Asm. Richard Gordon

Existing law requires a county treasurer, whether elected or appointed, to complete a valid continuing course of study, on or before June 30 of each 2-year period, and to provide certification of completion of that course to the Controller. The continuing education program is required to consist of, at a minimum, 24 hours or an equivalent amount of continuing education units within the discipline of treasury management, public finance, public administration, governmental accounting, or directly related subjects, as specified. This bill would additionally require the continuing education course to include tax collection in the continuing education disciplines described above.

Existing law generally regulates the conduct of employers in the state. This bill would prohibit an employer from requiring or requesting an employee or applicant for employment to disclose a username or password for the purpose of accessing personal social media, to access personal social media in the presence of the employer, or to divulge any personal social media. This bill would also prohibit an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening to discharge or discipline, or otherwise retaliating against an employee or applicant for not complying with a request or demand by the employer that violates these provisions. Under existing law, the Labor Commissioner, who is the Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations, is required to establish and maintain a field enforcement unit to investigate specified violations of the Labor Code and other labor laws and to enforce minimum labor standards. Existing law authorizes, and under specified circumstances requires, the Labor Commissioner to investigate employee complaints of violations of the Labor Code, provide for a hearing, and determine all matters arising under his or her jurisdiction. This bill would provide that the Labor Commissioner is not required to investigate or determine any violation of a provision of this bill.

(1) Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to specify the maximum amount of vinyl chloride that may be found in landfill gas. Existing law prohibits a gas producer from knowingly selling, supplying, or transporting to a gas corporation, and a gas corporation from knowingly purchasing, landfill gas containing vinyl chloride in a concentration exceeding the maximum amount determined by the PUC. Existing law requires a person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases landfill gas for sale offsite to a gas corporation to sample and test, bimonthly, the gas at the point of distribution for chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to evaluate the environmental and health risks posed by various hazardous substances. This bill would require OEHHA, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, to compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose risks to human health and that are found in biogas, as defined, at concentrations that significantly exceed the concentrations of those constituents in natural gas. The bill would require OEHHA to determine the health protective levels for that list, as specified, and would require the state board to identify realistic exposure scenarios and the health risks associated with those scenarios, as specified. The bill would require the state board to determine the appropriate concentrations of those constituents, as specified. The bill would also provide that actions taken pursuant to the above-described requirements do not constitute regulations and are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would further require the PUC to adopt, by rule or order, (1) standards for biomethane that specify the concentrations of constituents of concern that are reasonably necessary to protect public health and ensure pipeline integrity and safety, as specified, and (2) requirements for monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping, as specified. The bill would require a gas corporation, as defined, to comply with those standards and requirements. The bill would require the PUC to require gas corporation tariffs to condition access to common carrier pipelines on the applicable customer meeting those standards and requirements. The bill would also prohibit a person and a gas corporation from knowingly engaging in specified transactions involving common carrier pipelines and biogas collected from a hazardous waste landfill, as defined. (2) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires it to prepare an integrated energy policy report on or before November 1, 2003, and every 2 years thereafter. The act requires the report to contain an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state, including, but not limited to, supply, demand, pricing, reliability, efficiency, and impacts on public health and safety, the economy, resources, and the environment. This bill would require the Energy Commission to hold public hearings to identify impediments that limit procurement of biomethane in California, including, but not limited to, impediments to interconnection. The bill would require the Energy Commission to offer solutions to those impediments as part of the above-mentioned report. (3) This bill would require the PUC to adopt policies and programs that promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane. (4) Existing law allows the PUC to set heating and purity requirements for biomethane injected into a gas pipeline. Existing law allows gas corporations to impose tariffs on biomethane injected into their pipelines. This bill would require the PUC to adopt pipeline access rules that ensure that each gas corporation provides nondiscriminatory open access to its gas pipeline system to any party for the purposes of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the delivery of gas. (5) This bill would become operative only if this bill and AB 2196 of the 2011–12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2013. (6) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because this bill would require action by the PUC to implement certain of its requirements, a violation of which would be a crime, these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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.

(1) Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the state highway system. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the meaning of urban heat island effect (UHIE) . The bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to develop a definition for the term UHIE and, upon completion of an UHIE index, develop a standard specification for sustainable or cool pavements. (2) The California Building Standards Law requires any building standard adopted or proposed by a state agency to be submitted to, and approved or adopted by, the California Building Standards Commission prior to codification. This bill would require the commission, in the next triennial adoption process of the California Green Building Standards Code to consider incorporating a standard specification for sustainable or cool pavements that this bill would require the Department of Transportation to develop in the Cool Pavements Handbook as additional strategies for Heat Island Effect: Hardscape Alternatives in the California Green Building Standards Code.

Existing law relative to private energy producers requires every electric utility, as defined, to make available to an eligible customer‑generator, as defined, a standard contract or tariff for net energy metering on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by eligible customer‑generators exceeds 5% of the electric utility's aggregate customer peak demand. Existing law requires the electric utility, upon an affirmative election by the eligible customer-generator to receive service pursuant to this contract or tariff, to either: (1) provide net surplus electricity compensation for any net surplus electricity generated in the 12-month period, or (2) allow the eligible customer-generator to apply the net surplus electricity as a credit for kilowatthours subsequently supplied by the electric utility to the surplus customer-generator. This bill would authorize an eligible customer-generator with multiple meters to elect to aggregate the electrical load of the meters located on the property where the generation facility is located and on all property adjacent or contiguous to the property on which the generation facility is located, if those properties are solely owned, leased, or rented by the eligible customer-generator, as provided. For an electric utility that is an electrical corporation, the bill would condition this authorization upon the commission making a determination that permitting eligible customer-generators to aggregate their load from multiple meters will not result in an increase in the expected revenue obligations of customers who are not eligible customer-generators. For an electric utility that is a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative, the bill would condition this authorization upon the utility's ratemaking authority, as defined, making a determination that permitting aggregation will not result in an increase in the expected revenue obligations of customers who are not eligible customer-generators. The bill would prohibit an eligible customer-generator that chooses to aggregate from receiving net surplus electricity compensation and require the electric utility to retain kilowatthours, as prescribed. Existing law establishes a net energy metering program that is available to an eligible fuel cell customer-generator, as defined. Existing law requires that the net metering calculation be made by measuring the difference between the electricity supplied to the eligible fuel cell customer-generator and the electricity generated by the eligible fuel cell customer-generator and fed back to the electrical grid over a 12-month period. Existing law requires that an electrical corporation determine if the eligible fuel cell customer-generator was a net consumer or producer of electricity during the 12-month period. For purposes of making this determination, existing law requires that the electrical corporation aggregate the electrical load of the eligible fuel cell customer-generator under the same ownership. This bill would require that in making the determination whether the eligible fuel cell customer-generator is a net consumer or producer of electricity during the 12-month period, the electrical corporation is to aggregate the electrical load of the meters located on the property where the eligible fuel cell electrical generation facility is located and on all property adjacent or contiguous to the property on which the facility is located, if those properties are solely owned, leased, or rented by the eligible fuel cell customer-generator. 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 the bill would require an expansion of the above-described net energy metering programs and would require an order or decision of the commission to implement, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. 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 incorporate additional changes in Section 2827.10 of the Public Utilities Code, proposed by AB 2165, to be operative only if AB 2165 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last.

(1) Existing law establishes, in the Department of Parks and Recreation, the State Park and Recreation Commission consisting of 9 members appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. Existing law requires the commission, among other things, to establish general policies for the guidance of the Director of Parks and Recreation in the administration, protection, and development of the state park system. This bill would establish qualification criteria for the members of the commission, including requiring one member to have demonstrated expertise in cultural or historical resources management. The bill would require the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules to each appoint one ex officio legislative member. The bill would require the commission to evaluate and assess the department's deferred obligations. The bill would also authorize the commission to, among other things, conduct an annual workshop to review the department's annual operating budget and proposed capital improvement projects. The bill would appropriate $120,000 annually in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 fiscal years from the State Parks and Recreation Fund to the commission to perform these activities. The bill would appropriate $20,500,000 from the State Parks and Recreation Fund to the department for expenditure as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from closing or proposing the closure of a state park in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 fiscal years. The bill would also appropriate $10,000,000 from the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Water Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, to be expended as specified, including for purposes of capital outlay and support for capital outlay projects of a state park. (2) Existing law requires the department to develop a revenue generation program as an essential component of a long-term sustainable park funding strategy. Existing law requires all revenues generated by the program to be deposited into the California State Park Enterprise Fund, as provided, and spent in a specified way, including allocating 40% of the total amount of revenues generated by a park district to that district, as specified. Existing law requires the department to provide an annual accounting to the Department of Finance and relevant legislative committees of the use of funds from a revolving loan program established by the department. Existing law requires the department to rank proposals and awards for loans based on specified criteria. This bill would require the program revenue to be available for encumbrance and expenditure until June 30, 2014, and for liquidation until June 30, 2016. The bill would require the incremental revenue generated by the program to be deposited into the State Parks and Recreation Fund, and revenue identified as being in excess of revenue targets established by the department shall be transferred to the California State Park Enterprise Fund, as provided. Among other things, this bill would require that 50% of the total amount of revenues deposited into the California State Park Enterprise Fund generated by a park district be allocated to that district, as specified. This bill would require the department to provide the annual accounting to the Department of Finance and the relevant legislative committees of the use of the revolving loan funds in accordance with the purpose outlined in specified voter-approved bond acts. This bill would include capacity of a project to improve services, park experiences, or both, for park visitors as one of the criteria for ranking a proposal or award of a loan. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

(1) The existing California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires a distributor of specified beverage containers to pay a redemption payment to the Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery, for each beverage container, as defined, sold or transferred, for deposit in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. From the fund, the department is continuously appropriated the amount necessary to pay handling fees to provide an incentive for the redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. The department is required to pay a handling fee in an amount determined by subtracting the amount of the statewide average per-container cost to redeem beverage containers incurred by a certified recycler that does not receive a handling fee from the statewide average per-container cost incurred by recycling centers that receive handling fees, based on a survey the department is required to conduct at least once every 2 years to determine the actual cost for the redemption of beverage containers. This bill would require the per-container handling fee to be set, as of the effective date of this act, until March 1, 2013, at an amount that is not less than the amount of the per-container handling fee that was in effect on July 1, 2011. The bill would authorize the department to update the methodology and scrap values used for calculating the handling fee, as specified. The bill would make an appropriation by increasing the amount that the department is authorized to pay from a continuously appropriated fund. (2) Existing law requires any person importing more than a 100 pounds of aluminum, bimetal, or plastic beverage container material, or more than 1,000 pounds of glass beverage container material, into the state to report the material and to provide an opportunity for inspection and prohibits any person from falsifying documents required pursuant to the act or the regulations adopted by the department. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would decrease the amount of materials for which a person is required to report to the department to 25 pounds of empty aluminum, bimetal, or plastic beverage container material, or more than 250 pounds of empty glass beverage container material, and would additionally require the person to provide the department with certain documentation regarding those materials. The bill would require a vehicle entering the state that contains more than 25 pounds of empty beverage container material to pass through the nearest plant quarantine inspection station and obtain proof of inspection from the department. The bill would authorize the department to enter into a interagency agreement with the Department of Food and Agriculture to implement this requirement. The bill would provide that an operator of a vehicle that contains more than 25 pounds of empty beverage container material is in violation of the act if the operator fails to stop at, or willfully avoids, a plant quarantine inspection station, as specified. The bill would provide that a 2nd or subsequent violation of this requirement within 3 years of a prior conviction is punishable as a misdemeanor. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes. (3) 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. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) Existing law requires, upon the order of the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, a person who stores, stockpiles, or accumulates waste tires in violation of the provisions regulating the storage, stockpiling, or accumulation of waste tires to clean up those waste tires and abate the effects of the waste tires or take other necessary remedial actions in the case of threatened pollution or nuisance. Existing law requires the Attorney General, at the request of the department, to petition the appropriate superior court for the issuance of an injunction if the person fails to comply with the cleanup or abatement order. Existing law authorizes, at the request of the department, the district attorney or county counsel of the county in which the violation occurred to petition the court for the issuance of an injunction if the Attorney General fails to petition the court within 45 days of the department's request to the Attorney General. This bill would require the department to include additional requirements in an order issued to a person operating an unpermitted waste tire facility and would specify procedures for the issuance of an injunction to the operators of both permitted and unpermitted waste tire facilities. The bill would shorten that time period to 30 days within which the Attorney General must petition the court for the issuance of an injunction at the request of the department, or the department may use the above-described alternative process. The bill would require the department to include in the order a condition that the department perform inspections at the location of the violation that are in addition to those inspections otherwise required. (2) Existing law authorizes the department to refuse to issue or renew a waste tire facility permit on specified grounds. This bill would repeal that authorization. The bill would authorize the department to reject a waste tire facility permit application if, at the time the application is submitted to the department, the department finds the operator of the waste tire facility has exceeded the amount of waste tires allowed onsite. (3) Existing law authorizes the department, subject in some cases to a formal administrative adjudicative hearing, to revoke, suspend, or deny a waste tire facility permit if the department makes specified findings. This bill would, instead, authorize the department to revoke, suspend, or deny a waste tire facility permit for up to 3 years if the department serves a statement of issues and if the applicant or permitholder takes specified actions. The bill would require the department to notify the applicant for, or the holder of, the permit of a violation, and, upon receipt of a notice of defense, schedule a hearing before the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery. The bill would require the hearing to be conducted pursuant to a specified informal hearing procedure, but would authorize the department to conduct the hearing pursuant to, or convert the hearing to be conducted pursuant to, the formal administrative adjudicative hearing procedures. (4) Existing law authorizes the department to issue and serve an administrative complaint to a person on whom civil liability is imposed for a violation of law regulating waste tire facilities. Existing law requires the department to inform the person served that a formal administrative hearing will be held within 60 days of service unless the person waives his or her right to a hearing. This bill would, instead, require the department to serve an administrative accusation on the person. The bill would require the department to schedule an administrative hearing before the director within 15 days of receipt of a notice of defense to the administrative accusation. The bill would require the director to issue, within 60 days of the submission of the case, an order setting the amount of civil penalty to be imposed, if any. (5) The California Tire Recycling Act (act) requires a person who purchases a new tire to pay a California tire fee, for deposit in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund, for expenditure by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for programs related to the disposal of waste tires. The act provides the tire recycling program may include the awarding of grants and loans for various purposes related to reducing landfill disposal of used whole tires and tire recycling. The program also specifies that the activities eligible for funding include the manufacture of specified products made from used tires. This bill would additionally include, in the tire recycling program, the issuance of subsidies and rebates for those purposes for which grants and loans may be issued and the development and implementation of a waste tire incentive payment program. The bill would additionally include, as eligible for funding, the manufacture of certain other products made from used tires. (6) Existing law authorizes the department to revoke, suspend, or deny a waste and used tire hauler registration if the department makes specified findings. Existing law authorizes an applicant for the registration to request a hearing if the application is denied. This bill would instead authorize the department to take those actions if the applicant for, or holder of, the registration takes specified actions. The bill would authorize a holder of the registration to request a hearing upon the revocation or suspension of the registration. The bill would require the department to notify the applicant for, or the holder of, the registration of the revocation, suspension, or denial and the effective date of the revocation, suspension, or denial and serve a statement of issues to the applicant for, or the holder of, the registration. The bill would require the department to conduct a hearing before the director. The bill would provide that the revocation or suspension remain in effect until the hearing is completed and the department has made a final determination on the merits. The bill would provide that the revocation or suspension is of no further effect if the department fails to transmit the determination within 60 days of the submission of the case. The bill would require hearings regarding the registration of tire haulers to be conducted pursuant to a specified informal hearing procedure, but would authorize the department to conduct the hearing pursuant to, or convert the hearing to be conducted pursuant to, the formal administrative adjudicative hearing procedures. This bill would require, following the issuance of a final decision following that hearing, that the department perform specified additional inspections, to be reimbursed by the person who is the subject of the order. (7) The act requires the department to adopt a 5-year plan, which is to be updated biennially, to establish goals and priorities for waste tire programs. This bill would require a tire broker, who would be defined as a person arranging for the shipment of used or waste tires to or from a site located within the state, or through the state, to register with the department, using an application approved by the department that includes specified information. The bill would require a tire broker to submit periodic information to the department on tires arranged to be shipped to, from, or through the state, and would require the department to specify the schedule for the submitting of that information and the manner in which the information would be provided to the department. The bill would make a conforming change to the 5-year plan, with regard to the registration of tire brokers.

(1) Existing law vests with the Department of Parks and Recreation control of the state park system. Existing law requires the department to achieve any required budget reductions, as defined, by closing, partially closing, and reducing services at selected units of the state park system, based on specified factors. This bill would enact the California State Park Stewardship Act of 2012, which would require the department to develop a prioritized action plan to increase revenues and the collection of user fees at state parks. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature and the Governor on the prioritized action plan by July 1, 2013. (2) Existing law authorizes the department to enter into an operating agreement with a qualified nonprofit organization for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a unit or units, or portion of a unit, of the state park system, as identified by the Director of Parks and Recreation, as provided. Existing property tax law requires that all property subject to tax be assessed at its full value, and includes certain possessory interests among those property interests subject to tax. The California Constitution exempts certain property from property taxation, including property owned by the state. This bill would provide that a qualified nonprofit corporation that has entered into an agreement with the Department of Parks and Recreation is deemed to be an agent of the state for purposes of property taxation, and that any state-owned property, including possessory interests in that property, used or possessed by the qualified nonprofit organization for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a unit or units, or portion of a unit, of the state park system would be exempt from taxation under the exemption for property owned by the state. (3) Provisions relating to the administration of personal income taxes allow individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds to be used for specified purposes. This bill would, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2012, require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the individual taxpayer return form, as specified, to allow a taxpayer to designate an otherwise refundable amount in excess of tax liability to be deposited to the State Parks Protection Fund, which the bill would create. This bill would entitle a taxpayer making a contribution to receive a single state parks day use annual pass from the Department of Parks and Recreation if the price of the pass, as determined by the department, is less than or equal to the amount of the taxpayer's contribution. This bill would require moneys transferred to the State Parks Protection Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and Controller, as provided, and to the Department of Parks and Recreation to cover the costs of the issuance of the passes to taxpayers, and for purposes related to the protection and preservation of state parks. This bill would also allow a deduction under the Personal Income Tax Law for any contribution amount in excess of the price of the pass received, if any. This bill would repeal these voluntary contribution provisions if contributions made on returns would be less than a specified amount, as provided. (4) Existing law provides that it is a misdemeanor for any officer or employee of the state to disclose certain tax information. This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to provide necessary information, as provided, to the Department of Parks and Recreation so that individuals who deposited amounts equal to or in excess of the price of a state parks day use annual pass can be contacted. By changing the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) 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 creates vote by mail ballots. After marking the ballot, vote by mail voters are required to return their ballots by mail or in person to the elections official from whom it came or in person to a member of a precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction. A vote by mail voter who is unable to return his or her ballot due to illness or physical disability may designate his or her spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or a person residing in the same household to return the ballot to the specified elections official or precinct board member. This bill would eliminate the requirement that a vote by mail voter be ill or physically disabled in order to designate one of the above-mentioned persons to return his or her marked ballot. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3017 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 2054, which would become operative only if AB 2054 and this bill are both enacted, both bills become effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is enacted last.