(1) Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board (state board) and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater in accordance with the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Under existing law, the state board administers a water rights program pursuant to which the state board grants permits and licenses to appropriate water, upon an application to appropriate water. This bill would enact the Rainwater Capture Act of 2012, which would provide that use of rainwater collected from rooftops does not require a water right permit from the state board. (2) Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, creates the Contractors' State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and provides for the licensing and regulation of contractors. Existing law authorizes a landscape contractor working within the classification of his or her license to enter into a prime contract for the construction of a swimming pool, spa, or hot tub, an outdoor cooking center, or an outdoor fireplace, if certain conditions are met. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions and related provisions of existing law is grounds for disciplinary action. This bill would additionally authorize a landscape contractor working within the classification of his or her license to enter into a prime contract for the construction of a rainwater capture system, as defined, if the system is used exclusively for landscape irrigation or as a water supply for a fountain, pond, or similar decorative water feature in a landscaping project. The bill would authorize a landscape contractor holding a specified classification to design and install all exterior components of a rainwater capture system that are not a part of, or attached to, a structure.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law requires fees charged by a local agency for specified purposes to not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged, unless a question regarding the amount of the fee charged in excess of this cost is submitted to, and approved by, 23 of the electors. The Planning and Zoning law requires a city or county to administratively approve applications to install solar energy systems, as defined, through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit. This bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from basing the calculation of the fee charged for a solar energy system on the valuation of the solar energy system, or any other factor not directly associated with the cost to issue the permit, or from basing the calculation of the fee on the valuation of the property or the improvement, materials, or labor costs associated with the improvement. The bill would also require the city, county, or city and county to separately identify each fee assessed on the applicant for the installation of a solar energy system on the invoice provided to the applicant. (2) The bill would also express a legislative finding and declaration that oversight of permit fees for renewable energy systems is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair and that, therefore, all cities, including charter cities, would be subject to the provisions of the bill.
Existing law establishes procedures regarding the registration of voters. Under existing law, a person may not be registered to vote except by affidavit of registration, and a voter may not vote in an election unless his or her affidavit of registration is executed and received by the county elections official on or before the 15th day prior to the election. Existing law permits any registered voter to vote by a vote by mail ballot, and further permits any voter using a vote by mail ballot to vote the ballot at the office of the elections official beginning 29 days before the election. Existing law requires that the affidavit of registration show facts necessary to establish the affiant as an elector, as specified, and provides that if the affiant has not been issued a current and valid driver's license or social security number, he or she shall be provided a unique identification number for voter registration purposes. This bill would establish conditional voter registration, using an affidavit of registration, whereby a person would be permitted to register to vote after the 15th day prior to an election or on election day, and cast a provisional ballot to be counted if the conditional voter registration is deemed effective. This bill would provide that a conditional voter registration shall be deemed effective if the county elections official is able to determine before or during the canvass period for the election that the registrant is eligible to register to vote and that the registrant has provided information that matches specified state or federal databases. The bill would provide that if the information provided by the registrant cannot be verified by matching the information to those specified state or federal databases and the registrant is otherwise eligible to vote, the registrant shall be issued a unique identification number pursuant to the above-referenced provisions and the conditional voter registration shall be deemed effective. The bill would establish specific criminal and civil penalties for the commission of fraud in the execution of a conditional voter registration pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require the county elections official to offer conditional voter registration and provisional voting at its permanent offices, and would permit the official to offer this registration and voting at satellite offices on election day, in accordance with specified procedures. The bill would also require the county elections official to cancel, as specified, duplicate voter registrations that may arise due to conditional voter registration. The above provisions of the bill would become operative on January 1 of the year following the year in which the Secretary of State certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with the requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. Existing law provides that upon conviction for a crime pertaining to an election for which no fine is prescribed, the court may impose, in addition to any prescribed imprisonment, a fine on the offender of not more than $1,000 for a misdemeanor or $10,000 for a felony. This bill would increase the amount of that fine for a felony to $25,000. By creating a new crime and new duties for local elections officials, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Mobilehome Residency Law governs the terms and conditions of residency in mobilehome parks. Among other things, the Mobilehome Residency Law exempts a rental agreement that satisfies specified criteria from any ordinance, rule, regulation, or initiative measure adopted by a local governmental entity that establishes a maximum amount a landlord may charge a tenant for rent. In order for the exemption to apply, existing law requires the rental agreement to, among other things, enable the homeowner to void the rental agreement by notifying management in writing within 72 hours of the homeowner's execution of the agreement. This bill would instead require that the rental agreement permit the homeowner to void the rental agreement by notifying management in writing within 72 hours of the homeowner returning the signed rental agreement to management, if the homeowner is provided a copy of the signed rental agreement at the time the signed rental agreement is returned to management. The bill would also require that the rental agreement permit the homeowner to void the rental agreement by notifying management in writing within 72 hours of the homeowner receiving an executed copy of the rental agreement, as specified, if the homeowner is not provided with a copy of the signed rental agreement at the time the homeowner returns the signed rental agreement to management. Existing law prohibits the management of a mobilehome park from charging or imposing upon a homeowner any fee or increase in rent which reflects the cost to the management of certain fines, fees, or damages assessed or awarded by a court against the management for a violation of the Mobilehome Residency Law. This bill would extend the above provisions to fines, fees, or damages assessed or awarded by the court or an enforcement agency against the management for a violation of specified laws pertaining to mobilehome parks. The bill would also clarify that these provisions do not apply to violations for which the registered owner of the mobilehome is initially responsible, as specified.
Existing law establishes various programs administered by, among other agencies, the Department of Fish and Game and the State Lands Commission, to prevent aquatic invasive species introduction and manage the spread and impacts of aquatic invasive species in state waters. Existing law prohibits, except as authorized by the Department of Fish and Game, a person from possessing, importing, shipping, or transporting in the state, or from placing, planting, or causing to be placed or planted in any water within the state, dreissenid mussels, which are regulated by the department as an invasive species. Existing law requires the owner of a vessel, as described, to register the vessel with the Department of Boating and Waterways (department) , in accordance with prescribed requirements. Existing law establishes a registration fee for vessels and applies certain fee increases to that registration fee. This bill would impose an additional fee in specified amounts, as determined by the department, on a vessel required to pay that registration fee. The bill would require the department, in determining the fee, to consult with a technical advisory group, which would be established by the department. The bill would require funds from the fee to be used to, among other things, implement and administer dreissenid mussel monitoring, inspection, and infestation prevention programs, as prescribed. The bill would require the department to adopt an emergency regulation to prescribe procedures for the collection and use of the fee.
Existing law requires specified information to be provided to patients regarding their health care. Existing federal law requires a written report of the results of each mammography examination and requires a summary of that report to be sent to the patient within a specified time period. This bill, from April 1, 2013, until January 1, 2019, would require, under specified circumstances, a health facility at which a mammography examination is performed to include in the summary of the written report that is sent to the patient a prescribed notice on breast density.
Under existing law, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issues environmental and other specialized license plates, including veterans' organizations license plates. Veterans' organizations license plates are required to have a distinctive design or decal. The Department of Veterans Affairs may modify the plate design or decals, but is prohibited from issuing those plates or decals, as modified, until all existing plates or decals have been issued. This bill would authorize prescribed persons to apply for a special interest license plate that honors all veterans or veterans who served in a particular war or armed conflict. This bill would require the department to issue by July 1, 2013, decals for plates issued under this program that honor all veterans or veterans who served in a particular war or armed conflict to an applicant, to make available to an applicant, upon request, in lieu of this decal, a "yellow ribbons/support our troops" decal, and to eliminate from inventory any decals for which the department determines that demand is insufficient to maintain that inventory in a cost-effective manner. These special interest license plates are subject to fees for issuance, renewal, or personalization that are additional to those required for nonspecialized license plates. Existing law requires that the revenue from those additional fees, less the DMV's costs, be deposited in the Veterans Service Office Fund. Existing law requires money in the Veterans Service Office Fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Veterans Affairs for allocation and disbursement to counties for the operation of county veterans service offices. This bill would increase the amount of those additional fees.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans. This bill would provide that if the federal government acts to reinstate benefits to discharged veterans, as specified, who were denied those benefits solely on the basis of sexual orientation pursuant to any federal policy prohibiting homosexual personnel from serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, the state shall reinstate to those veterans any state-offered benefits, as provided. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide Internet resources, Internet links, and print materials, as provided, regarding, or created by, veterans' legal services organizations that specialize in military discharge upgrades.
Existing law imposes a 40-foot limitation on the length of vehicles that may be operated on the highways, with specified exemptions. Existing law exempts from this limitation an articulated bus or trolley and a bus, except a schoolbus, that is operated by a public agency or passenger stage corporation that is used in a transit system if it is equipped with a folding device attached to the front of the vehicle that is designed and used exclusively for transporting bicycles, does not materially affect efficiency or visibility of vehicle safety equipment, and does not extend more than 36 inches from the front of the body of the bus or trolley when fully deployed. In addition, existing law prohibits a bicycle that is transported on the above-described device from having the bicycle handlebars extend more than 42 inches from the front of the vehicle. This bill would authorize Gold Coast Transit (GCT) to install folding devices attached to the front of its buses that are designed and used exclusively for transporting bicycles if the use of the device meets certain requirements, including, but not limited to, that the device does not extend more than 40 inches from the front of the bus when fully deployed, and that the handlebars of the bicycles being transported do not extend more than 46 inches from the front of the bus. The bill would require GCT, if it installs the bicycle racks, to report to the Assembly Committee on Transportation and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing on or before December 31, 2017, regarding safety issues and mobility improvements. The bill would also require GCT, prior to installing a folding device on a bus that is 45 feet in length, to establish a route review committee, as specified, in order to determine, by unanimous vote of the voting members of the committee, which routes proposed by GCT are suitable for the safe operation of a 45-foot bus that is equipped with a front-mounted bicycle rack and to obtain certification approved by a licensed traffic engineer that all proposed routes are safe for travel by buses so equipped. The bill would require the committee's initial review to include a field review of the proposed routes. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute.
This measure would memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to enact legislation that would add comprehensive, preventative dental care coverage to Medicare benefits.