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. If a lead agency determines that a project will have a significant transportation impact, existing law authorizes the lead agency to mitigate the transportation impact to a less than significant level by helping to fund or otherwise facilitating housing or related infrastructure projects, including by contributing an amount, to be determined pursuant to guidance issued by the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, to the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund for purposes of the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program. Existing law makes those moneys available to the Department of Housing and Community Development, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of awarding funding for affordable housing or related infrastructure projects under the program in accordance with specified priorities. On or before July 1, 2026, and at least once every 3 years thereafter, existing law requires the office, in consultation with other state agencies, to issue guidance related to the implementation of these provisions, as provided. This bill would authorize a lead agency for a land use project to require an applicant to contribute to the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund if certain cost conditions are met and the department and the office have validated the reductions in vehicle miles traveled that are attributable to the project, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law prohibits a person from driving, moving, or leaving standing upon a highway, or in an offstreet public parking facility, any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole or pipe dolly, or logging dolly, unless it is registered and the appropriate fees have been paid, except as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon registering a vehicle, to issue to the owner license plates that identify the vehicles for which they are issued for the period of their validity, as specified. Existing law also requires a motorized bicycle to display a special license plate issued by the department. Existing law authorizes a city or county to adopt a bicycle licensing ordinance or resolution, authorizes the licensing agency, by ordinance or resolution, to adopt rules and regulations for the collection of license fees, as specified, and sets the fee for each new bicycle license and registration certificate at a sum of no more than $4 per year. Existing law defines an electric bicycle as a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts, and classifies electric bicycles into 3 classes with different restrictions. This bill would require class 2 electric bicycles and class 3 electric bicycles to be registered with the department and to display a special license plate issued by the department. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement these requirements, and would make a person operating a class 2 or class 3 electric bicycle in violation of these requirements guilty of an infraction punishable by specified fines. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would create the Electric Bicycle Registration Fund in the State Treasury, require all moneys received by the department pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the fund, and require all moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for the administration of these provisions. The bill would also appropriate an unspecified sum of moneys from the General Fund to the Electric Bicycle Registration Fund as a loan for purposes of administering these provisions, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law, imposes a tax upon each gallon of motor vehicle fuel removed from a refinery or terminal rack in this state, entered into this state, or sold in this state, at a specified rate per gallon. Existing unfair competition laws establish a statutory cause of action for unfair competition, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising and acts prohibited by false advertisement laws. This bill would suspend the imposition of the tax on motor vehicle fuels for one year. The bill would require that all savings realized based on the suspension of the motor vehicle fuels tax by a person other than an end consumer, as defined, be passed on to the end consumer, and would make the violation of this requirement an unfair business practice, in violation of unfair competition laws, as provided. The bill would require a seller of motor vehicle fuels to provide a receipt to a purchaser that indicates the amount of tax that would have otherwise applied to the transaction. This bill would also direct the Controller to transfer a specified amount from the General Fund to the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund. By transferring General Fund moneys to a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to adopt those standards required of drivers by the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation, as set forth in the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, and to reduce or prevent commercial motor vehicle accidents, fatalities, and injuries by permitting drivers to hold only one license, disqualifying drivers for certain criminal offenses and serious traffic violations, and strengthening licensing and testing standards. This bill would prohibit the Department of Motor Vehicles from revoking, suspending, cancelling, or downgrading a commercial driver's license based solely on administrative deficiencies or clerical errors created or made by the department, or due to changes in the department's interpretation of domicile or residency requirements, unless the department provides the licensee with a written notice of intent to revoke, suspend, cancel, or downgrade their license at least 180 days prior to the effective date of the action. The bill would require the department to issue a specified notice to the licensee and to prioritize assisting the licensee in resolving the administrative error or deficiency within the 180 day notice period. The bill would require the department to establish a dedicated process to review documents submitted by the affected licensees to expedite compliance. The bill would authorize the department to grant a one-time extension of up to 90 days and require the extension to be granted if the licensee has taken steps to resolve the deficiency but is unable to complete the process within the 180 day period due to processing delays by the department or a federal agency. The bill would require the extension to be granted if the department determines that the licensee is making a good faith effort to comply, and that the issue is likely to be fully resolved within the extension period. The bill would provide that these provisions are to be implemented only to the extent authorized by federal law.
Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle, upon meeting or overtaking a schoolbus equipped with required signs that is stopped for the purpose of loading or unloading schoolchildren and displaying a flashing red light signal and stop signal arm, if equipped with a stop signal arm, to bring the vehicle to a stop immediately before passing the schoolbus and to not proceed past the schoolbus until the flashing red light signal and stop signal arm cease operation. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law imposes escalating fines for violations of these provisions, including a fine of not less than $150, but not more than $250, for a first violation. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2032, school districts to establish a stop signal arm enforcement system pilot program if the system meets specified requirements, in order to enforce the provisions above. The bill would require the school district to publish certain data regarding the system, and post routes or operational hours and camera locations on their internet website before deployment of the system. The bill would authorize the school district to contract with a private vendor or manufacturer to install a stop signal arm enforcement system on each schoolbus in its fleet. The bill would require a school district, vendor, or manufacturer to submit specified information regarding an alleged violation to a law enforcement agency authorized to enforce those violations within 30 days of the alleged violation. The bill would create a process for law enforcement to determine whether the person committed certain violations as well as a process for the alleged offender to challenge the violation. The bill would designate all photographic or administrative records, made by a system as confidential, and would only authorize public agencies to use and allow access to these records for specified purposes. The bill would require a school district operating a stop signal arm enforcement system, by July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to provide a summary report to the Governor, Legislature, and Department of Motor Vehicles that describes the use and operation of the system, as specified. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, repeal the authority to impose criminal fines for a violation of the schoolbus provisions and would instead recast the fines as a civil penalty schedule if a person violates those provisions. 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.
This measure would urge the United States Senate, and specifically its Democratic members, to prioritize national security and the safety of American citizens by passing the House-approved United States Department of Homeland Security funding bill immediately. The measure would call on Congress to ensure that the brave staff members of the Transportation Security Administration, United States Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency have the resources necessary to protect the United States from the heightened threat of Iranian-sponsored terrorism.
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, 2040, exempts from its requirements certain projects for the improvement, institution, or increase of passenger rail service, including the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities, which will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives, as provided. CEQA requires, for purposes of this exemption, that the project be located entirely within an existing rail right-of-way or existing highway right-of-way, as provided. This bill would instead eliminate the condition that the public project be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives, thereby expanding the scope of the exemption. The bill would require, for purposes of the exemption, the mainline rail of the project, instead of the whole project, to be located entirely within an existing right-of-way or existing highway right-of-way. As part of the above-described exemption, CEQA prohibits a public project from being eligible for that exemption if used by certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives that are not zero-emission rolling stock or locomotives and the project is located in an air basin designated as a serious, severe, or extreme nonattainment area for particulate matter and ozone. This bill would instead authorize an otherwise ineligible project, as described above, to be eligible for the exemption if the project would provide daily passenger rail service between termini more than 5 miles apart where none exists as of January 1, 2027, and the rail service would run parallel to a state highway or interstate highway corridor. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for these expanded exemptions, 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 creates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as a local area planning agency for the 9-county San Francisco Bay area with comprehensive regional transportation planning and other related responsibilities. Existing law establishes the Public Transit Revenue Measure District, governed by the same board that governs the commission, with jurisdiction extending throughout the boundaries of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, and the City and County of San Francisco. Existing law authorizes a retail transactions and use tax applicable to the entire district to be imposed by the board of the district or by a qualified voter initiative for a duration of 14 years, and in specified amounts, subject to voter approval at the November 3, 2026, statewide general election. Existing law establishes specified procedures for that election, including a requirement that the elections officials of the counties where the measure will appear on the ballot mutually agree to use the same letter designation for the measure. This bill would revise those election procedures by, among other things, instead requiring the measure to be identified on the ballot by the designation "Regional Transit Measure" in each county included in the district and by requiring each county elections official in the district to select, from among the submissions of proposed arguments in favor of, and against, the measure, the arguments to be included in the county voter information guide of that county, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with possession and control of all state highways. Existing law requires the department, on or before July 1, 1992, to adopt and implement a deicing policy for state highways, as specified. Existing law specifically requires the department to remove snow from a specified portion of Interstate Route 80, as specified. This bill would require, on or before April 1 of each year, the department, to the extent feasible, to notify an affected local official of the department's proposed schedule for opening a mountain pass, as defined. The bill would require the department to develop a public outreach plan to inform the public about the closing and opening of a mountain pass, as specified.
Existing law, until January 1, 2030, authorizes a local agency, as defined, to install automated forward-facing parking control devices on city-owned or district-owned parking enforcement vehicles for the purpose of taking photographs of parking violations occurring in bicycle lanes. Existing law requires a qualified and designated employee of a city, county, city and county, or contracted law enforcement agency for a special transit district to review these photographs for the purpose of determining whether a parking violation occurred in a bicycle lane and to issue a notice of violation to the registered owner of a vehicle within 15 calendar days, as specified. Existing law requires these photographic records to be confidential and makes these records available only to public agencies to enforce parking violations. Existing law requires any local agency that implements a parking enforcement program under these provisions to provide to specified committees of the Legislature an evaluation report on, among other things, the automated enforcement system's effectiveness and impact on traffic outcomes, by December 31, 2028. Existing law prohibits the stopping, standing, or parking of a vehicle in certain places and under certain conditions, including within an intersection, on a sidewalk or crosswalk, or in front of a fire station. This bill would instead authorize local agencies to install forward-facing parking control devices on specified enforcement vehicles for the purpose of taking video images of parking violations and expand the automated parking control device program to include the enforcement of the parking violations described above. The bill would similarly require any local agency that implements an automated device program for the enforcement of these additional parking violations to submit an evaluation report to specified committees of the Legislature by December 31, 2030. The bill would extend the operation of the program's provisions to January 1, 2033. The bill would also authorize a local agency to establish an enhanced curb management system that records images of vehicles for the purpose of enforcing parking violations or automating parking payments if certain requirements are met. The bill would require the governing body of the local agency to adopt a public ordinance or resolution that would authorize the use of a system in specified locations, including, among others, passenger loading zones and commercial loading zones. The bill would require a local agency that automates parking payments by charging vehicles a fee for access to outline the fee, and any adjusted rates, in an ordinance or resolution. The bill would require the system to record images of the vehicle and license plate at the time of the violation. The bill would require the image data to be reviewed and approved by a peace officer or person authorized to enforce parking laws before mailing the notice of violation. The bill would require the notice of violation to be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle within 15 calendar days, as specified. The bill would require the image data collected by the system and any identifying information to be confidential and would require that the image data only be used for the purpose of processing parking violations and charging vehicles a fee for access. The bill would require a local agency to observe a public information campaign for at least 60 days before issuing citations, as specified. The bill would require a local agency to report periodically to the Legislature on the system's impact, as specified. The bill would expand the definition of "local agency" to include the parking enforcement agencies of the University of California, the California State University, or a college of the California Community Colleges, thereby authorizing these institutions to implement an automated parking control device program or an enhanced curb management system. 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.
