Asm. Mike Gatto

The California Constitution requires the reasonable and beneficial use of water. This bill would establish the CalConserve Water Use Efficiency Revolving Fund administered by the Department of Water Resources and would continuously appropriate moneys in the fund, without regard to fiscal year, to the department, for the purpose of water use efficiency projects. This bill would require moneys in the fund to be used for purposes that include, but are not limited to, at-or-below market interest rate loans and would permit the department to enter into agreements with local governments or investor-owned utilities that provide water or recycled water service to provide loans.

This measure would designate that January 20, 2014, be observed as the official memorial of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America. This measure would also recognize the anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington in connection with the advancement of civil rights.

Existing law makes it a crime for the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person other than himself or herself, or in the death of a person, to leave the scene of the accident. Existing law makes it a crime to drive a vehicle, with or without gross negligence, in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission of a lawful act that might produce death in an unlawful manner. Existing law also sets forth various time limits to prosecute crimes. Except as otherwise specified, prosecution for an offense that is not punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison is required to be commenced within one year after commission of the offense. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding any other limitation of time specified, if a person flees the scene of an accident that has caused death or permanent, serious injury, charges may be brought either one or 3 years after the completion of the offense, as specified, or one year after the person is initially identified as a suspect in the commission of the offense, whichever is later, but in no case later than 6 years after the commission of the offense.

(1) Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission, by July 1, 2008, to establish by regulation a public process to certify centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and to define by regulation nonlead ammunition as including only centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition in which there is no lead content. Existing law requires the commission to establish and annually update a list of certified centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition. Existing law requires that nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition, as determined by the commission, be used when taking big game with a rifle or pistol, as defined by the Department of Fish and Wildlife's hunting regulations, and when taking coyote, within specified deer hunting zones, but excluding specific counties and areas. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires the commission to establish a process, to the extent that funding is available, that will provide hunters in these specified deer hunting zones with nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge. This bill would instead require, as soon as is practicable, but by no later than July 1, 2019, the use of nonlead ammunition for the taking of all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with any firearm. The bill would require the commission to certify, by regulation, nonlead ammunition for these purposes. The bill would require that the list of certified ammunition include any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition. The bill would make conforming changes. The bill would provide that these provisions do not apply to government officials or their agents when carrying out a statutory duty required by law. The bill would require the commission to promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015, that phase in the requirements of these provisions. The bill would require that these requirements be fully implemented statewide by no later than July 1, 2019. The bill would require the commission to implement any of these requirements that can be implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1, 2019. The bill would also require that the commission not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in California condor range, as described, unless or until the additional requirements for use of nonlead ammunition as required by these provisions are implemented. By expanding and changing the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing federal law restricts the importing, manufacturing, or sale of armor-piercing ammunition, as specified. This bill would temporarily suspend the required use of nonlead ammunition for a specific hunting season and caliber upon a finding by the Director of Fish and Wildlife that nonlead ammunition of a specific caliber is not commercially available from any manufacturer because of federal prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition. The bill would require, notwithstanding a suspension, that nonlead ammunition be used when taking big game mammals, nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor range. (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.

Existing law provides that financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult occurs when, among other instances, a person or entity takes, secretes, appropriates, obtains, or retains, or assists in taking, secreting, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining, real or personal property of an elder or dependent adult by undue influence, as defined. Existing law makes failing to report, or impeding or inhibiting a report of, among other things, financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult, in violation of certain reporting requirements a misdemeanor. Existing law also makes it a misdemeanor for any caretaker of an elder or dependent adult to violate any provision of law proscribing theft or embezzlement, with respect to the property of that elder or dependent adult. This bill would change the definition of undue influence to mean excessive persuasion that causes another person to act or refrain from acting by overcoming that person's free will and results in inequity. The bill would require, in determining whether the result was produced by undue influence, the vulnerability of the victim, the influencer's apparent authority, the actions or tactics used by the influencer, and the equity of the result to be considered. The bill would specify that an inequitable result, without more, is not sufficient to prove undue influence. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law prohibits the use of undue influence and establishes protections for individuals unable to resist undue influence in various areas of the law, including wills, trusts, and conservatorships. This bill would define undue influence for those purposes without superseding or interfering with the common law of undue influence. 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 dissolved redevelopment agencies and community development agencies, as of February 1, 2012, and provides for the designation of successor agencies, as defined. Existing law requires successor agencies to wind down the affairs of the dissolved redevelopment agencies and to, among other things, perform obligations required pursuant to any enforceable obligation, including, but not limited to, any obligations under the Polanco Redevelopment Act to remedy or remove the release of hazardous substances within a project area consistent with state and federal laws, as specified. Existing law, the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act, imposes liability for hazardous substance removal or remedial actions and requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt, by regulation, criteria for the selection and for the priority ranking of hazardous substance release sites for removal or remedial action under the act. This bill would authorize a local agency to take any action similar to that under the Polanco Redevelopment Act that the local agency determines is necessary, consistent with other state and federal laws, to investigate and clean up a release of hazardous materials in a blighted area, as determined by the local agency, within the boundaries of the local agency, pursuant to the procedures specified in the bill. The bill would require a local agency to submit for approval a cleanup plan to the California regional water control board or to the Department of Toxic Substances Control before taking action. The bill would require a local agency to take specified actions with regard to providing an opportunity for the public and other public agencies to participate in decisions regarding the proposed cleanup plan. The bill would allow the local agency to take those cleanup activities only under specified conditions with regard to the responsible party for the release, unless the local agency is taking action to investigate or conduct feasibility studies concerning a release or determines that conditions require immediate action. The bill would allow the local agency to designate another agency, in lieu of the department or the regional board, to review and approve a cleanup plan and to oversee the cleanup of hazardous material from a hazardous material release site, under certain conditions. The bill would immunize a local agency that cleans up a hazardous material release, pursuant to those provisions, from liability under specified state laws, if the action is in accordance with a cleanup plan prepared by a qualified independent contractor, as defined, and approved by the department, a regional board, or the designated agency, and the cleanup is undertaken and properly completed. The bill would authorize the recovery by a local agency of cleanup costs from the responsible party.

(1) The existing Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65) prohibits any person, in the course of doing business, from knowingly and intentionally exposing any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without giving a specified warning, or from knowingly discharging or releasing such a chemical into water or any source of drinking water, except as specified. The act imposes civil penalties of not more than $2,500 per day upon persons who violate those prohibitions, and provides for the enforcement of those prohibitions by the Attorney General, a district attorney, or specified city attorneys or prosecutors, and by any person in the public interest. The act requires any person bringing an action in the public interest, or any private person filing an action in which a violation of the act is alleged, to notify the Attorney General, the district attorney, city attorney, or prosecutor in whose jurisdiction the violation is alleged to have occurred, and the alleged violator that such an action has been filed. This bill would require a person filing an enforcement action in the public interest for certain specified exposures to provide a notice in a specified proof of compliance form. The bill would prohibit an enforcement action from being filed by that person, and would prohibit the recovery of certain payments or reimbursements, if the notice to the alleged violator alleges a failure to provide a clear and reasonable warning for those specified exposures and, within 14 days after receiving the notice, the alleged violator corrects the alleged violation, pays a civil penalty in the amount of $500 per facility or premises, and notifies the person bringing the action that the violation has been corrected pursuant to the specified proof of compliance form. The bill would specify that the alleged violator may correct the violation, pay the civil penalty, and serve a correction notice on the person who served notice of the violation only one time for a violation arising from the same exposure in the same facility or on the same premises. The bill would require the Judicial Council, on April 1, 2019, and at each 5-year interval thereafter, to adjust that civil penalty, as specified. (2) Proposition 65 provides that it may be amended by a statute, passed in each house by 23 vote, to further its purposes. This bill would find and declare that it furthers the purposes of Proposition 65 and would make other findings regarding the purposes of the bill. The bill would declare that a specified provision of the bill is independent and severable from the other changes made by this bill. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, provides various exclusions from gross income in computing tax liability. This bill would, in reference to specified federal income tax laws, provide that gross income does not include 50% of any gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock, as defined, held for more than 5 years, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2008, and before January 1, 2013, as provided. The provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2016. The bill, with regard to personal income tax, would provide that a penalty shall not be imposed with respect to the additional tax, as defined, of a taxpayer, and interest shall not accrue with respect to the additional tax of that taxpayer due for the taxable year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, in the case of a liability for additional tax of a taxpayer, notwithstanding certain other eligibility requirements, to enter into an agreement to accept the full payment of the additional tax in installments over a period not to exceed 5 years. These provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2018. The bill would authorize any claim for credit or refund pursuant to the bill to be filed within 180 days of its effective date, as provided. The bill would make a legislative finding and declaration regarding the public purpose served by the bill. The bill would state that its provisions are not severable, except as provided.

Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to preserve, upgrade, and expand the supply of housing to persons and families of low or moderate income, through the sale of specified surplus residential property owned by public agencies. Existing law establishes priorities and procedures that any state agency disposing of that surplus residential property is required to follow, and defines relevant terms for these purposes, including "fair market value." This bill would revise the definition of "fair market value" for purposes of the sale of this surplus residential property, to reflect the existing "as is" condition of the property, taking into account any needed repairs. Existing law requires specified single-family residences to be first offered to their present occupants, at an affordable price, as defined. Under existing law, the selling agency has the option of making repairs to the property required by lenders or government assistance programs, or providing the occupants with a replacement dwelling, pursuant to a specified provision of law. This bill would revise the procedures applicable to the sale of these surplus residential properties not otherwise sold pursuant to existing procedures, to be offered to current and former tenants in good standing, respectively, and to purchasers who will be owner occupants. The bill additionally would require the selling agency to offer tenants in good standing of nonresidential properties to be given priority to purchase the property they occupy. The bill would authorize the Department of Transportation to offer a residence or property in an "as is" condition, at the request of a person with priority to purchase the residence or property in accordance with existing law. This bill would require proceeds from sales of surplus residential property to be placed in the SR-710 Rehabilitation Account, created by the bill, and would continuously appropriate these funds for the purpose of providing specified repairs to the properties until the last of the properties is repaired, at which time the funds, less any reimbursements due to the federal government, would be transferred to the State Highway Account, for allocation by the California Transportation Commission, as specified. This bill would provide that the preliminary project alternative referred to as Alternative F-6 in the December 2012 Alternative Analysis Report of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority shall no longer be deemed a feasible alternative for consideration in any state environmental review process for the Interstate 710 North Gap Closure project, as specified.