual fee for the above-described dams to no more than 20% of the fees assessed pursuant to the schedule of fees described above. (22) Existing law requires a fee, based on estimated cost, be paid by an applicant for approval to build a new dam or reservoir or to enlarge a dam or reservoir, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources, in the event the actual cost exceeds the estimated cost by more than 15%, to require a further fee before final approval of a dam, calculated as prescribed. Existing law requires an owner who fails to pay any annual fee imposed by the department for the supervision of dam safety or any part of the annual fee within the time required to pay a penalty of 10% of the annual fee or part of the annual fee, plus interest at the rate of 1% per month, or fraction of a month, from the date on which the fee became due and payable to the state until the date of payment. This bill would apply this penalty to an owner who fails to pay a required further fee or any part of a required further fee based on exceeding the estimated cost of building a new dam, reservoir, or enlarging a dam or reservoir. (23) Existing law establishes the Delta Stewardship Council, which consists of 7 members and is responsible for developing, adopting, and implementing a comprehensive management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Existing law requires members of the council to select a chairperson from among the members, who serves for not more than 4 years in that capacity. This bill would, until January 1, 2019, authorize the selected chairperson to serve not more than 6 years in that capacity. (24) This bill would appropriate $285,000 to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy from the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Fund of 2006 for watershed protection assistance grants. (25) 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. (26) 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. (27) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.