The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum, technologically feasible, and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The act authorizes the state board to include use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law imposes limitations on any link, as defined, between the state and another state, province, or country for purposes of a market-based compliance mechanism by, among other things, prohibiting any state agency, including the state board, from taking any action to create such a link unless the state agency notifies the Governor, and the Governor issues specified written findings on the proposed link that consider the advice of the Attorney General. This bill would prohibit the Governor's written findings on the proposed link from being subject to judicial review. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would require the moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be used for specified purposes. The bill would require the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state entity, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan that includes specified analysis and information and to submit the plan to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Finance to submit a report no later than March 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, to the appropriate committees of the Legislature containing specified information. This bill would make its provisions contingent on the enactment of other legislation, as specified.
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Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations, as defined. This bill would, until January 1, 2020, prohibit the commission from regulating Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Protocol enabled service (IP enabled service) , as defined, except as required or delegated by federal law or expressly provided otherwise in statute. The bill would prohibit any department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state from enacting, adopting, or enforcing any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision having the force or effect of law, that regulates VoIP or other IP enabled service, unless required or delegated by federal law or expressly authorized by statute. The bill would specify certain areas of law that are expressly applicable to VoIP and IP enabled service providers. The bill would provide that its limitations upon the commission's regulation of VoIP and IP enabled services do not affect the commission's existing authority over non-VoIP and other non-IP enabled wireline or wireless service and do not affect the enforcement of any state or federal criminal law or local ordinances of general applicability that apply to the conduct of business, the California Environmental Quality Act, or a local utility user tax, among other things.
Existing law provides for the regulation and licensure of clinical laboratories and clinical laboratory personnel by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law prohibits the performance of a clinical laboratory test or examination classified as waived under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 unless the test or examination is performed under the overall operation and administration of a laboratory director, as defined, and is performed by specified persons, including certain health care personnel. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of optometrists by the State Board of Optometry, and requires certification by the board for a licensed optometrist to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents. Existing law authorizes a licensed optometrist certified to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents to diagnose and treat specified conditions. This bill would expand the category of persons who may perform clinical laboratory tests or examinations that are classified as waived to include licensed optometrists, and would provide that a laboratory director may include a licensed optometrist serving as the director of a laboratory which only performs specified clinical laboratory testing, for purposes of waived examinations. The bill would authorize a licensed optometrist certified to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents to additionally perform specified clinical laboratory tests or examinations classified as waived that are necessary for the diagnosis of conditions and diseases of the eye or adnexa, which the bill would define to mean ocular adnexa. This bill would also incorporate changes to Section 1206.5 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 1481 that would become operative only if SB 1481 and this bill are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last.
Existing law requires certain state agencies, including the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, to provide language assistance in adjudicative proceedings. Existing law requires the State Personnel Board to establish, maintain, administer, and publish annually for these purposes an updated list of certified administrative hearing interpreters and medical examination interpreters it has determined meet certain minimum standards. This bill would also authorize the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation to establish, maintain, administer, and publish annually an updated list of certified administrative hearing interpreters who, based on testing by an independent organization designated by the administrative director, have been determined to meet certain minimum standards, for purposes of administrative hearings and medical examinations conducted in connection with workers' compensation and appeals to the Worker's Compensation Appeals Board. This bill would require a reasonable fee to be collected from each interpreter seeking certification, to cover the reasonable regulatory costs of administering the program.
Existing state law defines and regulates consumer credit reports and permits a consumer to place a security freeze on his or her credit report by making a request in writing by certified mail to a consumer credit reporting agency. Existing law requires a consumer credit reporting agency to place the security freeze on the consumer's credit report within 3 business days after receiving the consumer's request. Under existing law, an agency may charge a fee of no more than $5 to a consumer 65 years of age or older for placing, lifting, or removing a security freeze. This bill would prohibit a consumer credit reporting agency from charging any fee upon a consumer 65 years of age or older for placing an initial security freeze. Under the bill, a consumer credit reporting agency would be authorized to charge a consumer 65 years of age or older a fee of no more than $5 for lifting, removing, or replacing a security freeze. The bill would make conforming changes.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law, relative to private energy producers, requires every electrical corporation to make available to an eligible fuel cell customer-generator, as defined, a standard contract or tariff for net energy metering on a first-come-first-served basis until the total cumulative rated generating capacity used by the eligible fuel cell customer-generators equals 45 megawatts within the service territory of the electrical corporation, for an electrical corporation with a peak demand above 10,000 megawatts, or equals 22.5 megawatts within the service territory of the electrical corporation, for an electrical corporation with a peak demand of 10,000 megawatts or below. Existing law additionally limits the combined statewide cumulative rated generating capacity used by the eligible fuel cell customer-generators in the service territories of all electrical corporations in the state to not more than 112.5 megawatts. This bill would revise the definition of an eligible fuel cell customer-generator to require that the customer be physically located within the service territory of the electrical corporation and receive bundled service, distribution service, or transmission service from the electrical corporation. In place of the existing maximum megawatt limitations upon an electrical corporation's obligation to offer the tariff, the bill would require the electrical corporation to make the tariff available until the total cumulative rated generating capacity of the eligible fuel cell electrical generating facilities receiving service pursuant to the tariff reaches a level equal to its proportionate share of a statewide limitation of 500 megawatts cumulative rated generation capacity, calculated as prescribed. The bill would authorize the commission, in order to continue the growth of the market for onsite electric generation using fuel cells, to review and incrementally raise this limitation on the total cumulative rated generating capacity of the eligible fuel cell electrical generating facilities receiving service pursuant to the tariff. The bill would require the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to charge a customer a fee based on the cost to the utility associated with providing interconnection inspection services for that customer. The bill would provide that no fuel cell electrical generating facility is eligible for the tariff unless it commences operation prior to January 1, 2015, unless this eligibility commencement date is extended by statute. The bill would provide that the tariff remains in effect for an eligible fuel cell electrical generating facility that commences operation pursuant to the tariff prior to January 1, 2015. 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 expands the duties of an electrical corporation in offering net energy metering and an order of the commission would be required to implement these requirements, the bill 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. The bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 2827.10 of the Public Utilities Code, proposed by SB 594, to be operative only if SB 594 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last.
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.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to direct the allocation and apportionment of federal funds to school districts, as defined, and other agencies entitled to receive those funds. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Education to take numerous actions with respect to the receipt of funding by school districts and other local educational agencies. This bill would require, until January 1, 2016, the State Department of Education, and any other state agency that administers a grant or allocation of federal funds to a school district, as defined, to allow an indirect cost rate, as defined, that is not less than the indirect cost rate established by the department for each school district, unless federal law requires a lower indirect cost rate for school districts receiving federal funds. The bill would impose similar requirements on the department with respect to grants or allocations of state funds.
(1) The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative statute approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, makes approximately $5.4 billion in bond funds available for safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, natural resource protection, and park improvements. The bond act makes $60,000,000 available to the State Department of Public Health (department) for the purpose of loans and grants for projects to prevent or reduce contamination of groundwater that serves as a source of drinking water and requires the department to require repayment for costs that are subsequently recovered from parties responsible for the contamination. Existing law requires the department, in collaboration with the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the State Water Resources Control Board, to develop and adopt regulations governing the repayment of costs that are subsequently recovered from parties responsible for the contamination of groundwater. Existing law, the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act, creates in the General Fund the Site Remediation Account, and authorizes the money in that account to be expended by the DTSC, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for direct site remediation costs. This bill would require the department to adopt the implementing regulations as emergency regulations, pursuant to a specified procedure, and would require the emergency regulations to remain in effect for 180 days after the effective date of those emergency regulations, by which time the department would be required to adopt regulations. The bill would require the regulations to include a provision allowing the department to enter into an agreement with a grantee that recovers the funds that would authorize the expenditure of the recovered funds to implement ongoing treatment and remediation activities in accordance with the purposes for which funds may be granted pursuant to the bond act. The bill would establish the Groundwater Contamination Prevention Account in the State Treasury and would require the department to deposit in that account the funds recovered from responsible parties pursuant to the payment recovery provisions in the bond act. The bill would continuously appropriate funds in the account to the department for purposes of implementing the groundwater contamination cleanup and prevention provisions of the bond act, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would authorize the department to expend up to 3% of the recovered funds deposited in the Groundwater Contamination Prevention Account to pay for the department's oversight costs. The bill would authorize the department to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the DTSC to provide oversight activities or to transfer funds from the Groundwater Contamination Prevention Account to the Site Remediation Account. The bill would appropriate the transferred funds to the DTSC for purposes of implementing the department's agreement with a grantee. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.