The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, to be achieved by 2020, equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions levels in 1990. The state board is additionally required to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Pursuant to the act, the state board has adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations. This bill would require the state board, in promulgating regulations or other policies for purposes of the carbon intensity of fuels, to consider specified sustainability factors and the state of the fuel market and technologies. The bill would require the state board, no later than December 2015, to include mechanisms and policies that favor low-carbon fuels with the highest possible sustainability based on specified factors and to provide incentives for sustainable fuels produced without food stock or the displacement of food crops.
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Existing law requires laboratories engaging in the performance of forensic alcohol analysis tests by or for law enforcement agencies on blood, urine, tissue, or breath for the purposes of determining the concentration of ethyl alcohol in persons involved in traffic accidents or in traffic violations to comply with various existing State Department of Public Health regulations regarding the inspection of laboratories, collection and handling of samples, methods of analysis, and laboratory records, until the time those regulations are revised, as specified. Existing regulations require each forensic alcohol laboratory to establish the concentration of each lot of secondary alcohol standards it uses, whether prepared or acquired, by an oxidimetric method that employs a primary standard. Existing regulations require analytical results to be reported to the 2nd decimal place. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a review committee, which is required to meet at least once in each 5-year period after its initial meeting, or within 60 days of receipt of a request by the department or a member of the review committee, to evaluate and determine revisions to relevant department regulations. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations to incorporate the review committee's revisions. This bill would prohibit laboratories that are accredited in forensic alcohol analysis by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board from being required to establish the concentration of each lot of secondary alcohol standards it uses, whether prepared or acquired, by an oxidimetric method that employs a primary standard, and would specify that those laboratories are not limited to reporting analytical results to the 2nd decimal place. The bill would instead require the review committee to meet at least once in each 3-year period after its initial meeting and would require the review committee, in determining revisions, to take into consideration the advancement and development of scientific processes, including the reporting of results with an estimated uncertainty measurement. This bill would make an additional conforming change to existing law.
Existing law establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations to enforce employment safety laws. Existing law authorizes the division to conduct hearings, inspections, and investigations regarding alleged violations of employment safety laws and to issue a citation for a violation of those laws, including violations that regulations adopted by the division classify as serious, repeat, or willful violations. Existing law authorizes the division to propose appropriate modifications concerning the characterization of violations and corresponding modifications to civil penalties for violations. Existing law requires the division, if a serious violation is not abated at the time of the initial or subsequent inspection, to require the employer to submit a signed statement under penalty of perjury that he or she has complied with the abatement terms within the period fixed for abatement of the violation. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board in the department, and prescribes procedures for the appeals board to hear and decide appeals of a citation. Regulations adopted by the appeals board generally stay the abatement period of a citation until the conclusion of the appeal. This bill would prohibit the division from granting, for serious violations, a proposed modification to civil penalties for abatement or credit for abatement unless the employer has abated the violation, as specified, or has submitted a statement to the division in accordance with existing law, and would additionally require supporting evidence with the statement where necessary. The bill would authorize the division to grant such a modification only if the violation has been abated, as specified, or the signed statement and supporting evidence is received within 10 working days after the end of the period fixed for abatement. The bill would generally prohibit the stay or suspension of a requirement to abate the hazards affirmed by the decision or order during the pendency before the appeals board of a petition for reconsideration of a citation for a violation that is classified as a serious violation, repeat serious violation, or willful serious violation. The bill would authorize the appeals board to stay or suspend an abatement, upon petition by the employer, only if the employer demonstrates that a stay or suspension will not adversely affect the health and safety of employees.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit against those taxes for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, in an amount equal to an applicable percentage of either 20% or 25%, respectively, of the qualified expenditures, as defined, attributable to the production of a qualified motion picture in California, or, where the qualified motion picture is a television series that relocated to California or is an independent film, as provided. Existing law imposes specified duties on the California Film Commission related to the administration of the credits, including a requirement to allocate the tax credits until July 1, 2017, and limits the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated to qualified motion pictures in any fiscal year to $100,000,000 through the 2016–17 fiscal year. Existing law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, in lieu of the credits authorized under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law for qualified motion pictures described above, also allows a credit against qualified state sales and use taxes, as provided. Existing law provides for a tentative minimum tax and further provides that, except for specified credits, no other credit shall reduce the tax imposed below the tentative minimum tax. This bill would establish similar credits under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, to be allocated by the California Film Commission on or after July 1, 2015, and before July 1, 2020. This bill would, as compared to the existing tax credits, extend the scope of the credits for a qualified motion picture to the applicable percentage of qualified expenditures up to $100,000,000, would extend the credit to qualified expenditures for television pilot episodes, and would determine an applicable percentage of 25% or 20% for qualified expenditures, with an additional credit amount available, as specified. This bill would limit the aggregate amount of these new credits to be allocated in each fiscal year to up to $330 million, and would, subject to a computation and ranking of applicants based on the jobs ratio, as defined, require the California Film Commission to allocate credit amounts subject to specified categories of qualified motion pictures. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, in lieu of the credits authorized under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law for qualified motion pictures described above, allow a credit against qualified state sales and use taxes, as provided. This bill would also require the Legislative Analyst's Office to prepare reports related to the effectiveness and administration of the qualified motion picture credit under the Sales and Use Tax Law, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law. This bill would, for taxable years, beginning on or after January 1, 2016, additionally allow the credit under the Corporation Tax Law for qualified expenditures for the production of qualified motion pictures to reduce the tentative minimum tax. This bill would also make findings and declarations related to the entertainment industry, and would urge the United States Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission to investigate and impose sanctions on specified motion picture productions and elements of production to combat unfair and illegal competition. 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. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 23036 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, proposed by AB 2754, to be operative only if AB 2754 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue specialty license plates, including environmental license plates and specified special environmental design license plates. Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the DMV is required to issue those license plates if the agency meets certain requirements. The DMV is required to charge specified fees for certain services related to the issuance of those plates. Existing law establishes the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund, and requires that funds in that account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated for the provision of early breast cancer detection services for uninsured and underinsured women. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to apply to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program, and would require the DMV to issue the license plates if the State Department of Health Care Services meets certain requirements. The bill would authorize the State Department of Health Care Services to accept and use donated artwork from California artists for the license plate. The bill would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would declare November 8, 2014, as California Solar Professionals Day.
This measure would urge the National Football League (NFL) to join with the Legislature and numerous organizations in calling for a name change for the Washington, D.C. NFL team, and calls upon the owners of NFL teams based in California to urge the owner of the Washington, D.C. NFL team and the NFL Commissioner to change the team mascot.
This measure would declare November 2014 as Diabetes Awareness Month.
This measure would recognize the month of October 2014 as Filipino American History Month and the 427th anniversary of the first presence of Filipinos in the continental United States.
This measure would proclaim October 23 to October 31, 2014, as Red Ribbon Week, and would encourage all Californians to help build drug-free communities and participate in drug prevention activities.