(1) Upon receipt of a petition or resolution seeking reorganization of a school district, existing law requires a county committee on school district reorganization to hold one or more public hearings on the petition or resolution and, following the hearing or hearings, to grant or deny the petition. If the county committee grants the petition, existing law requires it to adopt a tentative recommendation and hold one or more further public hearings in the area proposed for reorganization. Following the last public hearing, existing law authorizes the county committee to adopt a final recommendation and requires the county committee to (A) transmit that recommendation with the petition or resolution to the State Board of Education for hearing, (B) transmit the petition to the state board and order the reorganization granted, or (C) transmit the petition to the state board and order that an election be held. Existing law authorizes an action of the county committee under (B) or (C) to be appealed to the state board, as specified. Existing law authorizes the state board to approve proposals for the reorganization of school districts if the state board determines that certain conditions are substantially met, and also authorizes the state board to approve a proposal for the reorganization of school districts if the state board determines that it is not practical or possible to apply the specified criteria literally, and that the circumstances with respect to the proposal provide an exceptional situation sufficient to justify approval of the proposal. If the state board approves the plans and recommendations for the unification or other reorganization of the school districts in any area, existing law requires the county superintendent of schools, within 35 days after being notified of that approval, to call an election in the territory of the districts as determined by the state board, as specified. This bill, notwithstanding any other law, and until January 1, 2030, would authorize the state board to approve a proposal for the reorganization of school districts if the governing board of a school district that is an excess tax entity, as specified, with an enrollment of fewer than 10,000 pupils and the governing board or body of a city, county, special district, or local agency formation commission with a population of more than 10,000 residents that adopted a resolution seeking reorganization of the original school district, have executed one or more legally binding and enforceable written agreements intended to effectuate the reorganization, and the state board determines that the agreements satisfactorily address the specified criteria and provide an exceptional situation sufficient to justify approval of the proposed reorganization. (2) Existing law prohibits the reorganization of a school district or districts from affecting the classification of certificated employees already employed by a school district affected by the reorganization and from affecting the rights of persons employed in positions not requiring certification qualifications to retain the salary, leaves, and other benefits that they would have had if the reorganization had not occurred. Existing law requires that persons employed in positions not requiring certification qualifications in a school district whose territory is included in a unification of districts continue as employees of the unified school district for not less than 2 years and prohibits those persons from being deprived, by reason of the unification, of any benefit that they would have had if the unification had not taken place. When a school district is reorganized as described in this bill, the bill would (A) require, in addition to the above-prescribed prohibitions, both permanent and probationary certificated and noncertificated employees who elect to remain employees of reorganized portion of the divided district to have the same rights as persons employed in positions not requiring certification qualifications in a school district whose territory is included in a unification of districts, including, but not limited to, continuing as employees of the reorganized portion of the divided district for not less than 2 years and (B) require, notwithstanding any other law, any collective bargaining agreement in effect immediately before the effective date of reorganization to remain in full force and effect until the expiration or renewal of the agreement, as specified. (3) When a school district is reorganized and the allocation of funds, property, and obligations are not fixed by terms, conditions, or recommendations as provided by law, existing law requires the funds, property, and obligations of a former district to be allocated in a specified manner. Existing law authorizes a school district to impose qualified special taxes, as defined, subject to specified constitutional and statutory provisions. When a school district is reorganized as described in this bill, the bill would authorize the reorganized portion of the divided school district and the remaining portion of the divided school district, as defined, to continue to impose within their respective geographical boundaries any qualified special taxes imposed in the boundaries of the original school district, as defined, before it was divided.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , the Independent System Operator, and the State Air Resources Board, on or before December 31, 2023, to submit to the Legislature an assessment of the firm zero-carbon resources that support a clean, reliable, and resilient electrical grid in the state and will achieve the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of all retail sales of electricity to the state's end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045, as specified. This bill would require the Energy Commission, working with the PUC, to prepare and submit to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2028, a statewide assessment of the role and necessity of firm zero-carbon resources in meeting the state's clean energy and reliability objectives, potential technologies and strategies for integrating firm zero-carbon resources into the state's energy mix, recommendations on procurement, policy, and planning actions to deploy and support firm zero-carbon resources, and current and projected renewable and firm zero-carbon generation capacity, reliability requirements under varying system conditions, and the cost and emission implications of firm zero-carbon resources.
Existing law establishes various entities for specified purposes over specific geographic areas of the state, including the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority and California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, among others. This bill would establish the Monterey Bay Area Stewardship Authority, a regional entity with jurisdiction extending throughout the Monterey Bay region, as defined. The bill would provide that the purpose of the authority is to raise and allocate public and private funds for restoring, enhancing, protecting, engaging in long-term stewardship, and improving access for the enjoyment of natural and working lands, as defined, in the Counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz, as specified. The bill would establish a 9-member governing board to govern the authority that consists of county board of supervisors, city officials, and public members of these counties, as specified. The bill would require the board to, among other things, establish policies for the operation of the authority, and convene an advisory committee to assist and advise the board in carrying out its functions. The bill would authorize the authority to award grants to public and private entities for eligible projects, including projects that restore, protect, enhance, or maintain natural, working, or open space lands in the Counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz, as specified. The bill would also authorize the authority to, among other things, levy a benefit assessment, special tax, or property related fee, apply for and receive grants from federal and state agencies, solicit and accept gifts, fees, grants, and allocations from public and private entities, issue revenue bonds, incur general bond indebtedness, and enter into joint powers agreements, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local governmental agencies relating to the membership of the authority's governing board, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz. 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.
Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Law of 1976, effectuates the declaration of the Legislature that it is in the interest of the state and its people to reconstruct, remodel, or replace existing school buildings that are educationally inadequate or that do not meet present-day structural safety requirements, and to acquire new schoolsites and buildings for the purpose of making them available to local school districts for the pupils of the public school system. Existing law authorizes the State Allocation Board, by adoption of rules, to establish priorities for the construction and leasing of projects to schools districts whose pupils will benefit most. This bill would authorize the board to include, as priorities for projects, an efficient response to extreme heat and climate change. If the board adopts priorities related to an efficient response to extreme heat and climate change, the bill would require those priorities to apply only to project applications received after January 1, 2027.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation to enter into a statewide agreement with a park support organization to facilitate the implementation of reforms recommended by the Parks Forward Commission and to develop and secure expertise, services, resources, and projects that are not readily available to the state park system, for specified purposes. This bill would authorize the Natural Resources Agency to enter into a statewide agreement with a support organization, as defined, to facilitate and implement certain objectives, and would require the agency and support organization to, after entering into a statewide agreement, collaborate to develop an annual list of strategic initiatives and projects that are statewide priorities, as provided. The bill would authorize certain persons, including the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, to serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the support organization's board of directors, as provided.
(1) Existing federal law establishes the federal Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, as part of which the United States Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the United States Secretary of the Interior, and the heads of other federal departments and agencies that elect to become full partners in the program, are authorized to establish and carry out a program to preserve and restore sentinel landscapes. Existing federal law authorizes federal departments and agencies to give to any eligible owner or manager of land within a designated sentinel landscape priority consideration for participation in any easement, grant, or assistance program and to coordinate actions between their departments and agencies and with other federal, state, interstate, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and private entities. Existing federal law defines "sentinel landscape" as a landscape-scale area encompassing one or more military installations or state-owned National Guard installations and the publicly and privately owned lands that serve to protect and support the rural economy, the natural environment, outdoor recreation, and the national defense missions of a military installation or state-owned National Guard installation. This bill would enact the California Sentinel Landscapes Act and would require the Natural Resources Agency to designate a Sentinel Landscapes Program Manager to coordinate state participation in the federal Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, as prescribed. The bill would require state agencies that have conservation grant or easement authority, to the extent feasible and consistent with their existing statutory authority, to cooperate with the Sentinel Landscapes Program Manager. This bill would authorize the Wildlife Conservation Board to provide grants for habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement projects that are located within a federally designated sentinel landscape, as prescribed. The bill would create the California Sentinel Landscapes Fund, into which the Wildlife Conservation Board is authorized to deposit federal funds, grants, and gifts and donations, including interest earned, that are designated and required by the donor to be used exclusively for purposes of these projects. The bill would continuously appropriate to the Wildlife Conservation Board moneys in the fund to implement these projects, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would authorize the Department of Conservation and the Strategic Growth Council, in evaluating applications for grants pursuant to the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program, the State Coastal Conservancy, and Sierra Nevada Conservancy, in evaluating applications for grants, to give priority consideration to projects within a federally designated sentinel landscape, as prescribed. This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, Department of Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Board, State Coastal Conservancy, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other relevant state entities, to regularly consult on how to align conservation opportunities with state and federal landscape protection goals. The bill would provide that implementation of the California Sentinel Landscapes Act is contingent upon the availability of federal funds, grants, gifts, donations, or other non-General Fund resources for its purposes. (2) Existing law establishes the California Farmland Conservancy Program Act, to be administered generally by the Department of Conservation. The act creates the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and requires moneys in the fund from federal grants, gifts, and donations, as specified, which are continuously appropriated to the department, and other moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be used for the purposes of the California Farmland Conservancy Program. The act authorizes the program to offer financial assistance for projects and activities on agricultural lands that support agricultural conservation and sustainable land management, including, among others, acquisition of agricultural conservation easements or fee title to protect the land's agricultural use or capacity that meets certain requirements. This bill would authorize the department to give priority consideration to applications for projects that are located within federally designated sentinel landscapes. To the extent the bill would expand the purposes for which those continuously appropriated moneys may be used, the bill would make an appropriation.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations for greenhouse gas emissions limits and emissions reduction measures to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined. The act authorizes that state board to include in those regulations the use of a market-based compliance mechanism, known as the California Cap-and-Invest Program, to comply with those regulations. Existing law requires moneys collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of the California Cap-and-Invest Program to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the state board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, an expert advisory committee established, as provided, and other relevant state agencies, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. Existing law defines "nature-based climate solutions" for these purposes to mean activities, such as restoration, conservation, and land management actions, that increase net carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in natural and working lands. This bill would annually appropriate the sum of $250,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to achieve nature-based climate solutions on natural, working, and urban lands, including $150,000,000 to be allocated to the Natural Resources Agency to fund nature-based climate solutions, as provided, and $100,000,000 to be allocated for nature-based climate solutions at the discretion of the Legislature, as provided. The bill would additionally appropriate, after those amounts are allocated, the sum of $150,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund sustainable agricultural practices and nature-based climate solutions, as provided.
Existing law regulates the emission of air contaminants, including the oxides of nitrogen, into the atmosphere. Existing law generally vests regulatory jurisdiction over stationary sources of air pollution to the air pollution control districts and air quality management districts and regulatory jurisdiction over mobile sources of air pollution to the State Air Resources Board. This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2029, the state board to conduct an assessment of the amount of decarbonized gaseous fuels that will be needed to decarbonize hard-to-electrify end uses and maintain reliability in the electricity sector and to post the assessment on its internet website. The bill would require the assessment to include an assessment of the need for decarbonized gaseous fuels for each hard-to-electrify end use, as defined. The bill would require the state board, in assessing the policies and incentives, to consider, among other things, how to incentivize the increased production and use of decarbonized gas in California and how to maximize the benefits of decarbonized gas production and use in California, as provided.
Existing law designates all parks, public campgrounds, monument sites, landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or acquired by the state, or that are under its control, as the state park system, except as specified. Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation controls the state park system, which is made up of units. This bill would establish the California State Park Stewardship Act of 2026. The bill would require the department to conduct projects and programs addressing and mitigating climate change impacts in the state park system through stewardship, as provided. The bill would establish the Wildfire Safety and Climate Stewardship Fund, to be administered by the department, to support climate stewardship activities in the state park system, and would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with specified entities to accept funding for these purposes, as provided.
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, $90,000,000 to the board to award under the program as grants to eligible entities, as defined, to acquire conservation easements on privately owned qualified property that supports food and fiber production and ecosystem services, including wildfire fuel reduction, groundwater recharge, wildlife habitat, and scenic open space. 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 United States Department of Agriculture, as provided.
