Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors by the Contractors State License Board. Existing law prohibits contractors from performing specified acts. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery or another state agency tasked to manage contracts for wildfire debris cleanup and removal by the Office of Emergency Services to prequalify contractors to enter into contracts to perform prescribed wildfire debris cleanup and removal work in communities impacted by wildfires. Notwithstanding the prequalification requirement, this bill would prohibit a contractor from engaging in debris removal that includes hazardous materials on residential or commercial property that is damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster for which an emergency or major disaster is declared, unless the contractor has one of the specified licenses or classifications, as provided. The bill would require any licensee authorized to perform debris removal that includes hazardous materials under these provisions to have passed an approved hazardous substance certification examination and comply with hazardous waste operation and emergency response requirements, as specified.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) , to determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans. This bill would require the PUC, when requiring procurement of resources under an integrated resource plan, to account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and would require the PUC to enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as specified, to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers. This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions, and to request the ISO to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind. The bill would require the commission to designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources for purposes of the ISO's scoring in its interconnection process, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2476 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2476 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2111 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2111 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, exists for the purpose of assuring safe and healthful working conditions for all California workers by authorizing the enforcement of effective standards, assisting and encouraging employers to maintain safe and healthful working conditions, and providing for research, information, education, training, and enforcement in the field of occupational safety and health. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations for the adoption of occupational safety and health standards and establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in that department for the enforcement of those occupational safety and health standards, as prescribed. This bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2030, to propose to the standards board, for its consideration and possible adoption, a standard that protects the health and safety of employees who risk high or prolonged exposure to transboundary pollution, as defined, in outdoor occupational environments, as specified. The bill would require the division to consider identifying an exposure threshold for hydrogen sulfide at which acute or chronic health effects occur to reference in the standards and may consider exposure thresholds for other relevant pollutants. The bill would authorize the division to develop the standard in consultation with other specified groups. The bill would authorize the standards board to adopt emergency regulations to implement these provisions.
Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is known as and may be referred to as CAL-FIRE. Existing law establishes in CAL-FIRE the Office of the State Fire Marshal and requires that office to establish the Community Wildfire Mitigation Assistance Program to coordinate regional and local efforts with state policies, strategies, and programs for community wildfire mitigation in order to improve wildfire preparedness and prevention, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable communities. This bill would require that, notwithstanding any other law, any state-level environmental and resource permits, approvals, consultations, and reviews required for a covered wildfire mitigation project, as defined, be consolidated into a single coordinated review by a project review team, as defined, and administered jointly by the consolidated review agencies, defined as the Natural Resources Agency in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would require an applicant seeking authorization to undertake a covered wildfire mitigation project to submit a single, consolidated application package to the consolidated review agencies. The bill would require a decision to be rendered by the consolidated review agencies within 60 calendar days of the consolidated review agencies deeming an application is complete, as provided, and would authorize the applicant and the consolidated review agencies to agree to extend the 60-day timeline if both parties agree to the extension. The bill would require the approvals to be in writing and to include specified information, including, among other things, a description of the project and a list of permits, agreements, consultations, or approvals waived by the review agencies' authorization. This bill would further provide for an expedited authorization, as defined, issued pursuant to these requirements, which would waive the requirement that the covered wildfire mitigation project comply with statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements, within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies, except as provided. The expedited authorization would replace any other permit, agreement, or authorization required by state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that falls within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies. The bill would require covered wildfire mitigation projects to be conducted in compliance with specified requirements and would impose a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each intentional, knowing, or negligent violation, as provided. The bill would require covered wildfire mitigation projects to be limited in project size based on the type of project, as specified, and completed within 5 years, for prescribed fire projects, or 2 years, for all other projects, of approval by the consolidated review agencies. The bill would further require CAL-FIRE to provide a cost-benefit analysis to estimate a project's return on investment for risk reduction or an explanation of why an estimate could not be assigned for each department state-funded grant project. This bill would specify that the authority to issuance expedited authorizations becomes inoperative on January 1, 2029. This bill would provide that the above-described provisions do not preclude compliance with applicable local and federal statutes, rules, and regulations. This bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2028, the consolidated review agencies to report to the Legislature on, among other required things, the implementation of all wildfire mitigation projects that were permitted pursuant to the above-described provisions, as provided. This bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2034. 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 authorizes the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify a regulatory program that meets specified requirements as a certified regulatory program. For actions taken under a certified regulatory program, CEQA exempts those actions from certain of its provisions. Existing law authorizes the Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to enter into an agreement for prescribed burning or other hazardous fuel reduction with any person to conduct prescribed burning operations and joint prescribed burning operations that serve the public interest and are beneficial to the state. Existing law requires, to the extent feasible, that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's Vegetation Treatment Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Report serve as the programmatic environmental document for prescribed fires initiated by a third party for a public purpose, as provided. This bill would require the board to develop the Nontimber Vegetation Management Program for nontimber vegetation management activities that are not subject to specified forest practice rules for permitting of activities on local, nonfederal, private, and state-owned lands. The bill would authorize an eligible entity proposing to conduct those vegetation management activities to seek authorization under the program. The bill would require the board, on or before July 1, 2028, to adopt emergency regulations for the program, as provided, that qualifies for certification by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency as a certified regulatory program under CEQA and would require the board to submit those emergency regulations to the secretary for review and certification. The bill would require the board, in developing the emergency regulations to conduct no fewer than 3 public meetings to receive public comments with one of those meetings occurring in southern California. The bill would require the board, following the adoption of the emergency regulations to adopt permanent regulations in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act before July 1, 2030. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2035.
Existing regulations require each public agency that is responsible for household hazardous waste management to complete and submit a "Form 303 Household Hazardous Waste Collection Report" (Form 303) electronically to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery each year. Existing regulations require the reporting timeframe to be July 1 of the previous fiscal year through June 30 of that fiscal year, with the information required to be submitted to the state by October 1 of the following fiscal year. Existing law requires a public agency, or its contractor, operating a household hazardous waste collection facility to, on or before October 1 of each year, submit a copy of the completed Form 303 to the officer or agency authorized to implement and enforce specified hazardous materials laws. Existing law requires that the completed Form 303 also be submitted to the Department of Toxic Substances Control until specified regulations adopted by the Secretary for Environmental Protection are effective and other conditions are met. This bill would require that Form 303 to instead report information for the prior calendar year. The bill would require a copy of the completed Form 303 to instead be submitted to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, and would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to provide a copy of the completed form to the Department of Toxic Substances Control upon request.
Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to fix the rates and charges for public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, and requires those rates and charges to be just and reasonable. Under existing law, a regulated public utility is prohibited from using ratepayer funds for advocacy-related activities that are political or do not otherwise benefit ratepayers. Existing law prohibits each electrical corporation or gas corporation from recording to an above-the-line account, or otherwise recovering from ratepayers, direct or indirect costs of specified activities. This bill would include in those activities for which costs may not be recovered from ratepayers any activities related to opposing the municipalization of electrical or gas utility service, as specified. Existing law authorizes the commission, each commissioner, and each officer and person employed by the commission to inspect the accounts, books, papers, and documents of any public utility. Existing law establishes within the commission an independent Public Advocate's Office of the Public Utilities Commission and authorizes the office to require an entity regulated by the commission to produce or disclose any information the office deems necessary to perform its duties, as provided. This bill would additionally authorize the office to require an entity regulated by the commission to produce or disclose any information the office deems necessary to support the commission's duties. The bill would also specify that the office has the same authority to discover information and review the accounts of a public utility as the commission and would change the timing of a specified annual report by the office to the Legislature. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above-described provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, 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 generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, and designates air pollution control districts and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires the state board to inventory sources of air pollution within the air basins of the state, determine the kinds and quantity of air pollutants, and monitor air pollutants in cooperation with districts and other agencies. Existing law requires the state board to adopt standards of ambient air quality for each air basin in consideration of the public health, safety, and welfare, including, but not limited to, health, illness, irritation to the senses, aesthetic value, interference with visibility, and effects on the economy. Existing law authorizes these standards to vary from one air basin to another. This bill would require the state board, in consultation with specified entities, to develop, as provided, a response framework that establishes best practices and guidance for addressing fugitive and natural sources of hydrogen sulfide gas and for community preparation and response to hydrogen sulfide exposure events originating from these sources. The bill would require the state board, in developing the response framework, to conduct at least 3 public workshops, including at least one located in the Tijuana River Valley region, at least one located in the Salton Sea region, and at least one selected in consultation with a community that has experienced significant hydrogen sulfide exposure. The bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to update the acute and chronic reference exposure levels for hydrogen sulfide and to develop additional health guidance values for hydrogen sulfide, if the need is identified by the state board, in consultation with the office, during development of the response framework.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, establishes an integrated waste management program. The act requires the department to initiate a program for the cleanup of solid waste disposal sites and for cleanup of solid waste at codisposal sites where no responsible party is available to pay for timely remediation, and where cleanup is needed to protect public health and safety or the environment. This bill would authorize the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to develop regulations and expend funds to remove and dispose of recreational vehicles, as defined, to develop enforcement strategies, and to develop local enforcement teams and illegal dumping enforcement officers, as specified.
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 protection and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs. Of these funds, the act makes $300,000,000 available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for improving climate resilience and sustainability of agricultural lands, including, among other things, by making $15,000,000 available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, for purposes of providing grants to public postsecondary educational institutions that are designated as Agricultural Experiment Stations or Agricultural Research Institutes, to develop research farms to improve climate resiliency, as specified. Existing law authorizes a state agency to furnish services, materials, or equipment to, or perform work for, any other state agency upon terms and conditions and for the consideration as they may determine, and to enter into agreements for that purpose, subject to approval of the Director of General Services. Existing law requires a state agency that furnishes the services, materials, or equipment to, or performs the work for, the other state agency to compute charges in a manner approved by the Director of Finance. Existing law authorizes a state agency to provide for the advancing of funds, as provided, to defray those charges. This bill would authorize the State Department of Education to advance a payment for a contract or agreement made with the Department of Food and Agriculture pursuant to the research farm provisions of Proposition 4, described above, in the 2026–27 and 2027–28 fiscal years. The bill would exempt those contracts and agreements from the above-described requirement of approval by the Director of General Services. The bill would provide, for purposes of those contracts and agreements, that developing a research farm pursuant to the research farm provisions of Proposition 4 includes constructing a new research farm and maintaining, altering, or improving an existing research farm previously constructed by the Agricultural Experiment Station or the Agricultural Research Institute. This bill would provide, for purposes of the research farm grants, that Agricultural Experiment Stations and Agricultural Research Institutes are designated by the University of California and the California State University.
Existing law provides for the establishment of air pollution control districts and air quality management districts and prescribes the membership of the governing boards of air pollution control districts and air quality management districts. Those governing boards comprise combinations of mayors, city council members, and county supervisors, selected as prescribed, except for the governing board of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, which has a differently prescribed membership and certain specified duties. This bill would, as of July 1, 2027, prescribe the membership of the governing board of the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District (air district) and prescribe many of those same duties as are required for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. In particular, the bill would require the air district to appoint a specified liaison to consult with the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, as specified, and create and maintain an internet website providing access to specified information, including, among other information, the agendas and minutes of the governing board of the air district and all current and pending permit information and settled enforcement actions. The bill would require the district, in establishing the internet website, to establish a process for permitholders that have sensitive operations to request that physical identifying information be redacted from the publicly posted information. The bill would require that air monitoring data be made available to the public on the internet website within a reasonable period of time, as specified, and would require the governing board of the district to establish an air monitoring data program, as provided. The bill would require the air district, by January 1, 2029, to post all applications for an authority to construct or permit to operate. By requiring local governments to appoint members to the air district governing board in a specified manner and by adding to the duties of the air district, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would specify the continuing funding sources for the air district. This bill would make certain provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2028. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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.
