This measure would recognize the month of February 2010 as American Heart Month in California, would recognize February 4, 2010, as Wear Red Day in California, and would urge public support for Go Red for Women events.
This measure would proclaim January 13, 2010, as Korean-American Day.
Existing law establishes in state government the Natural Resources Agency consisting of various departments including the Department of Conservation, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Fish and Game, and the Wildlife Conservation Board. This bill would authorize the Natural Resources Agency to develop and amend as necessary a climate change adaptation strategy to assess the state's vulnerability to impacts of climate change, including the impacts of projected sea-level rise, on the state's physical and natural infrastructure. The agency would be permitted to develop or augment the strategy by region. The bill would specify how the agency may designate regions. This bill would provide that the strategy is subject to a multidisciplinary review process prior to adoption or approval to ensure that, among other things, ecosystems, sensitive species, or other environmentally sensitive resources or habitats are not inadvertently put at risk or subject to unacceptable, adverse impacts.
Existing law provides for the licensure of long-term health care facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, the Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of 1973, the department may assess penalties for violation of prescribed state and federal requirements. Moneys collected as a result of the penalties imposed pursuant to these provisions are required to be deposited into either the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account or the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account, and used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the protection of health or property of residents of long-term health care facilities, including reimbursing residents for personal funds lost and costs associated with informational meetings. Existing law establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in the California Department of Aging. Under existing law, the office is responsible for, among other things, investigating and resolving complaints and concerns communicated by or on behalf of patients, residents, or clients of long-term care facilities, as defined. Existing law authorizes the California Department of Aging to allocate all federal and state funds for local ombudsman programs according to a specified distribution schedule. This bill would require at least 12 of the funds in the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account be used to fund local ombudsman programs pursuant to the aforementioned distribution schedule.
Existing law provides for the certification and regulation of shorthand reporters by the Court Reporters Board of California and makes a violation of these provisions a crime. Existing law prohibits a shorthand reporting corporation, as defined, from doing or failing to do any act that constitutes unprofessional conduct under any statute, rule or regulation pertaining to shorthand reporters or shorthand reporting. This bill would prohibit any entity offering or providing the services of a shorthand reporter from doing or failing to do any act that constitutes unprofessional conduct under any statute, rule or regulation pertaining to shorthand reporters or shorthand reporting. By expanding the scope of a 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 California State University and its various campuses under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University. Existing law requires the California State University to offer undergraduate and graduate instruction through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education, including teacher education. This bill would authorize the California State University to award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The bill would distinguish the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the doctor of philosophy degree offered at the University of California. The bill would require the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program to be designed to enable professionals to earn the degree while working full time, train nurses for advanced practice, and prepare clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing programs. The bill would require initial funding to come from existing budgets, without diminishing the quality of undergraduate programs or reducing enrollment therein. The bill would require the California State University to annually report on the status of the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program, as specified.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, is required to reduce, recycle, and reuse solid waste generated in the state to the maximum extent feasible in an efficient cost-effective manner to conserve water, energy, and other natural resources. This bill would create the California Product Stewardship Act of 2009 and would require the board to administer the program. The bill would require the board to adopt regulations by July 1, 2011, in order to implement the program to provide environmentally sound product stewardship protocols that encourage producers to research alternatives during the product design and packaging phases to foster cradle-to-cradle producer responsibility and reduce the end-of-life environmental impacts of the product. The bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would require the board to select covered products, as defined, according to certain requirements. The bill would exempt the selection of covered products from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. On and after July 1, 2012, a covered product would be prohibited from being sold or used for promotional purposes unless the producer or product stewardship organization, as defined, of the covered product, submits a product stewardship plan to the board that meets certain timelines and content requirements, including, but not limited to, a description of the system for collecting discarded covered products, methods proposed to maximize the recycling of packaging, a description of the processing and disposal system, and strategies for managing and reducing the life cycle impacts of covered products and packaging such as through redesign. The bill would establish an annual reporting requirement for producers or stewardship organizations, require administrative fees to be set by the board, and authorize civil penalties of up to $50,000 to be imposed by the board. The bill would require that the administrative fees be deposited into the Extended Producer Responsibility Account and that the penalties be deposited into the Extended Producer Responsibility Penalty Subaccount that the bill would create in the Integrated Waste Management Fund. The bill would authorize the fees and penalties to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover the board's program implementation costs and as incentives to enhance recyclability and redesign efforts and to reduce environmental and safety impacts of covered products.
Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution and as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law establishes the Air Pollution Control Fund. Moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the state board to carry out its duties and functions. Existing law requires the state board, no later than January 1, 2005, to develop and adopt regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Existing law provides that if regulations adopted pursuant to these provisions do not remain in effect, the state board is required to implement alternative regulations to control mobile sources of greenhouse gas emissions to achieve equivalent or greater reductions. Under existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the state board is also required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. This bill would authorize the state board to adopt and implement a clean vehicle incentive, or feebate, program consisting of one-time rebates and one-time surcharges on the sale of new passenger motor vehicles. The bill would require the state board to establish the program only if the state board determines that it would be beneficial to achieving the greenhouse gas emission goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The bill would require the state board to adopt and implement a clean vehicle incentive program to achieve equivalent or greater emission reductions of greenhouse gases from mobile sources if the state board determines that the above provisions of existing law requiring the state board to develop and adopt regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles by January 1, 2005, do not remain in effect or are substantially delayed. This bill would also require any revenues collected under the program to be deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to only be expended by the state board to implement these provisions.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act established the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service program in order to provide low-income households with access to affordable basic residential telephone service. Lifeline service rates are required to be set at no more than 50% of either the basic rate for measured service or the basic flat rate service, as applicable, exclusive of federally mandated end user access charges that are available to the residential subscriber. This bill would prohibit the commission from authorizing a telephone corporation to increase rates or charges for local exchange services provided to lifeline telephone service subscribers above those in effect on January 1, 2009, except that rates and charges for local exchange services provided to lifeline telephone service subscribers may be increased in an amount no greater than the maximum annual cost-of-living percentage increase established for the CalWORKs program. The bill would prohibit the commission from authorizing telecommunications carriers using alternative technologies to traditional landline service, including mobile telephony service providers and carriers offering telecommunication using Voice over Internet Protocol, to provide lifeline service only if the commission finds that there will be no reduction in service quality or service capabilities for lifeline service subscribers than those in effect on January 1, 2009, resulting from use of the alternative technologies.
