Existing law authorizes the removal and seizure of a vehicle under various circumstances, including whenever a peace officer determines that a person was driving without a license or while their driving privilege was suspended or revoked, or when a city or a county adopts an ordinance declaring a motor vehicle to be a public nuisance. Existing law requires that a vehicle be released to the legal owner of the vehicle or the legal owner's agent prior to the end of the impoundment period if specified conditions are met, including, among other things, that the legal owner or the legal owner's agent pays all towing and storage fees related to the seizure of the vehicle and presents specified documents showing proof of legal ownership. With regards to the payment of the fees, existing law requires a person operating or in charge of a storage facility where vehicles are stored to accept a valid bank credit card or cash for payment by a legal or registered owner or the owner's agent claiming the vehicle. Existing law prohibits any tow yard, impounding agency, or governmental agency, or any person acting on behalf of those entities, from refusing to release a vehicle or other collateral to anyone that is legally entitled to that vehicle or other collateral. A violation of any provision of the Vehicle Code is punishable as a crime, unless otherwise specified. This bill would additionally require the acceptance of debit cards, as defined, for the payment of the fees described above. The bill would provide that requiring any documents to show proof of ownership other than those specified in the provisions described above constitutes a refusal to release under the prohibition described above. The bill would also make other technical, clarifying, and conforming changes. By expanding the scope of existing crimes and creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14602.6 of the Vehicle Code proposed by AB 1830 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1830 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 measure would recognize hydrogen as a key decarbonization tool when produced, transported, and utilized in accordance with a carbon intensity standard that ensures verifiable lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions; supports the continued development and refinement of carbon intensity frameworks to guide hydrogen policy, investment, and deployment; encourages state agencies to prioritize hydrogen deployment; and urges coordination to ensure hydrogen projects advance economic development, workforce opportunities, and environmental justice outcomes.
Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. For these purposes, existing law defines "autonomous vehicle." This bill would require the manufacturer of an advanced driver assistance system, or an automobile equipped with an advanced driver assistance system, to ensure a driver is able to disable or disengage either an advanced driver assistance system or autonomous technology as a condition of operating the vehicle under a condition in which manual operation was previously available. The bill would define "advanced driver assistance system" for these purposes. The bill would authorize the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney to bring a civil action to enforce those prohibitions and would authorize a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 per violation, as specified. The bill would specify that a violation of those prohibitions is not an unlawful business practice. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. Existing law requires the department, upon application for an original driver's license, to require an examination of the applicant. Existing law requires the examination to test, among other things, the applicant's knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Vehicle Code governing the operation of vehicles upon the highways, an actual demonstration of the applicant's ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in operating a motor vehicle by driving it under the supervision of an examining officer, and a test of the applicant's hearing and eyesight, as specified. This bill would require the department, at the next regularly scheduled revision of the driver's license examination or demonstration of an applicant's ability to drive, to consider adding one or more questions that pertain to levels of advanced driver assistance systems.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Clean Truck, Bus, and Off-Road Vehicle and Equipment Technology Program, to be administered by the State Air Resources Board in conjunction with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) . The program funds eligible projects, including, among others, projects for technology development, demonstration, precommercial pilots, and early commercial deployments of zero- and near-zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty truck technology, including projects that help to facilitate clean goods movement corridors. Existing law establishes the Clean Transportation Program, administered by the Energy Commission, to provide, among other things, competitive grants and revolving loans to specified entities for those entities to develop and deploy innovative technologies that transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state's climate change policies. This bill would require, within the California Clean Truck, Bus, and Off-Road Vehicle and Equipment Technology Program, the state board and the Energy Commission, beginning January 1, 2027, to condition the inclusion of any medium- or heavy-duty vehicle model in specified incentive programs, including the Clean Transportation Program, on the receipt of the pricing data specified below. (2) Existing law establishes the state board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The state board, in this capacity, administers the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (project) under which the agency issues a limited number of vouchers to incentivize the purchase and use of zero-emission commercial vehicles. This bill would require the state board, in order to support the deployment of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles through the project, to annually reevaluate the cap on the purchase of unredeemed state vouchers issued through the project, as specified. The bill would also require the state board to periodically reevaluate whether or not taxes should be included when determining the maximum share of vehicle cost incentivized through the project. This bill, beginning January 1, 2027, would require a state agency administering any medium- or heavy-duty vehicle incentive program that receives funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, including, but not limited to, the project, and any program that receives funding through the California Clean Fuel Reward through the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard regulations, or through the Clean Transportation Program, to condition the inclusion of any medium- or heavy-duty vehicle model in that program upon certain transparency requirements. The bill would require these transparency requirements to include, among other things, the original equipment manufacturer providing the manufacturer suggested retail price for all zero-emission vehicle models offered for sale in California that may be funded by the above-described incentive programs and receipt by the administering agency of a final itemized purchase order, as provided. This bill would require the state board, in coordination with the Energy Commission, to compile and make publicly available on its internet website in an aggregated format that anonymizes and protects the confidentiality of specified information, the data provided pursuant to these requirements. The bill would also authorize the state board to recover previously dispersed incentive funds that are found to have been dispersed based on data that was knowingly and intentionally misrepresented. The bill would require suspension of a vehicle model's eligibility for the above-described incentive programs for failure to comply with the reporting requirements, following a notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure the failure to comply. (3) Existing law establishes the Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Fleet Purchasing Assistance Program within the Air Quality Improvement Program to make financing tools and nonfinancial supports available to operators of medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets to enable those operators to transition their fleets to zero-emission vehicles. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, and in coordination with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, to explore alternative financing opportunities to encourage the deployment of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and report its findings regarding these alternative financing opportunities to the Legislature. The bill would require this report to include, but not be limited to, incentives with a specific focus on encouraging new entries into the market, spurring market competition, and prioritizing manufacturing within the state, an evaluation of ways to de-risk and scale up the participation of private investors in the market for affordable zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including used vehicles, and an exploration of increasing deployment and decreasing costs by retrofitting internal combustion medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to zero-emission.
Existing law authorizes a peace officer, as defined, or a regularly employed and salaried employee who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations, as specified, to immobilize a vehicle with a device made for that purpose, if the vehicle is found upon a highway or public lands within the officer or employee's jurisdiction, and the vehicle has been issued 5 or more notices of parking violations that are delinquent because the owner or person in control of the vehicle has not responded within the prescribed time period, or the registered owner has been issued 5 or more notices for failure to pay or failure to appear in court for traffic violations, as specified. Existing law allows a vehicle to be immobilized until the owner or person in control of the vehicle presents the immobilizing law enforcement agency with specified information, including evidence that all outstanding parking penalties have been paid. Existing law makes it unlawful and punishable as an infraction for a person to dump or cause to be dumped waste matter upon a public or private highway or road, upon private property without the consent of the owner, or in or upon a public park or other public property, as specified. Existing law also makes it unlawful and punishable as a misdemeanor for a person to place, deposit, or dump, or cause to be placed, deposited, or dumped, waste matter in commercial quantities, as specified. This bill would similarly authorize the immobilization of a vehicle with a device made for that purpose if the registered owner of the vehicle has been issued a certain number of notices of illegal dumping violation that are delinquent, or is known to have been issued a certain number notices for failure to pay or failure to appear in court for an illegal dumping violation, as specified.
Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified. Existing law, for the purposes of that act, defines the term "public agency" to include various federal, state, local, and tribal entities. Existing law requires approval by the Department of General Services of certain joint powers agreements that include the state as a member, as provided. Existing law authorizes a joint powers authority to issue revenue bonds to pay the costs and expenses of acquiring, constructing, or conducting a program for, among other things, low-income housing projects owned or operated by a city, county, city and county, or housing authority. Existing law provides that the Treasurer and the Secretary of State are designated as elected representatives for federal tax purposes of a joint powers agency created to approve or certify the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by or on behalf of the joint powers agency to the extent approval is required by federal tax law. This bill would provide that the geographic jurisdiction of a joint powers authority is the area encompassed by the combined geographical boundaries of all of its member public agencies. The bill would declare that these provisions are declaratory of existing law. This bill would additionally authorize the Treasurer to execute an agreement including the state as a member of a joint powers authority without obtaining approval from the Department of General Services only for the Treasurer to provide specified approvals for bonds issued by the joint powers authority to finance specified residential rental projects for which a city, county, or city and county that is a member of the joint powers authority has failed to provide specified approval required by federal tax law, as defined and provided. The bill would provide that its provisions do not expand, limit, or otherwise affect the authority of, among others, the state, or any officer or agency of the state, to enter into a joint exercise of powers agreement or cause the state to become a member of a joint powers authority, as specified. Existing law additionally authorizes, subject to specified limitations, any city or county to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing and for the provision of capital improvements in connection with, and determined necessary to, that multifamily rental housing. This bill would specify that, for the purposes of the above-described provisions, "city" or "county" is deemed to include the state when the state is a member of a joint powers authority pursuant to the bill's provisions only to provide the state with the power to issue bonds and provide approval, consent, or other action required to finance specified residential rental projects, as provided. Existing law provides that the State of California will not change the composition of a joint powers authority that has issued bonds, unless the change is authorized by a majority vote of applicable legislative bodies, as provided. Existing law defines "change in composition" to include, among others, the addition of a public agency, as defined, to a joint powers authority. This bill would, notwithstanding the above-described definition, provide that the state becoming a member of an existing joint powers authority shall not, in and of itself, constitute a "change in composition." The bill would make additional nonsubstantive and conforming changes. Existing law, the Subdivision Map Act, provides for the approval of tentative and final parcel maps by various local officials, as specified. The act authorizes an appeal of the local official's decision to the local legislative body, as provided. This bill would create an exception from the above-described authority as it applies to appeals by an interested person for maps that meet specified criteria, as provided. The bill would exempt from these provisions an appeal filed by an applicant, subdivider, tenant, advisory agency, or public agency or official, as specified. This bill would make the provisions of the act severable.
Existing law creates the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program to provide operating and capital assistance for transit agencies to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and improve mobility. Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to administer the program and to adopt guidelines, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, that describe the methodologies to be used by a recipient transit agency to demonstrate that proposed expenditures will meet specified program expenditure requirements and establish the reporting requirements for documenting ongoing compliance with those expenditure requirements. This bill would repeal the requirement for the department to adopt guidelines. Existing law continuously appropriates a specified amount of money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the program and requires the Controller to allocate those moneys according to the requirements of the program. Existing law requires a recipient transit agency to demonstrate that expenditures of program moneys allocated to the agency reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and do not supplant other sources of funds. Existing law requires moneys for the program to be expended to provide transit operating or capital assistance that directly enhances or expands transit services, increases transit mode share, or is related to the purchase of zero-emission buses, as specified. Before seeking a disbursement of funds pursuant to the program, existing law requires a recipient transit agency to submit to the department a list of proposed expense types and documentation required by the guidelines that demonstrates compliance with the above-described expenditure requirements. For capital projects funded by the program, existing law requires a transit agency to specify the phases of work for which an allocation of program moneys is sought, identify sources and timing of all moneys required for those phases of work, and describe intended sources and timing of funding for subsequent phases of work, as provided. Existing law requires a recipient transit agency to provide an annual report to the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department and a recipient transit agency to comply with guidelines developed by the State Air Resources Board to ensure that the requirements of a certain investment plan are met to maximize the benefits to disadvantaged communities, as provided. This bill would revise and recast the program to, among other things, require program funds to be expended only on maintenance or expansion of bus, rail, or ferry services, transit fare subsidies, and network and fare integration technology improvements. By altering the permissible uses for which continuously appropriated funds may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. Before receiving program funds, the bill would require a recipient transit agency to submit to the department a list of services or programs to be funded by those funds, as specified. The bill would require the department to report to the Controller the recipient transit agencies that have submitted the list, and would, upon receipt of the report from the department, require the Controller to allocate program funds. The bill would require a recipient transit agency to report to the department on the expenditure of program funds, as specified.
Existing law authorizes a legislative body of a city to designate one or more proposed infrastructure revitalization financing districts, as specified, which are legally constituted governmental entities established for the sole purpose of financing certain types of facilities, as specified. Existing law limits districts to only financing facilities or projects of communitywide significance, including the acquisition, construction, or repair of commercial or industrial structures for private use. This bill would specify that a facility or project to acquire, construct, or repair commercial or industrial structures for private use includes entertainment or sports facilities.
Existing law establishes an accidental release prevention program for the state. Under that law, stationary sources subject to the accidental release prevention program may be required to prepare and submit a risk management plan (RMP) to prevent accidental releases of certain substances. Existing law imposes criminal penalties upon a stationary source that knowingly violates the requirements of the accidental release prevention program. This bill would state findings and declarations concerning refinery closures in California. The bill would establish the Refinery Safe Staffing Task Force to develop potential methods and strategies for ensuring maximum employee retention at refineries and addressing employment dislocations associated with oil, gas, and related industries, with membership, as specified, appointed and commencing service no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would require the task force, no later than June 1, 2029, to present to the Legislature and make available online to the public a report documenting a wide range of potential methods and strategies for ensuring maximum employee retention in the time period preceding refinery closure or long-term idling of a refinery, for ensuring safe operation in the event of understaffing, and for transitioning oil and gas workers into sectors that match their skills and experience. The bill would repeal the task force provisions on January 1, 2030.
Existing law makes it unlawful to dump waste matter in certain locations, such as upon a public or private highway or road, upon private property without the consent of the owner, or in or upon a public park or other public property, as specified. Existing law also makes it unlawful to place, deposit, or dump rocks, concrete, asphalt, or dirt in certain locations, as specified. A person violating these provisions is guilty of an infraction, as specified. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions in commercial quantities, as defined, a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail and by a fine, as specified. Under existing law, a private owner is not restricted in the use of their own private property, unless the placing, depositing, or dumping of the waste matter on the property creates a public health and safety hazard, a public nuisance, or a fire hazard, as determined by a local health or fire department or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This bill would make it a crime to transport waste matter, rocks, concrete, asphalt, dirt, or other construction debris for the purpose of placing, depositing, or dumping it in the locations described above. The bill would increase the maximum fine to $5000 for violating these provisions a 4th or subsequent time. The bill would also make it unlawful to transport for the purpose of placing, depositing, or dumping waste matter, rocks, concrete, asphalt, dirt or other construction debris in commercial quantities, as defined, in the locations described above. The bill would specify that the fact that a person is operating a vehicle with actual or apparent rocks, concrete, asphalt, dirt, or other construction debris in their vehicle does not in itself constitute reasonable suspicion to stop or detain the person, or probable cause to arrest the person. For a person who violates these provisions in commercial quantities in excess of 25 cubic yards, the bill would make that violation a misdemeanor punishable in a county jail for not more than one year and by a fine, as specified. For commercial quantities in excess of 50 cubic yards, the bill would make a violation punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified. By expanding the application of a crime and creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would specify that a private owner or a person with the owner's permission is prohibited from placing, depositing, dumping, or transporting waste matter, rocks, concrete, asphalt, dirt, or construction debris on their property if the activity requires a permit or license from a state or local agency and one was not obtained, or creates a public health and safety hazard, a public nuisance, or a fire hazard, as determined by specified entities. The bill would prohibit a person from being charged with dumping commercial quantities under these provisions if it was completed during the course of the person's employment and at the direction of their employer, 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.
