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, including at least one air quality incident response and evaluation center located at the South Coast Air Quality Management District, in order to facilitate emergency air monitoring response at the local and regional level. The bill would require each air quality incident response center to be operated by the state board or an air district and would require the state board and each district that operates an air quality incident response center to coordinate to provide emergency air monitoring response for disasters or other crises impacting air quality and public health in the state. The bill would provide that funding made available by the Legislature 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 California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires a distributor of beverage containers to pay to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale, as provided. The act requires the department to deposit those amounts into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The act requires the fund to be continuously appropriated to the department for specified purposes, including, among other things, to pay refund values, administrative fees, and processing payments associated with the collection and recycling of empty beverage containers. The act continuously appropriates up to $15,000,000 annually from the fund to the department for quality incentive payments for empty glass beverage containers to an operator of a curbside recycling program or other certified entity, as specified. This bill would authorize the department to make quality incentive payments from the fund for empty glass beverage containers that are substantially free from contamination and used for the manufacturing of glass products in the state that are not beverage containers, as specified. By authorizing a new use for continuously appropriated funds, the bill would make an appropriation.
(1) The California Coastal Act of 1976 requires any person wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, as defined, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit, as provided. The act requires each local government lying in whole or in part within the coastal zone to prepare a local coastal program for that portion of the coastal zone within its jurisdiction. The act requires a land use plan of a proposed local coastal program to be submitted to the California Coastal Commission for certification. The act authorizes the commission to extend, for a period not to exceed one year, certain time limitations relating to local coastal programs for good cause. This bill would authorize the commission to retroactively extend, for good cause and a period not to exceed 5 years, a time limitation established for a local government to act on the commission's suggested modifications to a land use plan amendment that would authorize approval of an affordable housing development, as specified. (2) Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency and vests the agency with jurisdiction over various public resources. Existing law establishes the California Environmental Protection Agency and sets out its mission for programs, policies, and standards. Under existing law, various state entities, including the California Coastal Commission, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife have responsibilities with respect to coastal permitting and development. This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to convene a Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group for the purpose of developing a Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap for coastal resilience projects proposed in specified areas. The bill would require the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group to consist of representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, including, among others, the California Coastal Commission, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would, on or before July 1, 2028, require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to submit the Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap to the Governor and the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require, on or before April 1, 2027, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the California Coastal Commission, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Water Resources Control Board, and representatives from the Regional Water Quality Control Boards to convene a Coastal Resilience Permit Advisory Group to support the deliberations of the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group.
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. Existing law requires the state board to approve and begin implementing a comprehensive short-lived climate pollutant strategy, as specified, to achieve a reduction in the statewide emissions of methane by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030, and requires methane emissions reduction goals to include specified targets to reduce the landfill disposal of organics. The state board has implemented regulations pursuant to the act for the purpose of reducing methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills. This bill would require the state board to post on its internet website temperature and monitoring data received by the state board regarding methane emissions from landfills.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors by the Contractors State License Board. Existing law prohibits contractors from performing specified acts. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery or another state agency tasked to manage contracts for wildfire debris cleanup and removal by the Office of Emergency Services to prequalify contractors to enter into contracts to perform prescribed wildfire debris cleanup and removal work in communities impacted by wildfires. Notwithstanding the prequalification requirement, this bill would prohibit a contractor from engaging in debris removal that includes hazardous materials on residential or commercial property that is damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster for which an emergency or major disaster is declared, unless the contractor has one of the specified licenses or classifications, as provided. The bill would require any licensee authorized to perform debris removal that includes hazardous materials under these provisions to have passed an approved hazardous substance certification examination and comply with hazardous waste operation and emergency response requirements, as specified.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) , to determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans. This bill would require the PUC, when requiring procurement of resources under an integrated resource plan, to account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and would require the PUC to enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as specified, to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers. This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions, and to request the ISO to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind. The bill would require the commission to designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources for purposes of the ISO's scoring in its interconnection process, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2476 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2476 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2111 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2111 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, exists for the purpose of assuring safe and healthful working conditions for all California workers by authorizing the enforcement of effective standards, assisting and encouraging employers to maintain safe and healthful working conditions, and providing for research, information, education, training, and enforcement in the field of occupational safety and health. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations for the adoption of occupational safety and health standards and establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in that department for the enforcement of those occupational safety and health standards, as prescribed. This bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2030, to propose to the standards board, for its consideration and possible adoption, a standard that protects the health and safety of employees who risk high or prolonged exposure to transboundary pollution, as defined, in outdoor occupational environments, as specified. The bill would require the division to consider identifying an exposure threshold for hydrogen sulfide at which acute or chronic health effects occur to reference in the standards and may consider exposure thresholds for other relevant pollutants. The bill would authorize the division to develop the standard in consultation with other specified groups. The bill would authorize the standards board to adopt emergency regulations to implement these provisions.
Existing regulations require each public agency that is responsible for household hazardous waste management to complete and submit a "Form 303 Household Hazardous Waste Collection Report" (Form 303) electronically to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery each year. Existing regulations require the reporting timeframe to be July 1 of the previous fiscal year through June 30 of that fiscal year, with the information required to be submitted to the state by October 1 of the following fiscal year. Existing law requires a public agency, or its contractor, operating a household hazardous waste collection facility to, on or before October 1 of each year, submit a copy of the completed Form 303 to the officer or agency authorized to implement and enforce specified hazardous materials laws. Existing law requires that the completed Form 303 also be submitted to the Department of Toxic Substances Control until specified regulations adopted by the Secretary for Environmental Protection are effective and other conditions are met. This bill would require that Form 303 to instead report information for the prior calendar year. The bill would require a copy of the completed Form 303 to instead be submitted to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, and would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to provide a copy of the completed form to the Department of Toxic Substances Control upon request.
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 designates 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. Existing law requires the state board to adopt standards of ambient air quality for each air basin in consideration of the public health, safety, and welfare, including, but not limited to, health, illness, irritation to the senses, aesthetic value, interference with visibility, and effects on the economy. Existing law authorizes these standards to vary from one air basin to another. This bill would require the state board, in consultation with specified entities, to develop, as provided, a response framework that establishes best practices and guidance for addressing fugitive and natural sources of hydrogen sulfide gas and for community preparation and response to hydrogen sulfide exposure events originating from these sources. The bill would require the state board, in developing the response framework, to conduct at least 3 public workshops, including at least one located in the Tijuana River Valley region, at least one located in the Salton Sea region, and at least one selected in consultation with a community that has experienced significant hydrogen sulfide exposure. The bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to update the acute and chronic reference exposure levels for hydrogen sulfide and to develop additional health guidance values for hydrogen sulfide, if the need is identified by the state board, in consultation with the office, during development of the response framework.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program. The act requires the department to initiate a program for the cleanup of solid waste disposal sites and for cleanup of solid waste at codisposal sites where no responsible party is available to pay for timely remediation, and where cleanup is needed to protect public health and safety or the environment. This bill would authorize the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to develop regulations and expend funds to remove and dispose of recreational vehicles, as defined, to develop enforcement strategies, and to develop local enforcement teams and illegal dumping enforcement officers, as specified.
