Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide coverage for specified benefits. This bill, until January 1, 2019, would require a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2017, to include coverage for hearing aids for an enrollee or insured under 18 years of age, as specified. These provisions would become inoperative if the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance receive a notification from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or any other applicable federal agency that these provisions constitute a discriminatory age limitation under federal law and the state is required to defray the costs of requiring a plan contract or policy to include coverage for hearing aids on behalf of enrollees or insureds who are 18 years of age or older pursuant to a specified federal law. Because a willful violation of these requirements by a health care service plan 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.
Existing law provides for certain services, protections, and benefits for veterans. Existing law establishes a 3-percent participation goal for disabled veteran business enterprises in state procurement. This bill would allow entities meeting specified requirements to apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs to become certified California veteran service providers. The bill would require the department to maintain a list of certified California veteran service providers on its Internet Web site, including the type of supportive services provided by the providers. The bill would require that certification would remain valid for 3 years unless the entity is decertified by the department. The bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2017, to adopt rules, procedures, and regulations as necessary to certify an entity, and to decertify an entity if it no longer meets the requirements to be a certified California veteran service provider. The bill would require the department to adopt a fee to defray the department's reasonable cost of certification not to exceed $750.
Existing law specifies the number of judges for the superior court of each county. Existing law allocates additional judgeships to the various counties in accordance with uniform standards for factually determining additional judicial need in each county, as updated and approved by the Judicial Council, pursuant to the Update of Judicial Needs Study, based on specified criteria, including, among others, workload standards that represent the average amount of time of bench and nonbench work required to resolve each case type. This bill would require the allocation of up to 5 vacant judgeships, as defined, from superior courts with more authorized judgeships than their assessed judicial need to superior courts with fewer authorized judgeships than their assessed judicial need. The bill would require the allocation to be in accordance with a methodology approved by the Judicial Council, as specified, and would require the determination of a superior court's assessed judicial need to be in accordance with the above uniform standards and be based on the criteria described above. The bill would require the Judicial Council, if a vacant judgeship is eligible for allocation to another superior court, to promptly notify the applicable courts, the Legislature, and the Governor that the judgeship shall be allocated to another court. This bill would also make a statement of legislative intent regarding the authority of the Legislature, the Governor, and the Chief Justice of California.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for electrical corporations and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires public utilities to develop programs in cooperation with local school districts in reducing their electricity and gas bills through conservation and improvements in efficiency. Existing law authorizes public utilities to offer school districts on a priority basis, and authorizes school districts to utilize, any programs or incentives for commercial customers developed by the utility and approved by the commission, including rebates, loan programs, and incentives for the installation of efficient lighting, heating, or cooling systems. This bill would require the commission to consider the effects of establishing a rate for electric service specific to public elementary and secondary schools, including consideration of the extent to which the average electrical bills paid by public elementary and secondary schools will increase or decrease and the consistency between establishing the rate and other statutory obligations and state policies. The bill would require the commission to report its findings and conclusions to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2018.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Each of these segments is authorized to provide instruction and other services to the students who attend the institutions under their respective jurisdictions. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever in the judgment of the board the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so. This bill would establish the Transit Pass Program to be administered by the Department of Transportation with moneys made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to support transit pass programs that provide free or reduced-fare transit passes to specified pupils and students. The bill would require the department to develop guidelines that describe the criteria that eligible transit providers are required to use to make available free or reduced-fare transit passes to eligible participants. The bill would exempt those guidelines from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would require eligible transit providers and eligible participants to enter into agreements for the distribution of free or reduced-fare transit passes to students. This bill would require that the guidelines ensure that moneys from the program are used to expand eligibility or further reduce the cost of a transit pass under existing programs. The bill would require the department to develop performance measures and reporting requirements to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, including an annual update of the number of free or reduced-fare transit passes distributed to pupils and students and whether the program is increasing transit ridership among pupils and students. The bill would set a minimum allocation of $20,000 for each eligible transit provider and would provide for the distribution and allocation of remaining Transit Pass Program moneys by formula to eligible transit providers. The bill would require, for purposes of determining an eligible transit provider's eligibility for moneys distributed to a transportation planning agency from the Public Transportation Account, that free or discounted transit fare passes be calculated at their full retail value.
Existing law authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt, amend, and repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. Existing regulations adopted pursuant to that authorization require natural gas that is delivered into any vessel or system, as specified, to have a distinctive odor of sufficient intensity so that the presence of the gas may be detected down to concentrations in air of not over 20% of the lower explosive limit, and require that these odorants be, among other things, harmless to humans, nontoxic, and noncorrosive to certain metals. This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2019, that includes an assessment of any potential danger of odorants currently used in natural gas storage facilities in the state to public health and safety and the environment, and that identifies alternative odorants for possible use in natural gas storage facilities, as specified. The bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to consult with appropriate entities, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Under existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, the Emergency Medical Services Authority is responsible for establishing training, scope of practice, and continuing education for emergency medical technicians and other prehospital personnel, including Emergency Medical Technician-I (EMT-I) , Emergency Medical Technician-II (EMT-II) , and Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic (EMT-P) designations. The act authorizes an employer of an EMT-I or EMT-II to conduct investigations and take disciplinary action against an EMT-I or EMT-II who is employed by that employer for specified conduct, and authorizes the authority to, among other things, deny, suspend, or revoke any EMT-P license for the same specified conduct. Existing law requires an EMT-P's employer to report in writing to the local EMS agency and the authority within 30 days of specified disciplinary action being taken with regard to an EMT-P. This bill would require the authority to develop and adopt guidelines for disciplinary orders, temporary suspensions, and conditions of probation for EMT-P licenseholders. The bill would also integrate and conform the procedures for investigating misconduct of EMT-P licenseholders with those of EMT-I and EMT-II certificate holders, including requiring notification of disciplinary action with regard to an EMT-P to be given to the local EMS agency and the authority within 3 days. Existing law authorizes the medical director of the local EMS agency to evaluate information that comes to his or her attention that appears to constitute grounds for disciplinary action against an EMT-P and to make a recommendation to the authority for further investigation or discipline. Existing law also authorizes the temporary suspension, in specified circumstances, of an EMT-P license. This bill would require the medical director of the local EMS agency, if he or she makes a recommendation to the authority for further investigation or discipline, to notify the EMT-P's employer within 3 days. The bill would additionally require notification of the EMT-P's employer when there is a temporary suspension of an EMT-P's license.
Existing law specifies numerous rights and protections for teachers employed by school districts. This bill would require the principal of each school in a school district to ensure that a conspicuous notice, which describes certain teacher rights and protections, that is accessible to all teachers is posted in a common area of the administrative offices. By imposing additional duties on school district officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that its provisions are declaratory of existing law and that they shall not be construed to establish any right not otherwise provided for under state or federal law. 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law establishes the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma for the purpose of recognizing pupils who have mastered the high school curriculum. Existing law also establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. This bill would establish a State Seal of STEM to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The bill would establish criteria for the receipt of the State Seal of STEM, would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare and deliver to participating school districts an appropriate insignia to be affixed to pupil diplomas or transcripts, and would require participating school districts to maintain appropriate records and affix the appropriate insignia to diplomas or transcripts of recipient pupils. The bill would not become operative until after data from the statewide administration of specified state science assessments are available. The bill's provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2025.
The Quentin L. Kopp Conflict of Interest Act of 1990 requires a member of the State Board of Equalization who has received a contribution or contributions within the preceding 12 months in an aggregate amount of $250 or more from a party or his or her agent, or from any participant or his or her agent, to, prior to rendering any decision in any adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board, disclose that fact on the record of the proceeding. A member is prohibited from making, participating in making, or in any way attempting to use his or her official position to influence, the decision in an adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board if the member knows or has reason to know that he or she received a contribution or contributions within the preceding 12 months in an aggregate amount of $250 or more from a party or his or her agent, or from a participant or his or her agent, and the member knows or has reason to know that the participant has a financial interest in the decision. The act also requires a party to, or a participant in, an adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board to disclose on the record of the proceeding any contribution or contributions in an aggregate amount of $250 or more made within the preceding 12 months by the party or participant, or his or her agent, to any member of the board. A person who knowingly or willfully violates any provision of the act is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the board, on or before January 1, 2018, to prepare a report analyzing the impact on the board and those making contributions to the board of lowering the monetary threshold that triggers the requirements of the Quentin L. Kopp Conflict of Interest Act of 1990 from $250 to $100.
(1) Existing law requires the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation to regulate the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities attendant to oil and gas production. Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, on or before the first day of October of each year, to make public a report on specified information. This bill would require the supervisor to establish an inspection program for all activities regulated pursuant to these provisions and would require the total number of inspections and results of the inspections to be included in the above-referenced report. The bill would require the division's regulations, field rules, notices, manuals, and other requirements to be reviewed and revised, as needed, through a public process at least once every 10 years. The bill would require the division, as part of the Oil and Gas Data Management System developed pursuant to the Budget Act of 2015, to ensure that required well data and well-related submissions are retained and readily available to the public and that publicly available data are machine readable. Unless otherwise incorporated in the Oil and Gas Data Management System, the bill would require the division to post certain information that it receives on its Internet Web site. The bill would define "enhanced oil recovery" for purposes of provisions relating to the regulation of oil and gas. The bill would require the division, by July 1, 2017, to develop and implement additional safeguards, as needed, to protect groundwater where a well stimulation treatment is proposed for a shallow well or at a shallow depth in a well, as specified. (2) Existing law requires an owner or operator of a well to keep, or cause to be kept, and requires the operator to file with the district deputy at specified times, a careful and accurate log, core record, and history of the drilling of the well. Existing law requires the well history to show the location and amount of sidetracked casings, tools, or other material, the depth and quantity of cement in cement plugs, the shots of dynamite or other explosives, acid treatment data, the results of production and other tests during drilling operations, and all data on well stimulation treatments. Existing law requires the owner of any well to file with the supervisor a monthly statement that provides certain information relating to the well, including the amount of water produced from each well. Existing law provides that a person who fails to comply with specific laws relating to the regulation of oil or gas operations, including failing to furnish a report or record, is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would, in addition, require all operations on or in the well of any form to be systematically, completely, and accurately described and recorded in the well history. The bill would require any fluid injected or emplaced in the well to be fully characterized and reported as part of the history, as specified. The bill would require the monthly statement to the supervisor to include the full characterization of the chemical composition of water produced from each well. The bill would also require the operator of a waste disposal well to provide to the supervisor each quarter certain information regarding waste disposal injections. The bill would prohibit, commencing July 1, 2017, a chemical from being injected or emplaced in a well unless the division has in its possession specified information developed through established techniques about its physical, chemical, and biological properties in order to permit assessment of its toxicity, persistence, and mobility in the surrounding environment. The bill would require the division to post a list of chemicals and the measured parameters that meet this criteria on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the division to consult with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in establishing the acceptable techniques and the list of measured parameters. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulates certain wells as Class II wells. Under existing federal law, the authority to regulate Class II wells in California is delegated to the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. Under existing regulations, a well operator is required to obtain approval from the supervisor or a district deputy for a subsurface injection or disposal project, including Class II wells, or any change in a project, as provided. This bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2018, to update and revise these regulations, except as specified, according to specified criteria and would require the division to consult with independent experts and stakeholders in the development and review of the regulations. The bill would require the regulations to include certain requirements, including reporting requirements. The bill would require injection wells and well projects existing as of December 31, 2017, to be brought into compliance with these regulations on or before January 1, 2020. The bill would require these provisions to be liberally construed in order to meet specified requirements and to provide public transparency. The bill would provide that where the division shares jurisdiction over an injection well with a federal entity, the division's rules and regulations are to apply in addition to all applicable federal laws and regulations. The bill would require an injection well subject to specified emergency regulations, or any successor regulations, of the division regarding aquifer exemptions to immediately cease injection operations, other than those required for plugging and abandonment operations, if the well is not in compliance with those regulations by the applicable regulatory deadline. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, whenever it determines that an oil sump, as defined, is hazardous to wildlife or constitutes an immediate and grave danger to wildlife, to notify the State Oil and Gas Supervisor of the condition so that the supervisor may take action to have the condition cleaned up or abated. Under existing law, the Legislature finds and declares that it is essential in order to protect the wildlife resources of California that all hazardous exposed oil sumps in this state be either screened or eliminated. This bill would revise the definition of an oil sump and provide that, in order to protect groundwater, surface water, air quality, and wildlife resources, commencing July 1, 2017, no oil sumps shall be used for the disposal of waters or waste waters attendant to oil and gas field exploration, development, and production. (5) 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 Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program in the California Physician Corps Program within the Health Professions Education Foundation, which provides financial incentives, including repayment of educational loans, to a physician and surgeon who practices in a medically underserved area, as defined, and who is trained in, and practices, in certain practice settings or primary specialities, as defined. Existing law authorizes the selection committee to fill up to 20% of the available positions with program applicants from specialities outside of the primary specialties, including psychiatry. Existing law establishes the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians, a continuously appropriated account, within the Health Professions Education Fund that is managed by the Health Professions Education Foundation and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, to primarily provide funding for the ongoing operations of the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and imposes certain requirements on health care service plans. Existing law imposes various fines and administrative penalties on health care service plans for certain violations of the act, which are deposited into the Managed Care Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund. Existing law requires the first $1,000,000 in the fund to be transferred each year to the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians and to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. Existing law requires all remaining funds to be transferred each year to the Major Risk Medical Insurance Fund and to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program. The bill would instead require, after the first $1,000,000 is transferred from the Managed Care Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund to the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians, $1,000,000 to be transferred each year to the Major Risk Medical Insurance Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program. The bill would require any amount remaining over the amounts transferred to the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians and the Major Risk Medical Insurance Fund to be transferred each year to the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program, and provide that one-half of these moneys may be prioritized to fund the repayment of loans for those program applicants who are trained in, and practice, psychiatry, under the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. The bill would also delete a reference to an obsolete program and make other technical, nonsubstantive changes.
