Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation, climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings, and energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Pursuant to this authority, the commission has adopted regulations requiring solar-ready buildings and for the installation of photovoltaic systems meeting certain requirements for low-rise residential buildings built on or after January 1, 2020. This bill would, until January 1, 2028, require residential construction intended to repair, restore, or replace a residential building damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in an area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor to comply only with the requirements regarding photovoltaic systems pursuant to those regulations, if any, that were in effect at the time the damaged or destroyed building was originally constructed and would prohibit that construction from being required to comply with any additional or conflicting photovoltaic system requirements in effect at the time of repair, restoration, or replacement. The bill would only apply to the construction of a building if certain conditions are met with respect to the building owner's income and insurance coverage and to the location and square footage of the construction. Because a local agency would be required to determine whether any older applicable photovoltaic requirements are met, this 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 State Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Program, administered by the Department of Transportation, for purposes of planning, developing, and implementing projects adapting state transportation infrastructure to climate change. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with, among others, the Transportation Agency and the California Transportation Commission, to develop a program of its top priority climate adaptation projects and to submit projects in this program to the commission for adoption. Existing law requires the department, in developing the program of projects, to consider specified criteria, including, but not limited to, the benefits of the project to preserving or enhancing regional or statewide mobility, economy, goods movement, and safety, and other benefits associated with protecting the asset. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the commission and the agency, and on or before July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to create a prioritized list of projects of statewide and regional significance, as defined, to better prepare the state for extreme weather-related events, with priority based on specified criteria. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to submit to the Legislature a report containing the prioritized list of projects.
Existing law establishes procedures for the formation of regional park districts and prescribes the powers, functions, and duties of those districts. The East Bay Regional Park District is one such regional park district. This bill would authorize the East Bay Regional Park District to establish and administer the East Bay Hills Conservation Program to address resource and recreational goals of the East Bay Hills, as defined. The bill would authorize the Park District to collaborate with California Native American tribes and state, regional, and local partners to help achieve specified goals of the program. The bill would require the East Bay Hills to be acknowledged as an area of statewide significance in local land use policy documents developed or updated on or after January 1, 2026, affecting land use within the East Bay Hills. To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on local entities, 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 East Bay Regional Park District. 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.
(1) The Water Recycling Law generally provides for the use of recycled water. Existing law requires any person who, without regard to intent or negligence, causes or permits an unauthorized discharge of 50,000 gallons or more of recycled water in or on any waters of the state to immediately notify the appropriate regional water board. This bill would, for the purposes of the above provision, redefine "recycled water" and provide that water discharged from a decorative body of water during storm events is not to be considered an unauthorized discharge if recycled water was used to restore levels due to evaporation. (2) Existing law regulating the use of recycled water prohibits the use of prescribed potable water by state and local agencies for any nonpotable uses, including cemeteries, golf courses, parks, and highway landscaped areas if prescribed recycled water is available, and deems use of the recycled water in lieu of the potable water to constitute a reasonable beneficial use of that water. The bill would provide that incidental amounts of spray, mist, or runoff are to be permitted to enter outdoor eating areas of parks and open spaces when irrigated with disinfected tertiary treated recycled water that complies with a specified regulation regarding irrigation. (3) Existing law authorizes any public agency, including a state agency, city, county, city and county, district, or any other political subdivision of the state, to require the use of recycled water for irrigation of residential landscaping, as specified. The bill would provide that outdoor landscape irrigation of common areas that does not enter the boundaries of a residence is not to be considered a part of the same premises as an individual residence and is not to be considered a dual-plumbed system. The bill would require recycled water used for this purpose to comply with specified water quality and cost conditions. (4) Existing law authorizes any public agency, including a state agency, city, county, city and county, district, or any other political subdivision of the state, to require the use of recycled water for toilet and urinal flushing in structures, as specified. Existing law defines "structures" for the purposes of these provisions. This bill would include food handling and processing facilities as part of the definition of "structures." The bill would authorize the use of recycled water for toilet or urinal flushing or outdoor irrigation in and around food handling or processing facilities, commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings, and cafeterias, provided the recycled water does not enter the room where food handling or processing occurs, as specified.
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to implement a comprehensive short-lived climate pollutant strategy to achieve a reduction in statewide emissions of methane by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. Existing law requires the methane emissions reduction goals to include a 75% reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2025. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the state board, to adopt regulations to achieve these organic waste reduction goals that include, among other things, requirements intended to meet the goal that not less than 20% of edible food that is currently disposed of be recovered for human consumption by 2025 and that may include penalties to be imposed by the department for noncompliance, as provided. The regulations, among other things, require a commercial edible food generator, as defined, to have a contract or written agreement with a food recovery organization, as defined, to recover the maximum amount of edible food that would otherwise be disposed, as provided. The regulations also require a commercial edible food generator to keep certain records regarding the recovery of edible food. This bill would exempt from these requirements an agricultural crop preparation service, as defined, that demonstrates to the department that it has not disposed of organic waste in a landfill on or after January 1, 2016.
Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in accordance with policies established by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, to assist local governments in preventing future high-intensity wildland fires and instituting appropriate fuels management by making its wildland fire prevention and vegetation management expertise available to local governments, as provided. This bill would define an environmentally sensitive vegetation management project to mean vegetation management that reduces catastrophic wildfire risk over the long term while supporting native wildlife and biodiversity. The bill would require a state public entity to consider incorporating specified criteria into its funding guidelines for a grant program that funds environmentally sensitive vegetation management projects.
Existing law provides various provisions applicable to all public transit and transit districts and includes specific requirements applicable to public entities that operate commuter rail or rail transit systems. This bill would prohibit a public entity that owns diesel-powered on-track equipment from selling, donating, or otherwise transferring ownership of that equipment for continued use after the public entity decommissions the equipment. The bill would exempt the sale, donation, or transfer of the ownership of that equipment from the prohibition if the equipment is deemed to be in one of specified categories of emissions standards designated by the federal government for locomotives, the equipment produces emissions equivalent to any equipment within any of those federal categories, or the diesel engine is removed from the equipment, as specified.
Existing law requires each utility, on and after January 1, 2017, to, upon the request and authorization of the owner, owner's agent, or operator of a covered building, as defined, deliver or otherwise provide aggregated energy usage data for a covered building to the owner, owner's agent, or building operator, or to the owner's account in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, as specified. This bill would authorize a utility to satisfy that requirement by delivering or otherwise providing aggregated energy usage data to the owner's account in any alternative system or tool approved by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.
Existing law prohibits requiring a person desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station that requires payment of a fee from paying a subscription fee in order to use the station, or requiring the person to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. Existing law authorizes an electric vehicle charging station to offer services on a subscription- or membership-only basis, if the station provides nonsubscribers or nonmembers the ability to use the station through a contactless payment method that accepts major credit and debit cards, as specified, and either an automated toll-free telephone number or a short message system (SMS) that provides the electric vehicle charging customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment. Existing law requires a direct current fast charging station that is first installed or made publicly available on or after July 10, 2023, to also include Plug and Charge payment capabilities, as specified. Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to add to or subtract from these payment methods by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, as provided. This bill would create an exception to the above-described provisions to authorize an electric vehicle charging station to require that payment for charging services be made through the use of an internet-based application if the charging station is on the premises of an arena that has a seating capacity of at least 15,000 seats and can only be accessed through the use of that internet-based application. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44268.2 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1423 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1423 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law prohibits gill nets and trammel nets from being used for commercial purposes, except under a revocable, nontransferable permit issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission to adopt regulations for the issuance of gill net and trammel net permits as necessary to establish an orderly gill net and trammel net fishery. Existing law prohibits the department from issuing any new gill net or trammel net permits and authorizes the department to renew an existing gill net or trammel net permit. Existing law authorizes a gill or trammel net permitholder to transfer that permit to any person qualified under the regulations adopted by the commission if the permitholder presents to the department satisfactory evidence that they have taken and landed fish for commercial purposes in at least 15 of the preceding 20 years. Existing law also authorizes the transfer of a gill or trammel net permit to another qualified individual upon the disability or death of the original permitholder, as specified. This bill would eliminate the provisions that authorize the transfer of a gill or trammel net permit to another qualified individual upon the disability or death of the original permitholder. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2027, only allow a permitholder to transfer a permit under the other transfer authorization described above to a family member pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission, as specified. After a permit is transferred pursuant to that authorization, the bill would prohibit the further transfer of that permit.
