Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the Independent System Operator, to establish resource adequacy requirements for all load-serving entities, as defined. In establishing the resource adequacy requirements, existing law requires the commission to ensure the reliability of electrical service in the state while advancing, to the extent possible, the state's goals for clean energy, reducing air pollution, and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law requires that the resource adequacy program achieve specified objectives, including to establish new, or maintain existing, demand response products and tariffs that facilitate the economic dispatch and use of demand response that can either meet or reduce an electrical corporation's resource adequacy requirements, as determined by the commission. This bill would require the commission, or before June 30, 2024, to submit to the Legislature a report assessing the regulatory barriers, if any, to the rapid deployment of energy storage resources in California, as specified.
Under existing law, a person who lodges in a public or private place without permission is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Existing law also provides that a person who willfully and maliciously obstructs the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place is guilty of a misdemeanor. Under existing law, a public nuisance is anything that is injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community, neighborhood, or considerable number of persons. Existing law provides various remedies against a public nuisance, including abatement by any public body or officer authorized by law. This bill would prohibit a person from sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way within 1000 feet of a sensitive area, as defined. The bill would specify that a violation of this prohibition is a public nuisance that can be abated and prevented, as provided. The bill would also provide that a violation of the prohibition may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at the discretion of the prosecutor. The bill would prohibit a person from being found in violation of the bill's provisions unless provided notice, at least 72 hours before commencement of any enforcement action, as provided. By imposing criminal penalties for a violation of these provisions, 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, the Planning and Zoning Law, sets forth various requirements relating to the review of development project permit applications and the issuance of development permits for specified classes of development projects. This bill would prohibit the County of Riverside, the County of San Bernardino, and any of the cities, joint powers authorities, or agencies with land use authority within those counties from approving the development or expansion of any logistics use, as defined, that is adjacent to sensitive receptors, as defined, unless the local agency imposes certain requirements, as specified, including a minimum setback on the logistics use of 300 feet if the logistics use consists of 400,000 or more square feet of building space, including, but not limited to, warehouses. By imposing new requirements on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, the cities located within those counties, and any joint powers authority or agency with land use authority in those counties. 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 Apprenticeship Innovation Funding Program, to be operative and implemented only upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature. Existing law requires the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, within the Department of Industrial Relations, to administer the program to provide grants, reimbursements, or other funding for the support of an apprenticeship program or training of apprentices. This bill, during the first 5 years of the program's grant funding period, would require the division to prioritize at least 20% of grant funds to be dedicated to reimbursing wage loss of farmworkers transitioning to AgTech, as defined, or a related career, incurred while enrolled in a farmworker-related training program.
The California Constitution establishes the State Personnel Board (board) and requires the board to, among other things, enforce the civil service statutes, prescribe probationary periods and classifications, adopt rules authorized by statute, and review disciplinary actions. The Constitution also requires the executive officer of the board to administer the civil service statutes under the rules of the board. Existing law establishes the Department of Human Resources and provides that, subject to the requirements of the Constitution, it succeeds to and is vested with the duties, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction exercised by the board as its designee with respect to the board's administrative and ministerial functions. Existing law requires the board to establish minimum qualifications for determining the fitness and qualification for each class of position, including education, experience, knowledge, and abilities that each applicant is required to have to be considered eligible for a classification. This bill would eliminate as a minimum qualification a college degree for all positions that do not require an associated required accreditation unless an agency can justify a college requirement by stating specific duties that necessitate a college degree. If an agency determines that a position requires a college degree, the bill would require that agency to include the specific duties that necessitate a college degree in any advertisements recruiting for that class of position.
Existing law establishes the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires that inpatient treatment of eating disorders must be provided only in state licensed hospitals, which may be general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, or any other licensed health facility designed by the State Department of Public Health. This bill would expand the approved facilities for inpatient treatment of eating disorders to include psychiatric health facilities.
The Nursing Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing within the Department of Consumer Affairs. That act establishes an exception for schools conducted by religious institutions for the purpose of training the adherents of that religion in the care of the sick in accordance with its religious tenets. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision.
Existing law declares the importance of, and general responsibility for, making housing available and affordable for all Californians. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Existing law establishes within state government the Transportation Agency, which consists of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the California Transportation Commission, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun. The agency is under the supervision of the Secretary of Transportation, who has the power of general supervision over each department within the agency. The secretary, among other duties, is charged with developing and reporting to the Governor on legislative, budgetary, and administrative programs to accomplish coordinated planning and policy formulation in matters of public interest, including transportation projects. This bill would require the agency, the Department of Transportation, and the California Transportation Commission, on or before July 1, 2025, to jointly develop and adopt criteria and an evaluation process for purposes of jointly evaluating each agency, Department of Transportation, or California Transportation Commission project, as defined, to, among other things, determine if the project would be located in a priority population, address an important need of a priority population, and provide a direct, meaningful, and assured benefit to a priority population, as specified. The bill would require the agency, the Department of Transportation, and the California Transportation Commission, on and after July 1, 2025, to jointly evaluate all new proposed projects by the criteria, and, on or before July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to jointly submit a report to the Legislature that evaluates how projects funded during the prior year impacted priority populations, as specified. The bill would require the agency, the California Transportation Commission, and the Department of Transportation, on or before July 1, 2026, and triennially thereafter, to jointly establish a percentage, of at least 60%, of moneys allocated for agency, Department of Transportation, or California Transportation Commission projects, excluding administrative costs, to be allocated for projects that are located in priority populations, address an important need of priority populations, and provide at least 5 direct, meaningful, and assured benefits, or additional cobenefits, to priority populations, and would require those entities to allocate moneys consistent with that established percentage.
Existing law, except in complaints that allege physical injury or damage to property, requires a complaint asserting a construction-related accessibility claim, as defined, filed by or on behalf of a high-frequency litigant to state, among other things, the number of complaints alleging a construction-related accessibility claim that the high-frequency litigant has filed during the 12 months before filing the complaint and the reason the individual was in the geographic area of the defendant's business. Existing law defines "high-frequency litigant" to mean a person who utilizes court resources in actions arising from alleged construction-related access violations at such a high level that it is appropriate that additional safeguards apply so as to ensure that the claims are warranted, including, subject to certain exceptions, an attorney who has represented as attorney of record 10 or more high-frequency litigant plaintiffs in actions that were resolved within the 12-month period immediately preceding the filing of the current complaint alleging a construction-related accessibility violation. For the purpose of defining the term "high-frequency litigant," this bill would revise and recast the terms "construction-related accessibility claim" and "construction-related accessibility violation" to "accessibility-related violation" and would instead include in the definition of "high-frequency litigant" an attorney who has represented as attorney of record 5 or more high-frequency litigant plaintiffs in actions that were resolved within the 12-month period immediately preceding the filing of the current complaint alleging an accessibility-related violation. Existing law makes a person who denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995 and certain provisions of the Unruh Civil Rights Act liable for each and every offense for the actual damages and any amount that may be determined by a jury, or a court sitting without a jury, up to a maximum of 3 times the amount of actual damage but in no case less than $4,000, and any attorney's fees that may be determined by the court in addition thereto, suffered by any person denied the rights provided in those provisions. This bill would prohibit a high-frequency litigant from recovering any amount, other than actual damages, pursuant to those provisions that exceeds $1,000 for each offense. The bill would also prohibit a party alleging an accessibility-related violation due to disability pursuant to those provisions from alleging more than one violation per defect and from, through repeated visits, using the previously identified defect as the basis for additional damages. The bill would also prohibit a plaintiff from alleging an accessibility-related violation unless the plaintiff had a bona fide intent to be a customer of the business at the time that the plaintiff accessed the business.
Federal law provides various protections regarding credit extended to members of the armed forces called to active duty, including, among others, limitations on the interest charged and mandatory disclosures. Existing law makes a security interest in personal property, other than specified modes of transportation, void if it would cause a loan procured by a covered member in the course of purchasing the personal property to be exempt from the federal protections. Existing law also makes a security interest in a motor vehicle void if it would cause a loan procured by a covered member to be exempt from the federal protections and that loan also funds the purchase of a credit insurance product or credit-related ancillary product. This bill would instead require a loan to a covered member, as defined, for the purchase of personal property, other than specified modes of transportation, to comply with federal law. The bill would also require a loan to a covered member for the purchase of a motor vehicle to comply with federal law if the loan finances the purchase of a guaranteed asset protection waiver.
Existing law requires the Governor to issue annually a proclamation declaring April 28 as Workers' Memorial Day, and recommending that the day be observed in an appropriate manner. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
