Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board, on or before July 1, 2025, to develop and adopt regulations requiring specified partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and other business entities with total annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000,000 and that do business in California, defined as "reporting entities," to publicly disclose starting in 2026 or on a date to be determined by the state board, and annually thereafter, their scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined, and, starting in 2027 and annually thereafter, their scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined, for the reporting entity's prior fiscal year, as provided. Existing law prescribes additional duties on specific industries for a variety of purposes, including those that promote the public health, safety, and welfare relating to issues that are unique to that industry. Existing law, for example, requires any tanning device used by a tanning facility to comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations. This bill would enact the Fashion Environmental Accountability Act of 2025 and would require fashion sellers to carry out effective environmental due diligence, as provided. The bill would vest the Department of Toxic Substances Control with jurisdiction over fashion sellers' compliance with ensuring that a fashion seller's covered fashion products, as defined, do not contain any regulated chemicals, as defined, above thresholds the act would establish, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations to implement, enforce, interpret, or make specific portions of the act under its jurisdiction, as provided. The bill would vest the state board with jurisdiction over a fashion seller's environmental due diligence under the act pertaining to emissions of greenhouse gases. The bill would require a fashion seller, in carrying out its effective environmental due diligence, to comply with certain environmental guidelines that, at a minimum, require the fashion seller to, among other things, embed responsible business conduct in its policies and management systems, identify areas of significant risks of societal and ecological harms from its own activities and its supply chain relationships, identify, prioritize, and assess the significant potential and actual adverse impacts of those risks, and cease, prevent, or mitigate those risks, as provided. The bill would require a fashion seller, beginning July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to submit to the department and the state board an Environmental Due Diligence Report pertaining to the effective environmental due diligence performed by the fashion seller for the prior calendar year, as provided. The bill would specify that fashion sellers are reporting entities for purposes of above-described public disclosure requirement for emissions of greenhouse gases and would require the disclosure be reported on their Environmental Due Diligence Report. The bill would require a fashion seller, in carrying out its environmental due diligence, to establish, on or before July 1, 2027, a quantitative baseline for their emissions of greenhouse gases and targets for reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases in the near-term and long-term covering their scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions, as provided. The bill would require a fashion seller, on or before January 1, 2027, to ensure that their covered fashion products do not contain any regulated chemicals above the act's thresholds, as provided. The bill would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2028, a person from manufacturing, selling, or distributing in commerce any covered fashion product that contains any regulated chemicals above those thresholds, as specified. The bill would authorize the department or the Attorney General to enforce the act's thresholds, as specified, and would punish violations of the threshold requirements and of the act that are enforced by the department with an administrative or civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a first violation, and not to exceed $10,000 for each subsequent violation, as specified. The bill would subject a fashion seller in violation of the act to a civil penalty, as provided, for violations enforced by the state board. The bill would authorize the department and the state board, as appropriate, to seek appropriate equitable remedies for a violation of the act. The bill would require the civil penalties collected by the state board to be deposited into the Fashion Environmental Remediation Fund, which the bill would establish in the General Fund. The bill would require moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended for purposes of implementing the act and one or more environmental benefit or environmental remediation projects.
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to establish a Carbon Capture, Removal, Utilization, and Storage Program to capture, remove, and store carbon dioxide, as provided. Existing law requires the state board to develop a centralized public database to track the deployment of specified carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology or equipment and carbon dioxide removal activities that use technologies or engineered strategies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as specified, and the development of carbon dioxide capture, removal, or sequestration projects throughout the state. This bill would require the state board to establish the Marine Carbon Initiative and would set forth the objectives of the initiative, including advancing the body of research and scientific understanding of marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration. The bill would require the initiative to include the Marine Carbon Council (council) and the Marine Carbon Research Program (program) . The bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2027, to establish the council to advance the science and understanding of marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration methods and technologies. The bill would require the council to consist of 7 members chosen by the state board who would be selected on or before August 1, 2027, and would specify the selection process for, and the qualifications of, the council. The bill would require the council, by July 1, 2028, to report to the state board with recommendations on marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration, as specified. The bill would require the state board, on or before August 1, 2028, to establish the program, and would require the state board to administer the program in consultation with the council. The bill would require the program to award grants on a competitive basis, and other financial incentives the state board may designate, for eligible marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration projects, as specified. The bill would require the council, on or before January 1, 2029, and biennially thereafter, to submit a report to the Legislature that, at minimum, summarizes the findings and progress of the council in its work, as provided. The bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the sum of $2,000,000 to be allocated to the state board annually for no less than 7 years to fund the program.
Existing law establishes the Santa Ana River Conservancy Program to be administered by the State Coastal Conservancy. Existing law authorizes the conservancy to, among other things, undertake or fund projects for several purposes, including to implement site improvements, upgrade deteriorating facilities or construct new facilities for outdoor recreation, public access, nature appreciation and interpretation, and historic and cultural preservation. This bill would require at least 60% of the funds allocated to fund or undertake the above-described projects to be for projects in heavily urbanized areas, as defined, of the lower Santa Ana River region, as defined, to benefit disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. The bill would define various terms for this purpose.
Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law authorizes the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish various training and educational program, including, among others, the Education and Employment Reentry Program, within the corps, to provide education and training to formerly incarcerated individuals who successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew. This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to jointly evaluate the Ventura Training Center and would require the evaluation to include specified components, including, among others, an evaluation of ways to increase the rate of graduated trainees entering the firefighter workforce. The bill would require the departments to submit a report describing the evaluation to certain legislative committees by January 1, 2026, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, creates a program for the recycling of rigid plastic packaging containers. The program defines "rigid plastic packaging container" to mean a plastic package having a relatively inflexible finite shape or form, with a capacity between 8 fluid ounces and 5 fluid gallons, that is capable of maintaining its shape while holding other products, including, but not limited to, bottles, cartons, and other receptacles, for sale or distribution in the state. The program generally requires a rigid plastic packaging container sold or offered for sale in this state to meet one of specified criteria, including, but not limited to, having been made from 25% postconsumer material or being a reusable package or a refillable package, unless a waiver or an exemption applies. Notwithstanding these provisions, the program deems a manufacturer in compliance with the program if the manufacturer demonstrates that it, or another company under the same corporate ownership, either consumed or arranged for the purchase and consumption of certain amounts of postconsumer material generated in the state for the manufacture of rigid plastic packaging containers or other plastic products or packaging not subject to the program, as provided. The program makes a violation of these provisions a public offense punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000. The program also subjects a violation of these provisions to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000, as provided. The program requires the department to deposit all penalties and fines into the Rigid Container Account in the Integrated Waste Management Fund in the State Treasury. The program requires the moneys in the account to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist local governmental agencies to develop and implement collection and processing systems for the recycling of materials covered by the program, for the development of markets for these materials, and for the department's costs of implementing the program. The program requires the department to adopt regulations to implement the program, as provided. This bill would repeal the program and replace it with a new program for recycling plastic packaging and products. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, a manufacturer of a covered product, as defined, to pay an annual registration charge and to register with the department, as specified. The bill would require a manufacturer to provide certain information during registration, including, but not limited to, the brand name of each of the manufacturer's covered products. The bill would subject a manufacturer that is not in compliance with the registration requirement to an administrative civil penalty of not more than $5,000 per day per violation, as specified. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2029, require a manufacturer to include, as part of its annual registration, proof of third-party certification of the postconsumer recycled content of each of its covered products. The bill would require the third-party certification to be provided under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a manufacturer to meet certain annual minimum postconsumer recycled content percentages for covered products, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to grant a waiver for up to 2 years, upon application, from these requirements, as specified. The bill would require certain information to be included in a waiver application and would require a waiver application charge not to exceed $1,000. The bill would require the department to assess an administrative civil penalty for a violation on a per-pound basis for each pound of virgin material that was used by a manufacturer in its products instead of the minimum postconsumer recycled content, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to reduce this administrative civil penalty if the manufacturer submits, and the department approves, a corrective action plan, as specified. This bill would require the department to deposit all penalties and fines paid pursuant to the program into the Rigid Container Account, which this bill would continue in existence. The bill would require moneys deposited into the account to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist local governmental agencies to develop and implement collection and processing systems for the recycling of materials that are subject to the program, for the development of markets for these materials, and for the department's actual and reasonable costs of implementing the program. This bill would require, on and after April 1, 2028, a manufacturer to provide to the department, in a format and manner prescribed by the department, an annual report that includes specified information regarding amounts and types of plastics used in covered products. The bill would exempt confidential and proprietary information, collected by the department from manufacturers for purpose of the program, from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. This bill would authorize a manufacturer to authorize an organization to act on its behalf in complying with certain requirements, including, but not limited to, registration and annual reporting requirements. The bill would exempt certain covered products from the program, as specified. This bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement and enforce the program, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish an electronic registration process on its internet website. (2) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires a manufacturer of certain plastic trash bags to ensure that the recycled plastic postconsumer material in the bag is equal to at least 10% of the weight of the bag, or that at least 30% of the weight of the material used in all of the manufacturer's plastic products is recycled plastic postconsumer material, as provided. Existing law requires a manufacturer of a plastic trash bag to submit an annual report to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery certifying compliance with these postconsumer materials requirements, as specified. Existing law requires the department to survey manufacturers and report to the Legislature on, among others, the quantity of recycled plastic postconsumer material provided by suppliers within the state and the quantity of the material provided by suppliers outside the state. Existing law requires a wholesaler of plastic trash bags to annually certify to the department the name and physical location of each manufacturer from whom it purchased plastic trash bags, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to adopt regulations to implement these provision, as specified. Existing law prohibits a supplier, manufacturer, or wholesaler, as provided, that is not in compliance with these provisions from being eligible for a state contract or subcontract, as provided. This bill would repeal these provisions. (3) 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. (4) 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 California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program to protect California's rangeland, grazing land, and grasslands through the use of conservation easements, for specified purposes. Existing law authorizes, under the program, funds to be expended by the Wildlife Conservation Board for the acquisition of conservation easements over qualified property, as defined, and authorizes the board to make grants of funds to a state agency, local public agency, or nonprofit organization for the acquisition of conservation easements over qualified property. The Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, approved by the voters as Proposition 4 at the November 5, 2024, statewide general election, authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs. The act makes available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, $870,000,000 to the board for grant programs to protect and enhance fish and wildlife resources and habitat and achieve the state's biodiversity, public access, and conservation goals. This bill would appropriate, from the above-described bond funds made available to the board, $400,000,000 to the board to award under the program as grants to eligible entities, as defined, to acquire conservation easements on qualified property that is privately owned and supports the production of food and fiber and ecosystem services, including, but not limited to, wildfire fuel reduction, groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, and open vistas. The bill would require the board to disburse the funds to grantees through grant agreements on or before June 30, 2028, and to allocate the funds to eligible entities across the state in a specified manner. The bill would require, on or before June 30, 2029, a grantee to expend the grant funds to acquire a conservation easement and record the conservation easement. The bill would authorize the board to partner with, and receive funds from, land trusts that are certified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, as provided.
The California Coastal Act of 1976 requires oceanfront land suitable for recreational use to be protected for recreational use and development unless present and foreseeable future demand for public or commercial recreational activities that could be accommodated on the property is already adequately provided for in the area. Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy with prescribed powers and responsibilities for implementing and administering various programs intended to preserve, protect, and restore the state's coastal areas. Existing law establishes surfing as the official state sport. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, the conservancy to establish criteria and an application process for purposes of designating an area of the coastline as a state surfing reserve, as defined. The bill would authorize a local government, as defined, to apply to the conservancy for purposes of designating an area of the coastline within the jurisdiction of the local government as a state surfing reserve. The bill would require the local government to include in its application, among other things, a description of the proposed surfing reserve. The bill would require the conservancy to approve the application if the area of the coastline meets the established criteria. The bill would require, once the application is approved, the conservancy to designate the area as a state surfing reserve. The bill would require the conservancy to, upon appropriation, publicize the state surfing reserve and partner with local governments to erect signs designating an approved surfing reserve, and would authorize the conservancy to accept donations for these purposes. The bill would authorize the conservancy to revoke the designation if the surfing reserve no longer meets the established criteria. The bill would require the conservancy to transmit notice of the approval of a designated surfing reserve to the Ocean Protection Council for consideration and inclusion in the state's 30x30 goal.
Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control districts and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires the state board to inventory sources of air pollution within the air basins of the state, determine the kinds and quantity of air pollutants, and monitor air pollutants in cooperation with districts and other agencies. This bill would require the state board to expand its incident air monitoring program, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for those purposes, to provide support for a regional network of air quality incident response centers operated by air districts, including at least one located in the South Coast Air Quality Management District, in order to facilitate emergency air monitoring response at the local and regional level. Prior to the state board establishing an air quality incident response center within an air district, the bill would require the state board to coordinate and develop operational plans for the air quality incident response centers with the relevant air districts. The bill would provide that funding made available to the state board for purposes of these provisions may be used for various purposes, including program funding to plan, create, equip, and maintain air quality incident response centers. To the extent that the bill would expand the duties of an air district, 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, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, governed by a board of directors. The act, among other things, authorizes the I-Bank to make loans, issue bonds, and provide financial assistance for various types of projects that qualify as economic development or public development facilities. The Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Act of 2020 authorizes the I-Bank, under the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Program, to provide financial assistance to any eligible sponsor or participating party in connection with the financing or refinancing for eligible climate catalyst projects, as defined, either directly to the sponsor or participating party or to a lending or financial institution, as specified. The act, beginning in the 2021–22 fiscal year, requires the I-Bank to adopt a climate catalyst financing plan, as specified, after meeting and conferring with prescribed authorized consulting agencies concerning specific categories of climate catalyst projects. The act establishes the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund as a continuously appropriated fund for the purpose of implementing the objectives and provisions of the act. This bill would authorize the I-Bank to provide financial assistance in connection with the financing or refinancing of an additional category of climate catalyst projects, those projects that enable the capture and conversion of data centers' waste heat, with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) as the consulting agency. If multiple projects seek funding under this category of climate catalyst projects, the bill would require the consulting agencies to prioritize funding based on state policy and on financial considerations, as determined by the Energy Commission. By expanding the purposes for which moneys in the fund may be expended, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law authorizes various conservancies to acquire, manage, direct the management of, and conserve lands in the state. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature or approval of a general obligation bond, as provided, would establish the Huron Hawk Conservancy within the Natural Resources Agency for specified purposes related to the Huron Hawk area, as defined, including to acquire and manage public lands within the Huron Hawk area and to provide recreational, open space, wildlife habitat restoration and protection, and lands for educational uses within the area. The bill would require the conservancy to be governed by a board of directors composed of designated membership, including certain members appointed by certain local agencies. The bill would set forth the powers, duties, and limitations of the board of directors and the conservancy, as provided. The bill would create the Huron Hawk Conservancy Fund and would make moneys in the fund available for expenditure by the conservancy, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of these provisions. The bill would authorize the conservancy to accept revenue generated and contributed to the conservancy by member agencies, as defined, which the bill would require to be deposited into the fund. The bill would also authorize the conservancy to accept revenue, money, grants, goods, and services contributed to the conservancy by a public agency, private entity, or person, and would require the revenue, money, and grants to be deposited into the fund. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would create 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, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
