Bureau of Automotive Repair: administration: trusted dealer certification.

Existing law, the Automotive Repair Act, provides for the registration and regulation of automotive repair dealers by the Bureau of Automotive Repair in the Department of Consumer Affairs. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor unless otherwise specified, and may subject a licensee to disciplinary action, including license suspension or revocation. Existing law requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to investigate on a continuous basis and gather evidence of violations of the act, as specified, and authorizes the director to revoke, suspend, or deny a registration on any grounds for disciplinary action provided in the act. Existing law requires disciplinary proceedings to be conducted pursuant to specified administrative adjudication provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. Those provisions require an agency to take one of specified actions within 100 days of receiving a proposed decision by an administrative law judge in a contested case. Existing law prohibits a state agency from employing any in-house counsel to act on behalf of the agency unless the agency has first obtained the written consent of the Attorney General. This bill would require the Director of Consumer Affairs to appoint at least one administrative law judge for each regional office of the bureau to conduct proceedings under the act, and to appoint a chief administrative law judge to organize, coordinate, supervise, and direct the operations of the administrative law judges. The bill would require the director to employ legal counsel, legal assistants, and other personnel that may be necessary for the administration and enforcement of the act. The bill would require the director to take one of specified actions within 10 days of receiving a proposed decision from an administrative law judge in a contested case. This bill would also require the bureau, by July 1, 2022, to establish by regulation a trusted dealer certification program for automotive repair dealers, as specified. The bill would require the bureau to issue a trusted dealer certification to an automotive repair dealer who meets specified requirements, including payment of an annual fee and agreeing to be subject to up to 2 investigations by the bureau's enforcement program each year. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2022, prohibit an automotive repair dealer from using the term "trusted dealer" unless the automobile repair dealer holds a valid trusted dealer certification issued by the bureau. Because a violation of these provisions by a automotive repair dealer 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.