Under existing law, the Department of Toxic Substances Control generally regulates the management and handling of hazardous waste and hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes certain entities to operate household hazardous waste collection facilities, as defined, under permits issued by the department. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would, until January 1, 2029, require the department to evaluate opportunities to increase safety and convenience related to the management and disposal of vape pens confiscated from students by a school, as provided, and identify any recommendations that require future legislative action. The bill would authorize a household hazardous waste collection facility to conduct physical treatment activities involving the disassembly of household hazardous waste to separate batteries, valves, electronic components and other parts containing liquids or gases, including, but not limited to, the disassembly of vape pens, in a manner that does not result in the unauthorized release of hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes a public agency, or its contractor, to conduct a materials exchange program at a household hazardous waste collection facility to make reusable household hazardous products or materials available to recipients, as a part of its household hazardous waste collection program, if the public agency, or its contractor, complies with specified requirements. The bill would prohibit a public agency, or its contractor, from including vape pens in a materials exchange program. Because a violation of these provisions 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.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms in regulating those emissions. The implementing regulations adopted by the state board provide for the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical corporations pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to continue a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers with annual household incomes that are no greater than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, as specified, which is referred to as the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program. Existing law also requires the PUC to continue a program of assistance to residential customers of the state's 3 largest electrical corporations consisting of households of 3 or more persons with total household annual gross income levels between 200% and 250% of the federal poverty guideline level, which is referred to as the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program. Existing law, except as provided, requires revenues received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to be credited directly to residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporation, commonly known as the California Climate Credit. This bill would exclude residential customers from receiving the California Climate Credit if they are not enrolled in the CARE or FERA program and their total electricity bills for the previous year were less than $300. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act, or of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be part of the Public Utilities Act, and a violation of a commission action implementing its requirements 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.
Existing law establishes the Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) program to encourage private landowners to voluntarily make their land available to the public for wildlife-dependent recreational activities, as specified. Existing law requires a cap on financial compensation offered to a private landowner of $30 per acre, or $50 per public participant per day. Existing law authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife, as part of the SHARE program, to make grants to, or enter into agreements with, nonprofit organizations, governmental entities, or any other entities for purposes of carrying out the SHARE program. This bill would require, rather than authorize, the department to make those grants to, or enter into agreements with, the above-described entities, including a nonprofit conservation organization, when the department finds the grants or agreements are necessary for carrying out the purposes of the SHARE program. The bill would increase the required cap on financial compensation offered to private landowners pursuant to the SHARE program to $52 per acre, or $87 per public participant per day, and would require those figures to be adjusted annually for inflation, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to reimburse a nonprofit organization, a private landowner, or other entity for its services related to the implementation of the program. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2031. This bill would require the Director of Fish and Wildlife, on or before October 1, 2029, to submit a written report to the Legislature that evaluates the effect of changes to the SHARE program, as provided.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to biennially adopt an integrated energy policy report, as specified, and to make the reports accessible to state, local, and federal entities and to the general public. This bill would require the Energy Commission to establish a process for the owner of a data center, as defined, to submit the power usage effectiveness ratio, as defined, for the data center to the Energy Commission on a biannual basis, and require the owner of a data center to submit this information for the data center in the manner and timeframe specified by the Energy Commission. The bill would require the Energy Commission, as part of the 2027 edition of the integrated energy policy report, to include an assessment of electrical load trends for data centers, as provided. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the PUC to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill would require the PUC to assess the extent to which electrical corporation costs associated with new loads from data centers result in cost shifts to other electrical corporation customers, as provided, and require the PUC, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit the assessment to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature and to publicly post a copy of the assessment on the PUC's internet website. 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. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) , for any project on the state highway system in a connectivity area that adds a traffic lane or that has the potential to significantly impair wildlife connectivity, to perform an assessment, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) , to identify potential wildlife connectivity barriers and any needs for improved permeability, as specified. Existing law requires the implementing agency to remediate barriers to wildlife connectivity in conjunction with the project if any structural barrier to wildlife connectivity exists or will be added by the project for target species in the connectivity area, as provided. Existing law authorizes Caltrans to use compensatory mitigation credits to satisfy this requirement if DFW concurs with the use of those credits. This bill would require a lead agency to incorporate appropriate wildlife passage features into a transportation infrastructure project in a connectivity area, as specified. By requiring a lead agency to expand the scope of its transportation project, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt a project on the state highway system from this requirement if Caltrans is the lead agency. The bill would authorize a lead agency to use compensatory mitigation credits to satisfy this requirement, as specified. 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 Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species, except as specified. Under the act, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (department) may authorize the take of listed species by certain entities through permits or memorandums of understanding for specified purposes. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal, as provided. This bill would authorize a city, county, city and county, special district, or other local agency to submit to the department a wildfire preparedness plan to conduct wildfire preparedness activities on land designated as a fire hazard severity zone, as defined, that minimizes impacts to wildlife and habitat for candidate, threatened, and endangered species. The bill would require the wildfire preparedness plan to include, among other things, a brief description of the planned wildfire preparedness activities, the approximate dates for the activities, and a description of the candidate, endangered, and threatened species within the plan area. The bill would require the department to impose a fee on a local agency for the cost of reviewing a wildfire preparedness plan submitted by that local agency, as specified. The bill would require the department, if sufficient information is included in the wildfire preparedness plan for the department to determine if an incidental take permit is required, to notify the local agency within 90 days of receipt of the wildfire preparedness plan if an incidental take permit or other state permit is needed, or if there are other considerations, exemptions, or streamlined pathways that the wildfire preparedness activities qualify for, including, but not limited to, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's California Vegetation Treatment Program. The bill would require the department to provide the local agency, in its notification, with guidance that includes, among other things, a description of the candidate, endangered, and threatened species within the plan area and measures to avoid, minimize, and fully mitigate the take of the candidate, threatened, and endangered species, as provided. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, to make a standard wildfire preparedness plan submission form publicly available on its internet website. The bill also would require the department, commencing January 1, 2027, to annually post on its internet website a summary of the wildfire preparedness plans submitted and include specified information in that summary.
(1) Existing law requires facilities that generate, treat, or store hazardous waste to obtain a permit or other authorization from the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency. Existing law specifies that a hazardous waste facilities permit or other grant of authorization is not required for the treatment of laboratory hazardous waste generated onsite if, among other things, the laboratory hazardous waste is treated in containers using specified procedures and quantities for treatment of laboratory waste, as provided. This bill would specify the priority of those specified procedures. If those specified procedures do not exist, the bill would authorize the use of the manufacturer's written procedures if they are not in conflict with applicable rules or regulations. Existing law requires generators of hazardous waste to provide various notifications and certifications regarding compliance to the department, and to other specified entities, in person, or by certified mail, as provided. This bill would additionally authorize those notifications and certifications to be made into the statewide information management system. (2) Existing law provides for the regulation of underground storage tanks by the State Water Resources Control Board and defines "underground storage tank" for those purposes. Existing law excludes certain tanks from the definition of "underground storage tank," including, but not limited to, a tank holding hydraulic fluid for a closed loop mechanical system that uses compressed air or hydraulic fluid to operate lifts, elevators, and other similar devices. This bill would instead exclude from that definition a tank holding hydraulic fluid or dielectric fluid for a closed loop mechanical system that uses compressed air, hydraulic fluid, or dielectric fluid to operate lifts, to operate elevators, to act as an electric cooling or insulation system, and other similar devices.
The Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, authorizes a mattress recycling organization to be established by a qualified industry association to develop, implement, and administer a used mattress recycling program in the state. The act requires the organization to develop and submit to the department for approval a plan, including an annual budget to implement the plan, for the recovery and recycling of used mattresses. The act requires the plan to include, among other things, providing outreach efforts and education to consumers, manufacturers, and retailers, for the purpose of promoting the recycling of used mattresses and options available to consumers for the free dropoff or collection of used mattresses. The act requires the organization to set the state mattress recycling charge, which is added to the purchase price of a mattress, at an amount sufficient to fund the program. The act requires the charge to be clearly visible on the invoice, receipt, or functionally equivalent document by the seller to the consumer as a separate line item. This bill would authorize the distributor, retailer, or seller to pay the applicable charge to the mattress recycling organization on behalf of the consumer or ultimate end user if the distributor, retailer, or seller enters into a written agreement with a mattress recycling organization to pay the charge directly to the mattress recycling organization, as provided. The bill would make a distributor, retailer, or seller responsible for educating the consumer or the ultimate end user of the mattress in the state on the recycling of used mattresses and options available to consumers for the free dropoff or collection of used mattresses.
This measure would urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to fully fund the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution for the Tijuana River due to the ongoing impacts on public health, the environment, and the local economy caused by transboundary flow pollution. The measure would urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to take additional specified actions to address ongoing transboundary flow pollution.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, exempt from CEQA egress route projects undertaken by a public agency to improve emergency access to and evacuation from a subdivision without a secondary egress route if the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has recommended the creation of a secondary access to the subdivision and certain conditions are met. The bill would require the lead agency to hold a noticed public meeting to hear and respond to public comments before determining that a project is exempt. The bill would require the lead agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA and approves or carries out that project, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and with the clerk of the county in which the project will be located.
