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, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Wildlife Coexistence Program to manage and promote wildlife coexistence by conducting specified activities, including maintaining a statewide wildlife incident reporting tool. The bill would rename the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program to the California Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program and would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the program to provide resources to eligible participants for purposes relating to wolves and livestock. The bill would authorize the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the cost for implementation, to provide resources to wildlife coexistence partners, as defined, to support efforts required for the Wildlife Coexistence Program and the California Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. The bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Wildlife Coexistence Technical Advisory Committee to provide technical guidance, public input, and programmatic recommendations related to the department's wildlife coexistence efforts. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to include specified information on its internet website, as provided. The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified. Under existing law, it is also unlawful to permit or allow any dog to pursue any big game mammal during the closed season on that mammal, to pursue any fully protected, rare, or endangered mammal at any time, to pursue any bear or bobcat at any time, or to pursue any mammal in a game refuge or ecological reserve if hunting within that refuge or ecological reserve is unlawful. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those prohibitions, the pursuit of wolves by dogs that are guarding or protecting livestock or crops on property owned, leased, or rented by the owner of the dogs, is not prohibited if the dogs are maintained with, and remain in reasonable proximity to, the livestock or crops being guarded or protected.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with full possession and control of the state highway system and requires Caltrans to improve and maintain the state highways. Existing law requires Caltrans, in consultation with the California Transportation Commission, to prepare a robust asset management plan to guide selection of projects for the state highway operation and protection program (SHOPP) . This bill would require the department, in connection with each revision of the asset management plan, to prepare and publish a supplemental list of wildlife connectivity improvements on the state highway system, as specified, and would require the department to submit the supplemental list to the commission for review and comments before the final list is published. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that Caltrans review the full extent of the state highway system, as currently maintained, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and with opportunities for the public to provide data input for consideration, to develop a comprehensive approach to address wildlife connectivity needs throughout the state with the goal of implementing measures that protect, conserve, and improve the state's unique wildlife, landscapes, and natural resources. This bill would explicitly require Caltrans to undertake this duty, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and with opportunities for the public to provide data and input for consideration, as specified. Existing law requires Caltrans, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other appropriate agencies, to establish an inventory of connectivity needs on the state highway system where the implementation of wildlife passage features could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions or enhance wildlife connectivity, and to update the inventory on a biennial basis, as specified. This bill would instead require Caltrans, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other appropriate agencies, to assess potential barriers to wildlife to establish an inventory of connectivity needs on the state highway system where the implementation of wildlife passage features could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions or enhance wildlife connectivity. The bill would require the biennial update to the inventory to be based on an analysis of transportation assets within priority route segments identified by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would require Caltrans to consult with the Department of Fish and Wildlife on the development of each update to the inventory, as prescribed. Existing law requires Caltrans to prepare a State Highway System Management Plan (SHSMP) , which includes a 10-year rehabilitation plan for the rehabilitation or reconstruction by the SHOPP of all state highways and bridges, and a 5-year maintenance plan that addresses the maintenance needs of the state highway system, as provided. Existing law requires the SHSMP to include specific quantifiable accomplishments, goals, objectives, costs, and performance measures consistent with the asset management plan described above. Existing law requires the SHSMP to be updated every 2 years. This bill would require Caltrans to include wildlife connectivity as an objective in the SHSMP.
Existing law requires the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, on or before March 1, 2025, to identify all low-production wells, as defined, that are located in the County of Los Angeles in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, as provided. Existing law prohibits, commencing March 1, 2026, the owners of those wells from allowing those wells to be low-production wells for more than 12 months. Upon a violation of that prohibition, existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to charge an administrative penalty of $10,000 per month to the low-production well owner, until the low-production well is plugged and abandoned, as provided. Existing law requires the plugging and abandoning of all wells located in the County of Los Angeles in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy by December 31, 2030. Existing law requires the supervisor, on and after January 1, 2031, to charge the owner of a well an administrative penalty of $10,000 per month for a violation of that requirement, until the well is plugged and abandoned. Existing law establishes the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, requires the above-described administrative penalties to be deposited into the account, and makes the funds from the account available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Conservation for allocation to the County of Los Angeles for projects that benefit communities living within 212 miles of the identified low-production wells, as provided. This bill would require the Department of Conservation, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the terms of the appropriation, to distribute the first $5,000,000 deposited into the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, after accounting for appropriations made for administrative purposes, to the County of Los Angeles to establish a program to disburse in direct cash assistance in equal amounts to households located within 212 miles of the identified low production wells who have at least one member with respiratory or reproductive health impacts. The bill would, among other things, require the county to establish processes for households to verify that they meet the residency and health-impact requirements, as provided. The bill would require the application process for direct cash assistance to be noninvasive, simple, and standardized. The bill would limit the disbursement of direct cash assistance to 1,000 households and would require the county to select recipient households by randomized lottery if the number of applications from verified eligible households exceeds 1,000. The bill would exclude this direct cash assistance from income or resource considerations for purposes of determining any member of the household's eligibility for benefits or assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assistance, under any state or local benefit or assistance program, as provided. The bill would require the department, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, to distribute to the county for administrative purposes an amount that does not exceed 10% of the programmatic appropriation. By imposing new duties on the County of Los Angeles, 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 plastic beverage containers sold by a beverage manufacturer, as specified, to contain a specified average percentage of postconsumer recycled plastic per year. The act requires the manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container subject to the California Redemption Value to report to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery certain information about the amounts of virgin plastic and postconsumer recycled plastic used for plastic beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value for sale in the state in the previous calendar year. Existing law requires the department to post this reported information on its internet website, as provided. Existing law provides that a violation of the act or a regulation adopted pursuant to the act is a crime. The act subjects a beverage manufacturer that does not meet the minimum postconsumer recycled plastic content requirements to an annual administrative penalty, as provided. Under the act, the penalty is set at $0.20 for each pound of virgin plastic used in lieu of the required amount of postconsumer recycled plastic, as provided. This bill would instead set the administrative penalty at $0.30 for each pound of virgin plastic used in lieu of the required amount of postconsumer recycled plastic. This bill, beginning on or before March 1, 2028, would require a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container subject to the California Redemption Value to also provide to the department proof that the postconsumer recycled content used by the beverage manufacturer for plastic beverage containers is able to be validated and is validated by a third party, as specified. The bill would require a validation regarding the postconsumer recycled content of plastic provided by a manufacturer of postconsumer recycled plastic to be accurate. By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to publish on its internet website a list of beverage manufacturers and their associated brand names, indicate whether they have complied with applicable postconsumer recycled plastic requirements, and provide other information the department deems appropriate. 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 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, until January 1, 2033, exempts from its requirements certain actions for affordable housing projects that meet specified requirements, including confirmation by a public agency that, among other things, the project site satisfies specified requirements and a vacant project site does not contain tribal cultural resources that could be affected by the development that were found pursuant to a consultation and the effects of which cannot be mitigated, as provided. This bill would extend the operation of the above-described exemption to January 1, 2037, and would expand the exemption to also include a public university or public college housing project, as defined, that meets specified requirements. Because the bill would extend the operation of the exemption and would increase duties on a lead agency related to the expansion of 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 the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, the Legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and responsible forest management of nonindustrial timberlands by approving working forest management plans in advance. Existing law regulates nonindustrial tree farmers and working forest landowners for timberland management purposes, including by setting a maximum acreage each may own, and authorizes a person who intends to become a nonindustrial tree farmer or a working forest landowner to submit to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection a nonindustrial timber management plan or a working forest harvest plan, respectively, regarding that acreage. Existing law provides a maximum of 2,500 acres owned for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial timber management plans and a maximum of 10,000 acres owned for working forest landowners and working forest management plans. This bill would increase the maximum acreage for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial management plans to 4,000 acres and for working forest landowners and working forest management plans to 15,000 acres. Existing law requires the harvest area of a working forest management plan to be contained within a single hydrological area, as defined. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the harvest area of a working forest management plan be contained within a single hydrological area. Existing law requires the working forest landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a given year, to file a working forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing. Existing law exempts the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as described in regulations, from these provisions regarding working forest management plans. This bill would eliminate this exemption.
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. Existing law exempts from CEQA a public project for the improvement, institution, or increase of passenger rail service, including the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities that will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or specified rolling stock or locomotives, as provided. This bill would exempt from CEQA, except as specified, a public urban, intermodal rail station project within a long-urbanized area within the statewide passenger rail network, at which high-capacity light, commuter, and intercity rail services converge that meets specified conditions, including, among other requirements, a requirement for compliance with various environmental laws and for the adoption of a plan for how any displacement from the project will be fully addressed, as provided. The bill would require a lead agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA pursuant to this exemption, and it determines to carry out the project, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the county clerk of the county in which the project is located, as provided. The bill would permit exemption only for projects for which a notice of exemption is filed before January 1, 2032. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of 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.
Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The act requires an attorney to strictly maintain client confidences and to preserve client secrets at their own peril. This bill would prohibit an attorney from delegating the practice of law to generative artificial intelligence. The bill would require an attorney who uses generative artificial intelligence to assist in the practice of law to, among other things, not enter confidential, personal identifying, and other nonpublic information into a generative artificial intelligence system, as specified. The bill would also require an attorney to take reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of generative artificial intelligence outputs and to correct any erroneous or hallucinated output in any material used by the attorney. Existing law requires every pleading, petition, written notice of motion, or other similar paper to be signed by the attorney of record, or if a party is unrepresented, by the party, thereby certifying to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief that it is not being presented primarily for an improper purpose and that the claims, defenses, and legal and factual contentions are warranted, as specified. This bill would prohibit a brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court from containing any citations that an attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally verified, including any citation provided by generative artificial intelligence. Existing law, the California Arbitration Act, provides a statutory framework for the enforcement of contractual arbitration under California law. The act establishes that a written agreement to submit a present or future controversy to arbitration is valid, enforceable, and irrevocable, except as specified. The act defines a neutral arbitrator as one who is selected jointly by the parties or by the parties' arbitrators, or is appointed by the court if the parties or their arbitrators cannot jointly select an arbitrator. The act requires a person selected to serve as a neutral arbitrator to disclose all matters that could cause a person aware of the facts to reasonably entertain a doubt as to the proposed neutral arbitrator's impartiality. This bill would prohibit an arbitrator from delegating any part of their decisionmaking process to any generative artificial intelligence tool, and would prohibit an arbitrator from relying on information generated by generative artificial intelligence outside the record without making appropriate disclosures to the parties beforehand, as specified. The California Constitution establishes the Judicial Council, and requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules for court administration, practice, and procedure, and to undertake certain responsibilities with regard to court facilities. This bill would require the Judicial Council to publicly revisit a specified standard of judicial administration to incorporate any necessary changes reflecting the further development of generative artificial intelligence. Existing law requires the State Bar to create a program to certify alternative resolution firms, providers, or practitioners. Existing law requires the program to include procedures to verify, among other things, that a firm, provider, or practitioner has procedures in place for persons to make complaints regarding the failure of an arbitrator or mediator of the firm, provider, or practitioner to comply with ethical standards, as applicable, and procedures to remedy failures of arbitrators or mediators to comply with those standards. This bill would instead require the State Bar to adopt procedures for the State Bar or a professional organization to receive, investigate, and resolve any complaints that a certified firm, provider, or practitioner failed to comply with the applicable ethical standards of conduct, as specified. The bill would require complaint proceedings to occur in private and be confidential. After a decision on a complaint, the bill would authorize the State Bar to publicly disclose information or records concerning complaint proceedings that do not reveal confidential or privileged communications. The bill would exempt information, records, or communications provided under these provisions from disclosure under the Public Records Act. 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.
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.
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.
