Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan to ensure that the load-serving entity meets, among other things, the state's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and the requirement to procure at least 50% of its electricity from eligible renewable resources by December 31, 2030. Existing law requires a local publicly owned electric utility with an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours, on or before January 1, 2019, to adopt an integrated resources plan and a process for updating the plan at least once every 5 years to ensure that the utility satisfies, among other things, the state's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and the requirement to procure at least 50% of its electricity from eligible renewable resources by December 31, 2030. This bill would require the commission and the governing boards of local publicly owned electric utilities to consider, as a part of the integrated resource plan process, the role of distributed energy resources and other specified energy- and efficiency-related tools, in helping to ensure that each load-serving entity or local publicly owned electric utility, as applicable, meets energy needs and reliability needs while reducing the need for new electricity generation and new transmission in achieving the state's energy goals at the least cost to ratepayers. Because this bill would impose additional duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 759 to be operative only if this bill and AB 759 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 specified reasons.
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Existing law declares that the Secretary of State is the chief elections officer of the state and that he or she has prescribed powers and duties. This bill would clarify the scope of those powers and duties and would require the Secretary of State to make reasonable efforts to promote voter registration and voting, as specified, especially in underrepresented communities.
Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time home buyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the Building Homes and Jobs Act. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need to establish permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, per each single transaction per single parcel of real property, not to exceed $225. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that a county recorder quarterly send revenues from this fee, after deduction of any actual and necessary administrative costs incurred by the county recorder, to the Controller for deposit in the Building Homes and Jobs Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, except as provided, require (1) for moneys collected on and after January 1, 2018, and until December 31, 2018, that 50% of the moneys deposited in the fund be made available to local governments for specified purposes, and 50% made available to the Department of Housing and Community Development to assist persons experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and (2) for moneys collected on and after January 1, 2019, that 70% of the moneys deposited in the fund be provided to local governments in accordance with a specified formula and 30% made available to the department for specified purposes, including a continuous appropriation of moneys to the California Housing Finance Agency for the purpose of creating mixed income multifamily residential housing for lower to moderate income households, as provided. The bill would also provide that funds allocated to a local government that does not have a documented plan to expend certain moneys allocated to it within 5 years would revert and be deposited in the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, to be used for specified purposes. By continuously appropriating moneys for use by the California Housing Finance Agency, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require that 20% of all moneys in the fund be expended for affordable owner-occupied workforce housing, and that moneys in the fund allocated to local governments be expended to support affordable housing, home ownership opportunities, and other housing-related programs, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. 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 bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances regulating zoning within its jurisdiction, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances to require, as a condition of development of residential rental units, that the development include a certain percentage of residential rental units affordable to, and occupied by, moderate-income, lower income, very low income, or extremely low income households or by persons and families of low or moderate income, as specified, and would declare the intent of the Legislature in adding this provision. This bill would also authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development, within 10 years of the adoption or amendment of an ordinance by a county or city after September 15, 2017, that requires as a condition of the development of residential rental units that more than 15% of the total number of units rented in the development be affordable to, and occupied by, households at 80% or less of the area median income, to review that ordinance if the county or city meets specified conditions. The bill would authorize the department to request, and require that the county or city provide, evidence that the ordinance does not unduly constrain the production of housing by submitting an economic feasibility study that meets specified standards. If the department finds that economic feasibility study does not meet these standards, or if the county or city fails to submit the study within 180 days, the bill would require the county or city to limit any requirement to provide rental units in a development affordable to households at 80% or less of the area median income to no more than 15% of the total number of units in the development. The bill would require the department to report any findings made pursuant to these provisions to the Legislature. The bill would also declare that these provisions regarding department review of certain land use ordinances address a matter of statewide concern.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law provides for various reforms and incentives intended to facilitate and expedite the construction of affordable housing. This bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county, including a charter city, charter county, or charter city and county, to establish by ordinance a housing sustainability district that meets specified requirements, including authorizing residential use within the district through the ministerial issuance of a permit. The bill would authorize the city, county, or city and county to apply to the Department of Housing and Community Development for approval for a zoning incentive payment and require the city, county, or city and county to provide specified information about the proposed housing sustainability district ordinance. The bill would require the department to approve a zoning incentive payment if the ordinance meets the above-described requirements and the city's housing element is in compliance with specified law. The bill would also require the department, each October 1 following the approval of the housing sustainability district, to issue a certificate of compliance if the city, county, or city and county meets specified criteria pertaining to the continued compliance with these provisions or to deny certification, as provided. The bill would provide that a city, county, or city and county with a housing sustainability district would be entitled to a zoning incentive payment, subject to appropriation of funds for that purpose, and require that 12 the amount be provided upon zone approval by the department and 12 the amount upon verification by the department of the issuance of permits for the projected units of residential construction within the zone, provided that the city, county, or city and county has received a certificate of compliance for the applicable year. The bill, if the city, county, or city and county reduces the density of sites within the district from specified levels, would require the city, county, or city and county to return the full amount of zoning incentive payments it has received to the department. The bill would also authorize a developer to develop a project in a housing sustainability district in accordance with the already existing land use approval procedures that would otherwise apply to the parcel in the absence of the establishment of the housing sustainability district pursuant to its provisions, as provided. The bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to incorporate provisions in its housing sustainability district ordinance prescribing the contents of an application for a permit for residential development, to adopt design review standards, and to charge a project application fee to defray the costs of preparation, adoption, and administration of the housing sustainability district plan, as provided. The bill would require that a housing sustainability district ordinance be effective for no more than 10 years, but would authorize the city, county, or city and county to renew the ordinance for not more than 10 years. The bill would also require that prevailing wages be paid, and a skilled workforce employed, in connection with all projects within the housing sustainability district, as provided. The bill would establish procedures for review of an application by an approving authority, including requiring the approving authority to conduct a public hearing on an application and issue a written decision within 120 days of receipt of the application. The bill, if a proposed development within a housing sustainability district includes any parcels being used for affordable housing, would require that the approving authority condition approval of the application on the applicant's agreement to replace those affordable housing units. The bill would also prescribe procedures for review of a decision of the approving authority to deny or approve with conditions an application for a permit in the superior court. The bill would authorize the department to adopt, amend, and repeal standards, forms, or definitions to implement its provisions and exempt those standards, forms, or definitions from specified provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act governing rulemaking. The bill would require the department to publish a report containing specified information about the housing sustainability district program on its Internet Web site no later than November 1, 2018, and each November 1 thereafter. (2) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would require a lead agency, when designating housing sustainability districts, to prepare an EIR for the designation, as specified. The bill would exempt from CEQA housing projects undertaken in the housing sustainability districts that meet specified requirements. (3) This bill would declare that its provisions are not severable. The bill would also make findings that it addresses a matter of statewide concern. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65582.1 of the Government Code proposed by SB 35 to be operative only if this bill and SB 35 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time home buyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law and requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. Existing law, the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008, authorized, for purposes of financing a specified program for farm, home, and mobilehome purchase assistance for veterans, the issuance, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of bonds in the amount of $900,000,000. This bill would enact the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018, which, if adopted, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Of the proceeds from the sale of these bonds, $3,000,000,000 would be used to finance various existing housing programs, as well as infill infrastructure financing and affordable housing matching grant programs, as provided, and $1,000,000,000 would be used to provide additional funding for the above-described program for farm, home, and mobilehome purchase assistance for veterans, as provided. This bill would provide for submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election in accordance with specified law. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city or county and of any land outside its boundaries that bears relation to its planning. That law also requires the general plan to contain specified mandatory elements, including a housing element for the preservation, improvement, and development of housing. Existing law prescribes requirements for the preparation of the housing element, including a requirement that a planning agency submit a draft of the element or draft amendment to the element to the Department of Housing and Community Development prior to the adoption of the element or amendment to the element. Existing law requires the department to review the draft and report its written findings, as specified. Existing law also requires the department, in its written findings, to determine whether the draft substantially complies with the housing element. This bill would require the department to also review any action or failure to act by the city, county, or city and county that it determines is inconsistent with an adopted housing element or a specified provision and to issue written findings, as specified, whether the action or failure to act substantially complies with the housing element. If the department finds that the action or failure to act by the city, county, or city and county does not substantially comply with the housing element, and if it has issued findings as described above that an amendment to the housing element substantially complies with the housing element, the bill would authorize the department, after allowing no more than 30 days for a local agency response, to revoke its findings until it determines that the city, county, or city and county has come into compliance with the housing element. The bill would also require the department to notify the city, county, or city and county and authorize the department to notify the Office of the Attorney General that the city, county, or city and county is in violation of state law if the department makes certain findings of noncompliance or a violation.
Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the Ocean Protection Council, to create, update biannually, and post on an Internet Web site a Planning for Sea Level Rise Database describing steps being taken throughout the state to prepare for, and adapt to, sea level rise. Existing law further requires that various public agencies and private entities provide to the agency, on a biannual basis, sea level rise planning information, as defined, that is under the control or jurisdiction of the public agencies or private entities, and requires the agency to determine the information necessary for inclusion in the database, as prescribed. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2018. This bill would postpone that repeal until January 1, 2023.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including water corporations, as defined. Under the Public Utilities Act, a public utility is required to seek commission approval prior to selling, leasing, assigning, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of or encumbering any property necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public. Existing law authorizes regional park and open-space districts to acquire, and to lease or dispose of, real property, and rights in real property, within or without the regional district, that are necessary to the full exercise of the regional district's powers. This bill would authorize the San Jose Water Company to sell lands in the Upper Guadalupe River watershed, including the Los Gatos Creek and Saratoga Creek watersheds, to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District until January 1, 2023, as specified. The bill would require the water company to invest the net proceeds, if any, from the sale of land authorized by the bill in water system infrastructure, plant, facilities, and properties that are necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public. The bill would require the investment of the net proceeds to be included among the water company's other utility property upon which the commission authorizes the water company to earn a reasonable rate of return, as specified. The bill would provide that these requirements apply to the investment of the net proceeds from the sale for a period of 8 consecutive years, as prescribed, and would require the balance of any net proceeds and interest on the proceeds that is not invested after the 8-year period to be allocated solely to the water company ratepayers.
This measure would recognize September 11, 2017, as a day of solemn commemoration and extend the Legislature's deepest sympathies to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.