The Use Fuel Tax Law imposes a state excise tax at specified rates, generally $0.18 per gallon, on the use of fuel, as defined, and establishes various exemptions from those taxes, including an exemption for any transit district, transit authority, or city owning and operating a local transit system, as provided. This bill would additionally apply this exemption to a county that owns and operates a local transit system, as provided. The California Constitution provides for the establishment of the State Board of Equalization, which, before July 1, 2017, had primary responsibility for most of the state's duties, powers, and responsibilities regarding the administration of taxes and fees. Existing law, on July 1, 2017, transferred to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration various duties, powers, and responsibilities of the State Board of Equalization, including administration of the Use Fuel Tax Law, as specified. This bill would change references in the Use Fuel Tax Law provisions described above from the "State Board of Equalization" to the "California Department of Tax and Fee Administration" to reflect the transfer of the board's duties, powers, and responsibilities to the department. The Diesel Fuel Tax Law imposes taxes at a specified rate with respect to the distribution or delivery of each gallon of diesel fuel, and establishes various exemptions from those taxes, including an exemption for an exempt bus operation that consists of, among other things, a transit district, transit authority, or city owning and operating a local transit system, as provided. This bill would additionally apply this exemption to a county that owns and operates a local transit system, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.
Existing law prohibits requiring a person desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station, as defined, 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 allows nonsubscribers or nonmembers 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 customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment. Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, to add to or subtract from those required payment methods, as specified. This bill would instead authorize the commission to modify, add to, or subtract from those required payment methods, as appropriate in light of changing technologies or cost impacts. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44268.2 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 533 to be operative only if this bill and SB 533 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law defines a battery as any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another. Existing law provides that when a battery is committed against the person of an operator, driver, or passenger on a bus, taxicab, streetcar, cable car, trackless trolley, or other motor vehicle, as specified, and the person who commits the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is engaged in the performance of their duties, the penalty is imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both the fine and imprisonment. Existing law also provides that if the victim is injured, the offense would be punished by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would expand this crime to apply to an employee, public transportation provider, or contractor of a public transportation provider. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes any employer or collective bargaining representative whose employee has suffered harassment, unlawful violence, or a credible threat of violence from any individual, which can reasonably be construed to be carried out or to have been carried out at the workplace, to seek a temporary restraining order and an injunction on behalf of the employee and other employees of the employer. This bill would clarify that "unlawful violence" includes battery committed against the person of an operator, driver, or passenger on a bus, taxicab, streetcar, cable car, trackless trolley, or other motor vehicle, as specified, or against an employee, public transportation provider, or contractor of a public transportation provider. The bill would also clarify that the definition of "employer" for the above-described provision includes a joint powers authority or a public transit operator. 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.
(1) Existing law imposes various functions and duties on the State Air Resources Board relating to reducing emissions of air pollutants. Existing law requires the state board to identify toxic air contaminants that are emitted into the ambient air of the state and to adopt airborne toxic control measures to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants. Pursuant to its authority, the state board has adopted the Transport Refrigeration Unit Regulation to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants and other pollutants from diesel-fueled transport refrigeration units used to power electrically driven refrigerated shipping containers and trailers that are operated in California. Existing law authorizes the state board under certain circumstances to impose a fee to cover the cost of its regulation of specified activities. This bill would authorize the state board to impose a fee on any entity regulated by the state board under the Transport Refrigeration Unit Regulation for the state board's reasonable regulatory costs associated with the implementation, administration, and enforcement of that regulation, as specified. The bill would require the revenues collected from the fee to be deposited into the Certification and Compliance Fund and to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for those costs. (2) Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law continuously appropriates specified portions of the annual proceeds in the fund to various programs, including 5% for the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, which is administered by the Department of Transportation and provides operating and capital assistance for transit agencies to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and improve mobility. Existing law requires the Controller to allocate funding under the program for the 2019–20 to 2022–23, inclusive, fiscal years to recipient transit agencies pursuant to specified individual operator ratios published by the Controller. This bill would extend the application of those individual operator ratios to the allocation of that funding through the 2025–26 fiscal year. (3) Under existing law, public transportation systems funded under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act that provide charter bus services are required to establish rates for those services that, among other things, are either at least equal to the average of the 3 lowest current rates charged by private charter bus carriers operating charters in the same service area of the system or at least equal to the fully allocated cost of each charter operated, as specified. This bill would revise that rate requirement to instead require rates to be established that are either at least equal to the average of the 3 lowest current rates charged by private charter bus carriers operating charters in the same service area of the system or at least equal to the marginal cost of each charter operated, as specified. (4) Existing law authorizes the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as the successor entity to the Southern California Rapid Transit District, to operate charter bus service, subject to certain limitations. This bill would authorize the authority to provide charter bus service for the 2026 FIFA World Cup during the period from June 1, 2026, to July 31, 2026, inclusive, in the County of Los Angeles, subject to certain conditions, and would also authorize other public transportation providers, operating under contract with the authority, to provide charter bus services in the County of Los Angeles for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as specified. The bill would also exempt the operation of these charter bus services from certain requirements applicable to charter bus services performed by public transportation systems receiving funding under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act if the operator establishes rates for those services that meet specified requirements. (5) Existing law authorizes the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the San Mateo County Transit District to operate charter bus service, subject to certain limitations. This bill would authorize those entities and any other public transportation operator providing public transit services in any portion of the greater San Francisco Bay area, as defined, to provide charter bus service for the 2026 FIFA World Cup during the period from June 1, 2026, to July 31, 2026, inclusive, subject to certain conditions. The bill would also exempt the operation of these charter bus services from certain requirements applicable to charter bus services performed by public transportation systems receiving funding under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act if the operator establishes rates for those services that meet specified requirements. (6) Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish a pilot program to evaluate the use of optional mobile or digital alternatives to driver's licenses and identification cards, subject to certain requirements, including, but not limited to, the voluntary participation of persons in the program and a limitation on the percentage of licensed drivers who can participate in the program. This bill would expand the percentage of licensed drivers who can participate in the program from 5% to 15%. (7) Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation, upon adoption of an ordinance or resolution by certain cities, to issue a special permit to the operator of a vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment, permitting the operation and movement of the vehicle, combination, or equipment, and its load, on specified portions of state highways, if the vehicle, combination, or equipment, meets specified criteria. This bill would additionally authorize the department to issue the above-described special permit to operate and move a vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment, and its load, on the 1.7-mile portion of State Route 185 that is between High Street and Hegenberger Road, known as International Boulevard in the City of Oakland, if the vehicle, combination, or equipment meets that specified criteria. The bill would authorize the department to issue those permits until December 31, 2031, or until an alternate truck route to San Leandro Street becomes available, as specified. The bill would require the City of Oakland to report certain data to the Legislature and the Department of Transportation on or before January 1, 2031. By increasing the duties of a city, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (8) The Administrative Procedure Act sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. Existing law, for the 2025–26 fiscal year, appropriates $132,175,000 from the Air Pollution Control Fund to the State Air Resources Board when funds are available from the Hino Consent Decree, to be administered through the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project, as provided. This bill would exempt from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act guidelines or other standards adopted and used in administering those appropriated moneys. (9) 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. (10) Existing law establishes the Air Pollution Control Fund for the California Air Resources Board to carry out its duties and functions. This bill would appropriate, for the 2025–26 fiscal year, $1,000 from the Air Pollution Control Fund to the California Air Resources Board for the Transport Refrigeration Unit Program. (11) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
Existing law requires the Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and all known entities planning to implement a toll facility, to develop and adopt functional specifications and standards for an automatic vehicle identification system in compliance with specified objectives, and generally requires any automatic vehicle identification system purchased or installed after January 1, 1991, to comply with those specifications and standards. Existing law authorizes operators of toll facilities on federal-aid highways engaged in an interoperability program to provide, regarding a vehicle's use of the toll facility, only the license plate number, transponder identification number, date and time of the transaction, and identity of the agency operating the toll facility. This bill would instead authorize an operator of a toll facility on federal-aid highways engaged in an interstate interoperability program to provide to an out-of-state toll agency or interstate interoperability tolling hub only the information regarding a vehicle's use of the toll facility that is license plate data, transponder data, or transaction data, and that is listed as "required" by specified national interoperability specifications. If the operator needs to collect other types of information to implement interstate interoperability, the bill would prohibit the operator from selling or otherwise providing that information to any other person or entity, as specified. If the operator transmits those other types of information to an out-of-state toll agency or any interstate interoperability tolling hub, the bill would subject the operator to an action by the affected person for no less than $2,500 per violation, as specified. The bill would require a transportation agency that participates in interstate interoperability to post those national interoperability specifications data types on their internet website. The bill would repeal these provisions relating to an interstate interoperability program.
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. A violation of the Vehicle Code or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to that code is an infraction. This bill would prohibit the delivery of commercial goods, as defined, directly to a residence or to a business for its use or retail sale through the operation of an autonomous vehicle without a human safety operator on any highway within the State of California. The bill would make a first violation of this provision subject to a $10,000 administrative fine and a $25,000 administrative fine for subsequent violations. The bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke the permit of an autonomous vehicle manufacturer for repeated violations of this provision. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating the performance of autonomous vehicle technology and its impact on public safety and employment, as specified. This bill would require all relevant state agencies, including, among others, the Department of Transportation and the State Air Resources Board, to provide information to the department to research this report. The bill would prohibit the department from issuing a deployment permit for the use of an autonomous vehicle to deliver commercial goods without a human safety operator until a later enacted statute authorizes the issuance of a permit for that purpose. The bill would also make certain findings and declarations related to these provisions.
The Freeway Service Patrol Act authorizes and provides funding for freeway service patrols, operated pursuant to an agreement between the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation, and a regional or local governmental entity, to provide emergency roadside assistance on traffic-congested urban freeways throughout the state. The act requires each tow truck participating in a freeway service patrol to bear a specified logo that identifies the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Transportation, and, at the option of the entity, the participating regional or local entity. This bill would require the Department of Transportation, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and participating and eligible regional and local entities to, each time the guidelines for program operations are updated after January 1, 2026, consider developing or revising and including in the guidelines operational requirements for sponsorship agreements between a participating regional or local entity and any private third party that allow for the display of the sponsor's name and logo on participating tow trucks, as provided. The bill would authorize a participating regional or local entity to generate additional revenue for its freeway service patrol by entering into a sponsorship agreement, subject to those operational requirements, that allows for the display of a sponsor's name and logo on participating tow trucks, as specified, that are in addition to the above-described required logo.
Existing law regulates vehicles, including autonomous vehicles and autonomous technology in vehicles. Under existing federal statute and regulation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued the Third Amended Standing General Order 2021-01, effective June 16, 2025, that requires specified vehicle and equipment manufacturers and operators of autonomous driving systems and Level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) vehicles to report crashes to NHTSA, as specified. A violation of the Vehicle Code is an infraction. This bill would require a manufacturer of a Level 2 ADAS vehicle to report a crash involving its Level 2 ADAS vehicle to the Department of Motor Vehicles, including reporting the crash, as defined, within 5 days of the crash, as specified, if specified conditions pertaining to the crash are met. The bill would require the department to post this crash data on its internet website, as specified, and to transmit this data to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from publishing any proprietary business information, including any personally identifiable information, when posting crash data on its internet website and would make this information confidential and not subject to disclosure under certain public records provisions. The bill would impose a civil penalty of $27,874 per violation per day on a manufacturer that fails to report a crash pursuant to these provisions. The bill would be operative only if the Third Amended Standing General Order 2021-01 is repealed and not replaced with another general order, a federal statute, or a federal regulation that is consistent with the repealed General Order, as determined by the Director of Motor Vehicles. 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. By expanding the application of a crime, this bill would create 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 Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority, with specified powers and duties related to the development and implementation of a high-speed train system. This bill would require the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, on or before January 1, 2027, to commission a study on economic opportunities along the corridor of the California high-speed rail project, as defined, and other high-speed rail projects in California that are planned to directly connect to the California high-speed rail project, as provided, and to submit a progress report to the chairpersons of the Senate Committee on Transportation and the Assembly Committee on Transportation for input. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the study to be completed and a report on the study's findings and recommendations to be submitted to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. The bill would require an infrastructure district, as defined, that uses its revenue to finance the construction of the high-speed rail project to dedicate a majority of its revenue to infrastructure projects within the jurisdiction of the local agencies that establish the district.
Existing law establishes the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation in the Governor's office for the purpose of serving the Governor and the Governor's cabinet as staff for long-range planning and research and constituting the comprehensive state planning agency. Existing law authorizes a local agency to finance infrastructure projects through various means, including by authorizing a city or county to establish an enhanced infrastructure financing district to finance public capital facilities or other specified projects of communitywide significance that provide significant benefits to the district or the surrounding community. This bill would require the office, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Infrastructure Gap-Fund Program to provide grants to local agencies for the development and construction of infrastructure projects, as defined, facing unforeseen costs after starting construction. The bill would authorize the office to provide funding for up to 20% of a project's additional projected cost, as defined, after the project has started construction, subject to specified conditions, including, among other things, that the local agency has allocated existing local tax revenue for at least 45% of the initially budgeted total cost of the infrastructure project. When applying to the program, the bill would require the local agency to demonstrate challenges with completing the project on time and on budget and how the infrastructure project helps meet state and local goals, as specified. The bill would require the office to develop guidelines to implement the program that establish the criteria by which grant applications will be evaluated and funded. The bill would make these provisions operative on January 1, 2030.
