Asm. Wesley Chesbro

This measure would state that the Legislature supports ensuring a clean and healthy marine environment to protect existing shellfish beds and access to additional acreage for shellfish farming and restoration, and further supports a dialogue between industry, environmental, and federal and state agency leaders to develop an improved permitting process that is efficient and economical for both shellfish restoration and commercial farming.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act provides for specified labeling requirements for containers of alcoholic beverages sold within this state, and prohibits the obliteration, mutilation, or marking out of a manufacturer's name on returnable beer containers or cartons made of wood or fiber board, as specified. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill would additionally prohibit the obliteration, mutilation, or marking out of a manufacturer's name on metal kegs, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, 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 establishes the Pierce's Disease Control Program in the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Pierce's Disease Management Account in the Food and Agriculture Fund. Existing law allows money in this account to be expended as specified to combat Pierce's disease and its vectors, including the glassy-winged sharpshooter, and for purposes relating to other designated pests and diseases, as provided. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on March 1, 2016, and repeals them on January 1, 2017. This bill would extend to March 1, 2021, the date on which the above provisions become inoperative, and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2022. Existing law creates in the department the Pierce's Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board, which consists of specified members, and prescribes the functions and duties of the board with respect to implementation of the Pierce's disease program. Existing law provides for an annual assessment to be paid by grape processors, as defined, into the Food and Agriculture Fund for the purposes of, among other things, research and other activities related to the Pierce's disease program. Existing law repeals these provisions on March 1, 2016. This bill would extend the repeal date of these provisions to March 1, 2021, and would make related conforming changes. Because assessments collected pursuant to these provisions are deposited into the Food and Agriculture Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, by extending the date until which the assessments are collected, the bill would make an appropriation.

The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Existing law establishes minimum acceptable stocking standards and provides that an area covered by a timber harvesting plan is considered acceptably stocked if certain conditions are met within 5 years after completion of timber operations, including that the area contains an average point count of 300 per acre, as provided. Existing law requires the board to adopt stocking standards for each district, after a public hearing, that are equal to or stricter than the minimum standards. This bill would authorize the board to adopt alternative stocking standards if those alternative standards reasonably address variables in forest characteristics and achieve suitable resource conservation, as provided.

This measure would declare August 2014 as Valley Fever Awareness Month.

This measure would state the Legislature's support for the memorandum of understanding for establishing strategic partnerships between California and Israel.

This measure would urge the United States Department of Transportation and other relevant federal entities to (1) safeguard communities and environmentally sensitive areas from rail accidents involving transportation of crude oil by expediting rail safety reforms, (2) prioritize safety considerations over cost-effectiveness in deliberations about improving the transport of crude oil by rail, (3) mandate, at a minimum, the best practices explained in a 2014 safety initiative, as specified and (4) partner with the Canadian Transportation Agency to improve safety of the North American railroad tank car fleet by swiftly adopting a stricter design standard, and by retrofitting or phasing out tank cars that do not meet that standard.

This measure would designate each of the Mad River Bridges on State Highway Route 101 in the County of Humboldt as the Bicyclist John Mello Memorial Bridge. This measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to erect those signs.

This measure would commend the government of El Salvador on its handling of the recent election and would recognize the efforts of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and other institutions in assisting with the election in the spirit of the Chapultepec Peace Accords.