Asm. Jim Frazier

This measure would urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to permit states to extend burial and memorial benefits in state veterans cemeteries to Republic of Korea veterans and Republic of Vietnam veterans who served in the Vietnam War and who subsequently became United States citizens. The measure would urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to extend the same benefits in national cemeteries.

This measure would, on June 23, 2021, commemorate the 49th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, and would urge Californians to continue to work together to achieve the goals set by Title IX, as specified.

This measure would designate the month of June 2021 as Healthy Homes Awareness Month.

(1) Existing law generally requires motor vehicles that are operated or used exclusively off the highways to be issued and display an identification plate or device issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Under existing law, certain vehicles are exempt from this requirement, including 4-wheeled motor vehicles operated solely in organized racing or competitive events upon a closed course, as specified. Existing law permits a motorcycle issued a special transportation identification device to be transported on a highway to and from a closed course. Existing law authorizes a special transportation identification device to be issued upon payment of a fee. This bill, effective January 1, 2023, would repeal provisions relating to special transportation identification devices for motorcycles and corresponding fees, and would make other related conforming changes. The bill would additionally provide that competition all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are not exempt from identification, pursuant to vehicle identification requirements prescribed by the bill. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon identifying an off-highway motor vehicle subject to identification, to issue to the owner a suitable identification plate or device that is capable of being attached to the vehicle, as specified. Existing law requires the department to determine the size, color, and letters or number of the identification plate or device issued for off-highway motor vehicles. A violation of the Vehicle Code is punishable as an infraction. This bill would require, for the issuance or renewal of a competition identification, a specified configuration for the vehicle identification number and product identification number for an off-highway motor vehicle or ATV that is model year 2022 or later and is used solely for competition not on a public highway. (3) Existing law requires all identification plates or devices to be displayed in a specified manner, including on the left fork leg of a motorcycle, either horizontal or vertical, and visible from the left side of the motorcycle. This bill would require that a competition motorcycle display that identification plate or device on the left side of the motorcycle, commencing January 1, 2023. Because a violation of this requirement would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law generally imposes specified fees on off-highway motor vehicles, including, among others, a service fee of $7 for the issuance or renewal of identification of off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification and a special fee of $33 paid at the time of payment of the service fee. Existing law requires the special fees, specified use fees for state vehicular recreation areas, and other specified funds to be deposited in the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund, and requires moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be allocated for specified purposes related to off-highway recreation. This bill, commencing January 1, 2023, would instead impose specified fees on competition motorcycles and ATVs model year 2022 and newer, including a special fee of $42 for those vehicles that will be operated on public lands for which funds from the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund have been expended. The bill would require the department to collect that special fee at the time of issuance or renewal of a competition identification, and, after deducting its reasonable implementation costs, to deposit the fee in the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund, to be used exclusively for the reasonable costs to the Department of Parks and Recreation related to the activities of those vehicles that are conducted on public lands. (5) Existing law requires an off-highway motor vehicle to meet specified requirements, including, among others, a requirement that the vehicle be equipped with a spark arrester maintained in effective working order. Existing law generally exempts from those requirements certain off-highway motor vehicles being operated in an organized racing or competitive event upon a closed course. This bill would limit those exemptions by requiring competition-identified motorcycles and ATVs to be equipped with a muffler, spark arrester, and silencer or other device that limits noise emissions when operating on public lands. (6) 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 requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to implement various fire protection programs intended to protect forest resources and prevent uncontrolled wildfires. This bill would establish state goals for fuels treatment, vegetation management, and wildfire risk reduction, including, but not limited to, increasing vegetation management on nonfederal lands and urging the federal government to increase vegetation management on federal lands, as provided, and increasing the pace and scale of home hardening efforts to harden at least 100,000 existing homes per year by 2025. The bill would require that the established vegetation management goals be for activities that improve fire resiliency and reduce fire spread, duration, and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns, as applicable, and would require the state to implement, or cause to be implemented, the established vegetation management and home hardening goals in a specified manner, including prioritizing the implementation of these goals in the most vulnerable communities. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency, on or before January 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, to submit to the appropriate policy and budget committees of the Legislature a report on the progress made towards achieving those state goals.