This measure would designate November 2015 as a month to raise awareness about the issue of medically fragile foster care children and adoptive placement children and the actions that every Californian can take to make a positive difference in these children's lives.
Existing law, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, establishes a program of cooperative federalism for the regulation of telecommunications to attain the goal of local competition, while implementing specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, consistent with certain universal service principles. The universal service principles include the principle that consumers in all regions of the nation, including low-income consumers and those in rural, insular, and high-cost areas, should have access to telecommunications and information services, including interexchange services and advanced telecommunications and information services, that are reasonably comparable to those services provided in urban areas and that are available at rates that are reasonably comparable to rates charged for similar services in urban areas. The act authorizes each state to adopt regulations to provide for additional definitions and standards to preserve and advance universal service within the state, only to the extent that they adopt additional specific, predictable, and sufficient mechanisms that do not rely on or burden federal universal service support mechanisms. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations, as defined. Existing law establishes the California Advanced Services Fund, referred to as the CASF, in the State Treasury. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the CASF to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies, as provided in specified decisions of the commission and in the CASF statute. Existing law establishes 4 accounts, the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account, the Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account, and the Broadband Public Housing Account within the CASF. Existing law requires that of the moneys collected for CASF on and after January 1, 2011, $10,000,000 is to be deposited into the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account and used for specified purposes, and $15,000,000 is to be deposited into the Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account and used for specified purposes. This bill would require that of the moneys collected for CASF on and after January 1, 2011, $15,000,000 is to be deposited into the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account and used for specified purposes, and $10,000,000 is to be deposited into the Broadband Infrastructure Revolving Loan Account and used for specified purposes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District Act, regulates the use of specified tide and submerged lands within Humboldt Bay and provides for the fill, improvement, and reclamation of those tidelands, as prescribed. The act further requires that all grants, franchises, leases, permits, rights, or privileges be made in accordance with those rules and regulations as the board of commissioners of the district prescribes by resolution, and prohibits irrevocable grants of fee title from being granted or issued. This bill would eliminate that provision prohibiting irrevocable grants of fee title, thereby authorizing these grants subject to the other provisions of the act. The act authorizes the district to acquire, hold and enjoy, and lease and dispose of real and personal property of every kind, within the district, necessary to the full or convenient exercise of its powers. The act requires that all money received or collected by the district be deposited in the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District Fund, and prohibits money in the fund from being appropriated or used for any purpose except those purposes enumerated in the act. This bill would prohibit the district from making an expenditure of trust moneys from the fund to purchase or otherwise acquire any real property without first having provided at least 90 days' written notice, containing specified information, of the proposed expenditure to the State Lands Commission. The bill would authorize the district to proceed with the purchase or acquisition if the commission does not object within 90 days of the commission's receipt of the notice. The bill would also require the district to give the commission at least 90 days' written notice, containing specified information, of a proposed disposition of any interest in real property held in trust by the district.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This bill would provide that moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, upon appropriation, may be made available for expenditure by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for the purposes of maintaining the current level of biomass power generation or geothermal energy generation in the state and revitalizing currently idle facilities in strategically located regions. The bill would establish requirements for an applicant to receive available funding for a facility's eligible electrical generation.
Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of professional engineers and land surveyors by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law prohibits a person from representing himself or herself as an engineer, as described by various titles, unless the person is licensed as an engineer. Existing law makes a violation of those prohibitions a misdemeanor. This bill would additionally prohibit a person from using the title "environmental engineer" unless the person is licensed as an engineer. The bill would provide legislative findings and declarations in support of the licensure of environmental engineers in California. The bill would set forth the intent of the Legislature that the board be responsible for defining environmental engineering through rulemaking and that the board adopt standardized examination materials applicable to environmental engineering, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing 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.
This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent their spread.
This measure would commemorate the centennial of the founding of Locke, California, would recognize and honor Locke, California, as the last remaining Chinatown in North America, and would urge all Californians to learn about the important history of Locke, California, and its inhabitants.
This measure would congratulate the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls on the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and recognize and commend the commission for its various contributions and accomplishments.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support H.R. 167, the federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for federal agencies to conduct the necessary fuels management on national forest lands, while retaining resources to suppress catastrophic wildfires.
