Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and sets forth the duties of that department, which include administering various programs for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife. Existing law authorizes the department to take feasible actions to conserve monarch butterflies and the unique habitats they depend upon for successful migration. Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, establishes the California Coastal Commission and provides for planning and regulation of development in the coastal zone, as defined. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2028, the department, in coordination with the commission, to identify known monarch butterfly overwintering habitat sites in the coastal zone and current local government monarch butterfly overwintering habitat management plans or policies. The bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2029, the department, in coordination with the commission, to develop and provide guidance on model policies to be used by a local government for the protection of monarch butterfly overwintering habitat, including habitat restoration and enhancement. The bill would require, after the above-described guidance on model policies is finalized, a local government with a monarch butterfly overwintering habitat site located within its jurisdiction and the coastal zone, as described, to, on or before July 1, 2031, develop and implement enforceable monarch butterfly overwintering habitat site protection policies, as provided. By imposing additional duties on a local government, 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.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, composed of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible for the restoration, protection, and management of the state's natural and cultural resources. This bill would authorize the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to appoint an individual or to identify one or more University of California centers to oversee and administer a Secretariat for International Climate Coordination and Cooperation to assist the legislative and executive branches' engagement in international climate policy, as specified.
The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act prohibits any person or public agency from importing into the state, exporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state, a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree, except as specified. The act authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to permit the taking of a western Joshua tree if specified conditions are met, including, but not limited to, that the permittee mitigates all impacts to, and taking of, the western Joshua tree through measures that are roughly proportional in extent to the impact of the authorized taking of the western Joshua tree. The act authorizes, in lieu of completing the mitigation measures, a permittee to elect to satisfy the mitigation obligation by paying fees pursuant to a specified fee schedule, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to include permit conditions that require the permittee to relocate one or more of the western Joshua trees, as specified. Existing law requires the department to adopt guidelines and relocation protocols, based on the best available science, to relocate western Joshua trees successfully. This bill would authorize the department to authorize, by permit, and without payment of fees or other mitigation, the relocation of up to 10 individual western Joshua trees from a parcel, as provided. The bill would require a person seeking a relocation permit to submit a permit application to the department and meet certain conditions including, among other conditions, that the tree identified in the application would be relocated within 2.5 kilometers of its original location and that the relocation be consistent with the guidelines and relocation protocols adopted by the department. The bill would require the department to maintain a list of relocation permits issued pursuant to this authority and sufficient information regarding each relocation to be able to assess the success or failure of the relocation and the factors contributing to that success or failure.
Existing law authorizes various conservancies to acquire, manage, direct the management of, and conserve lands in the state. This bill would establish the Grassland Ecological Area Conservancy within the Natural Resources Agency, with jurisdiction over the Grassland Ecological Area and the Grassland Focus Area, as defined, for specified purposes, including to protect, conserve, and restore the physical, cultural, archaeological, historical, and living resources of the Grassland Ecological Area and the Grassland Focus Area and to provide increased opportunities for tourism and recreation. The bill would require the conservancy to be governed by a board composed of designated voting members, including certain members appointed by certain local agencies, and nonvoting liaison advisers. The bill would set forth the powers, duties, and limitations of the governing board and the conservancy, as provided. The bill would create the Grassland Ecological Area Conservancy Fund and would make moneys in the fund available for expenditure by the conservancy, upon appropriation by the Legislature, only for the purposes of these provisions. The bill would require all funds or income received by the conservancy, including proceeds from donations or a lease, rental, sale, exchange, or transfer of an interest or option in real property, to be deposited into the fund. By imposing new duties on local agencies, the 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.
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 (EIR) 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. CEQA requires a lead agency, before releasing an environmental review document for a project, to begin consultation with a California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the geographic area of the proposed project, as provided. CEQA authorizes the parties, as a part of the consultation, to propose mitigation measures capable of avoiding or substantially lessening potential significant impacts to a tribal cultural resource or alternatives that would avoid significant impacts to a tribal cultural resource. CEQA defines a tribal cultural resource as including, among other things, a site, feature, place, cultural landscape, sacred place, or object with cultural value to a California Native American tribe that is included or determined to be eligible for inclusion in the California Register of Historical Resources or included in a local register of historical resources, as provided. This bill would modify the definition of tribal cultural resource to, among other things, include a site, feature, place, cultural landscape, sacred place, or object with cultural value to a California Native American tribe that is identified by the Native American Heritage Commission as a sacred place, as provided, or included in a local tribal register and provided to the lead agency by a consulting California Native American tribe. CEQA requires public agencies, when feasible, to avoid damaging effects to tribal cultural resources and specifies mitigation measures that may be considered to avoid or minimize significant adverse impacts to tribal cultural resources if the consultation process fails to result in agreed-upon mitigation measures. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to instead require a lead agency, when feasible, to adopt mitigation measures, as provided, to avoid or minimize the significant adverse impacts to tribal cultural resources. The bill would require avoidance and preservation of the resource in place to be considered when requested by the consulting California Native American tribe, and if avoidance and preservation are determined to not be feasible, the bill would require the lead agency to document the basis for that determination with substantial evidence and, when feasible, to incorporate other measures to avoid or minimize significant adverse impacts to the resource consistent with CEQA. The bill would authorize the consulting California Native American tribe to identify culturally appropriate mitigation measures, which the bill would require the lead agency to consider and incorporate, to the extent feasible, in developing mitigation and treatment measures. This bill would require the lead agency, if archaeological methods and standards are used in the identification of tribal cultural resources instead of tribal methods and standards or tribal traditional knowledge submitted by a California Native American tribe during tribal consultation, to explain its decision to use archaeological methods and standards. The bill would require the lead agency, if treatment and mitigation measures preferred and submitted by a California Native American tribe during tribal consultation are not recommended for adoption by the lead agency, to explain its decision. By imposing additional duties on local agencies in their implementation of CEQA, 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 authorizes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation to require an operator of an oil and gas well to provide, in addition to specified types of required indemnity bonds, an additional amount of security acceptable to the division based on the division's evaluation of the risk that the operator will desert its well or wells and the potential threats the operator's well or wells pose to life, health, property, and natural resources, as provided. Existing law requires the division to consider specified factors in evaluating the risks that the operator will desert its well or wells and the potential threats the operator's well or wells pose to life, health, property, and natural resources. Existing law prohibits this additional security from exceeding the lesser of the division's estimation of the reasonable costs of properly plugging and abandoning all of the operator's wells and decommissioning any attendant production facilities, or $30,000,000. A person who violates or fails to comply with this provision, or any related law concerning oil and gas, is guilty of a crime. This bill would instead prohibit this additional security from exceeding the lesser of the division's estimation of the reasonable costs of properly plugging and abandoning all of the operator's wells and decommissioning any attendant production facilities, or a maximum amount of additional security based on the total number of active and idle wells under the control of the operator pursuant to a specified schedule, as provided. The bill would prohibit the division from increasing the amount of additional security required of an operator that had an additional security agreement approved by the division as of January 1, 2027, until 3 years after the effective date of the agreement, as provided. The bill would explicitly extend these additional security requirements to a person who acquires the right to operate or control a well or production facility, as provided. The bill would establish that compliance with these additional security requirements by either the operator of record or the person who acquires the right to operate or control a well or production facility constitutes compliance for both parties, and would prohibit the division from requiring duplicative security, as provided. Existing law authorizes the above-described additional amount of security to be an indemnity bond, specified forms of deposit, or any other means of equally effective financial assurance approved by the division, including a demonstration of self-insurance pursuant to a specified process. This bill would, as a condition of obtaining division approval of self-insurance or a corporate guarantee, require an additional security agreement between the operator and the division that includes, among other things, an enforceable schedule for the plugging and abandonment of wells and decommissioning of production facilities consistent with an operator's idle well management plan, as provided. The bill would also require the operator, as part of that additional security agreement, to immediately notify the division if the operator is unable to satisfy the financial criteria, and would make a failure to make this notification a violation subject to civil and criminal penalties, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the division to reevaluate whether self-insurance or a corporate guarantee continues to constitute an equally effective means of financial assurance at least once every 3 years, or upon a material change in the financial condition of the operator or guarantor entity, whichever occurs first. The bill would require an operator approved for self-insurance or a corporate guarantee who the supervisor subsequently determines to be out of compliance with an approved idle well management plan, or specified operators out of compliance with idle well fee requirements, to provide other financial assurance within 90 days of that determination, as provided. Existing law also requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or production facility to file with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor an individual indemnity bond or a blanket indemnity bond in an amount determined by the supervisor to be sufficient to cover, in full, all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration, as provided. Under existing law, an operator may, in lieu of this bonding requirement and with the written approval of the supervisor, provide the required security through an equally effective means of financial assurance, including specified types of deposits, an irrevocable letter of credit, or a fully funded trust fund, and excluding self-insurance or corporate guarantees, as provided. This bill would repeal the exclusion of self-insurance or corporate guarantee, as described above. The bill would additionally authorize an operator to, in lieu of the bonding requirement and with the written approval of the supervisor, provide the required security through specified means of financial assurance, including pursuant to the above-described process for obtaining division approval for self-insurance or a corporate guarantee applicable to existing operators, as provided. Existing law authorizes the supervisor or a district deputy to order the plugging and abandonment of a well or the decommissioning of a production facility that has been deserted. If the supervisor determines that the current operator, as determined by the records of the supervisor, does not have the financial resources to fully cover that cost of plugging and abandonment of the well or the decommissioning of a production facility that has been deserted, existing law makes immediately preceding operators responsible for that cost. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to continue to look seriatim to previous operators until an operator is found with sufficient financial resources to cover the cost, except as provided. This bill would exempt from the above-described requirement to file with the supervisor, upon acquiring the right to operate a well or production facility, an individual indemnity bond or a blanket indemnity bond sufficient to cover all costs of plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the facility, and site restoration, (1) an operator, or a person who acquires the right to operate or control a well or production facility, who has complied with an idle well management plan or fee schedule, and specified reporting requirements, as provided, if the operator of record has obtained and maintained additional security approved by the division, as provided, and (2) a person who has acquired the rights to a well or production facility for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning that well or decommissioning the production facility for purposes of redevelopment, as defined, or to satisfy the above-described obligations of previous operators, as provided. The bill would explicitly state that a person who has acquired the rights to a well or production facility for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning that well or decommissioning the production facility for the purposes of redevelopment or to satisfy the obligations of previous operators is subject to the state oil and gas laws as an operator, until a determination by the supervisor that the well has been properly plugged and abandoned or the production facilities have been decommissioned, or that additional work related to abandoning the well is not practical or would pose greater environmental or safety risk, as provided. Upon this determination by the supervisor, the bill would require the supervisor to release the bond, and would release the acquiring person from any further obligation or liability for the well or facility. The bill would require a person who, before an acquisition for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning the well or decommissioning the production facility, was responsible as an owner or operator of the well or production facility and subject to orders related to remediation issued by the supervisor to remain responsible for the well or production facility and any unfunded costs associated with plugging and abandonment of the well or decommissioning of the facility, as provided. The bill would prohibit the use of a well or production facility acquired for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning the well or decommissioning the production facility from being used for oil or gas production, injection, gas storage, or any associated operation. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a person acquiring the rights to a well or production facility for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning that well or decommissioning the production facility for the purpose of redevelopment, before completing the acquisition, to submit to the supervisor a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that the acquisition is for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning the well or decommissioning the production facility for the purpose of redevelopment, a description of the redevelopment plan, and a plugging and abandoning work plan, as provided. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require an acquiring person who submits the declaration to commence plugging and abandonment or decommissioning operations within 24 months of the date of acquisition, and would authorize the supervisor to grant a 12-month extension, as provided. The bill would require the supervisor to require an acquiring person who fails to commence operations within this time period to file financial assurance, as provided. The bill would require a person acquiring the rights to a well or production facility pursuant to these provisions to provide annual updates on the plugging and abandonment work plan. If the supervisor determines that the acquiring person is not capable of plugging the wells within these timeframes, the bill would require the acquiring person to post specified financial assurance and would require the supervisor to notify the previous operator who is responsible for the plugging and abandonment. The bill would establish that no more than 100 wells or associated production facilities may be included, on an annual basis, in this alternative financial security program, as provided. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, and quarterly thereafter, require the division to post on its internet website specified information related to well transfers, wells and production facilities acquired for the sole purpose of plugging and abandoning or decommissioning, and a description of wells located in or within one mile of a disadvantaged community. The bill would require the supervisor and Director of Conservation to annually attend specified legislative hearings to report on well transfer activity, implementation and status of financial assurance for indemnification, and the above-described provisions related to redevelopment of oil and gas wells, and would require the division, on or before January 1, 2032, to prepare and submit a related report to the relevant legislative policy and budget committees in both houses of the Legislature, as provided. 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. This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon the enactment of AB 2461 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
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. CEQA exempts from its requirements certain projects. This bill would, until January 1, 2030, exempt from CEQA critical fuels reduction projects that address extremely flammable species, are conducted in communities located in high fire threat districts or very high fire hazard severity zones, and remove specified nonnative species or common species. The bill would require projects exempt from CEQA pursuant to this exemption to comply with the best management practices under the 2025 Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan, as provided. The bill would require a lead agency carrying out a project exempt from CEQA pursuant to this exemption to consult with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, as provided, and to, within 90 days of project completion, submit a notice of project completion and a final compliance determination regarding the 2025 Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and the Secretary for Environmental Protection, as provided. The bill would require, on or before March 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, submit a report to the Legislature with specified information summarizing the implementation of these provisions during the preceding calendar year. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for this exemption, 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.
Under existing law, the Department of Toxic Substances Control is required to implement and enforce certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances, as defined. Existing law prohibits a person, other than a certified appliance recycler, as defined, from removing materials that require special handling from a major appliance. Existing law requires a person, including, but not limited to, a certified appliance recycler, who transports, delivers, or sells discarded major appliances to a scrap recycling facility, as defined, to retain onsite records demonstrating compliance with certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances, as provided. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would require a person, including, but not limited to, a certified appliance recycler, who transports, delivers, or sells discarded major appliances to a scrap recycling facility to also provide those documents to the department, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a person wishing to operate as a certified appliance recycler to submit an initial or renewal application to the department, under penalty of perjury. Existing law requires the application to include, among other things, a description of the ability of the applicant to properly remove and manage all materials that require special handling. Existing law requires the department to review an application for completeness and, upon a determination that the application is complete and meets the requirements of certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances, to issue a numbered certificate to the applicant. Existing law requires the applicable certified unified program agency (CUPA) , as soon as practicable after receiving the application and certification from the department, to inspect the certified appliance recycler's facility, as provided. This bill would require the application to also include a description of the applicant's facility and registration with the CUPA, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to review the application, visit the applicant's facility, and, upon determination that the application is complete and meets the requirements of certain laws related to the recycling of major appliances and applicable laws regarding hazardous waste, issue a numbered certificate to the applicant. The bill would require the CUPA to inspect the certified appliance recycler's facility as soon as practicable, but no later than 6 months after the issuance of the certificate. By creating a new requirement on a CUPA, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to impose a charge on an applicant for initial certification and on a certified appliance recycler for renewal to cover the department's reasonable and actual regulatory costs for implementing certain laws relating to the recycling of major appliances, including, but not limited to, the adoption of regulations, as specified. This bill would require a scrap recycling facility to only accept an appliance from a certified appliance recycler or a person otherwise authorized to transport, deliver, or sell discarded major appliances. The bill would require a scrap recycling facility to document each appliance received and to confirm, under penalty of perjury, that materials that require special handling have been removed from the appliance. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to develop a statewide list of appliance recyclers, used appliance dealers, solid waste facilities, metal scrapyards, and others who may remove, or do business with those who remove, from major appliances, materials that require special handling, as specified. Existing law requires the department to transmit a copy of the Appliance Recycling Guide, published by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and certain other materials and information, to waste generators and enforcement officers, as provided. This bill would repeal those provisions and instead require the department to post on its internet website a list of certified appliance recyclers and the number of appliances processed by certified appliance recyclers and accepted by scrap recycling facilities, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) Existing law prohibits the dumping of waste matter upon a road or highway or in other locations, as specified. A violation of this prohibition, generally, is an infraction punishable by specified fines that escalate for subsequent convictions. Under existing law, the dumping of commercial quantities of waste, as defined, is punishable as a misdemeanor and also includes escalating fines. Under existing law, each day that waste is placed, deposited, or dumped in violation of these provisions is a separate violation. This bill would repeal that latter provision making each day a separate violation. The bill would increase the fine for the dumping of commercial quantities of waste from not less than $3,000 nor more than $6,000 to not less than $4,500 nor more than $8,000 for the 2nd conviction and from not less than $6,000 nor more than $10,000 to not less than $8,000 nor more than $10,000 for the 3rd and any subsequent convictions. The bill would increase the fine for the dumping of commercial quantities of waste by a business that employs more than 10 employees from not less than $3,000 nor more than $10,000 to not less than $6,000 nor more than $10,000 for the 2nd conviction and from not less than $6,000 nor more than $20,000 to not less than $15,000 nor more than $25,000 for the 3rd and any subsequent convictions. (2) Existing law establishes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and vests the department with all of the authority, duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the former California Integrated Waste Management Board, except as specified. This bill would require the department to be the lead state agency to act as a resource for cities and counties to address illegal dumping and would require the department to create an internet website with resources to help cities and counties combat, prevent, and clean up illegal dumping, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Natural Resources Agency. Under existing law, the department has jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. This bill would require the department to develop and make publicly available a roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable, and the extent to which the ecological functions once provided by the grizzly bear may be restored through human-mediated landscape restoration, including through reintroduction of the species. The bill would also require the department, by June 30, 2030, to submit the roadmap document to relevant budget and policy committees of the Legislature, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Fish and Game Commission. The bill would prohibit reintroduction of the grizzly bear in the state until the department or others have carried out various actions, including, among other things, completion of the roadmap, determinations, based on the best available science, that establishment of a self-sustaining grizzly population in the state is biologically viable, and a consultation with California Native American tribes and engagement with communities, as specified. The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation, except as specified.
