(1) The Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act of 2016 prohibits a person from disposing, or attempting to dispose, of a lead-acid battery at a solid waste facility or on or in any land, surface waters, watercourses, or marine waters, but authorizes a person to dispose of a lead-acid battery at certain locations. The act requires, until March 31, 2022, a manufacturer battery fee of $1 to be imposed on a manufacturer of lead-acid batteries for each lead-acid battery it sells at retail to a person in California, or that it sells to a dealer, wholesaler, distributor, or other person for retail sale in California. The act requires the manufacturer battery fee to be paid to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and requires dealers and manufacturers of lead-acid batteries to register with the department. The act defines "manufacturer" for these purposes. This bill would, on and after April 1, 2022, increase the amount of the manufacturer battery fee to $2 and would provide that the fee would continue indefinitely. The bill, on and after January 1, 2020, would authorize a person who manufactures a lead-acid battery and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the state to agree in writing with the importer, as defined, of that lead-acid battery to pay the manufacturer battery fee on behalf of the importer. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2022, to submit to the Legislature a report that includes, among other things, any regulations or policies adopted by the department for purposes of ensuring compliance with the registration, returns, reporting, payments, audits, refunds, or collection requirements related to the manufacturer battery fee. The bill would require a manufacturer, if a lead-acid battery is sold or will be used in a manner or for a purpose entitling the manufacturer to regard the purchase as not subject to the manufacturer battery fee, to obtain written documentation from the purchaser certifying that the lead-acid battery will be used in a manner or for a purpose entitling the manufacturer to regard the purchase as not subject to the manufacturer battery fee. The bill would make a purchaser who subsequently sells or uses the lead-acid battery, such that no exception to the requirement to pay the applicable fee or fees applies, liable for the payment of any applicable fees. The act requires manufacturer battery fees remitted pursuant to the act to be credited against amounts owed by the manufacturer to the state under a judgment or determination of liability under specific hazardous materials provisions or any other law for removal, remediation, or other response costs relating to a release of a hazardous substance from a lead-acid battery recycling facility. This bill would additionally require that manufacturer battery fees remitted pursuant to the act be credited to the account of the manufacturer remitting those fees. The bill would require that a person who agrees in writing to pay the manufacturer battery fee on behalf of an importer be credited for a payment of the manufacturer battery fee only if certain conditions are met, including that the person provide to the importer of a lead-acid battery a statement that includes specified information on the invoice, contract, or other record documenting the transaction. The bill would relieve an importer of a lead-acid battery who receives that statement in a timely manner from liability for the manufacturer battery fee that would otherwise be imposed on the sale of that battery, provided that the manufacturer remits payment of the manufacturer battery fee to the state for the sale of that battery. The bill would authorize an importer who has paid the manufacturer battery fee and who receives an untimely statement that the fee has been paid for that battery to file a claim for a refund of any overpaid fees. The bill would authorize the department to disclose the name, address, account number, and account status of a person registered with the department to pay the manufacturer battery fee. The bill would provide that account status does not include the amount of the manufacturer battery fee paid by any person, except as provided. (2) The act imposes a California battery fee on a person for specified types of replacement lead-acid batteries purchased from a dealer. This bill would provide, on and after January 1, 2020, if a new motor vehicle dealer sells or leases to a person a used vehicle into which the new motor vehicle dealer has incorporated a replacement lead-acid battery, that the California battery fee does not apply to the person with regard to that replacement lead-acid battery. The bill would require a dealer, if a lead-acid battery is sold or will be used in a manner or for a purpose entitling the dealer to regard the purchase as not subject to the California battery fee, to obtain written documentation from the purchaser certifying that the lead-acid battery will be used in a manner or for a purpose entitling the dealer to regard the purchase as not subject to the California battery fee. The bill would make a purchaser who subsequently sells or uses the lead-acid battery, such that no exception to the requirement to pay the applicable fee or fees applies, liable for the payment of any applicable fees. (3) This bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish a Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility Investigation and Cleanup Program, or LABRIC Program, which would be responsible for identifying areas of the state that are eligible for expenditure of moneys from the Lead-Acid Battery Cleanup Fund for certain purposes. The bill would require the program to provide public notice of the initiation of the investigation or site evaluation of any area reasonably suspected to have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility. The bill would require the department, upon completion of an investigation or site evaluation, to provide notice and an opportunity for comment on the proposed designation of a site as determined with reasonable certainty to have been contaminated by releases from the operation of a facility known to have been a lead-acid battery recycling facility. The bill would provide that expenditure from the fund for purposes of further investigation or evaluation for a site is no longer authorized if, within 2 years of a public notice of the initiation of the investigation or evaluation, the department is unable to designate a site as determined with reasonable certainty to have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility. (4) The act creates in the State Treasury the Lead-Acid Battery Cleanup Fund and requires that the fees collected pursuant to the act, except for specified administrative expenses, be deposited into the fund, and provides that moneys in the fund are available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department for specified activities, including the investigation, site evaluation, cleanup, remedial action, removal, monitoring, or other response actions at any area of the state that is reasonably suspected to have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility, and for the repayment of specified loans. This bill would revise the authorization for expenditure from the fund to permit expenditure for cleanup, remedial action, removal, monitoring, or other response actions to address contamination directly attributable to releases from a facility known to have been a lead-acid battery recycling facility at any area of the state that the department determines with reasonable certainty was contaminated by releases from the operation of that lead-acid battery recycling facility. The bill would authorize expenditure of moneys from the fund for the repayment of the loans described above only after the other specified activities have been fully funded in a given fiscal year. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires each applicant for a license to operate a skilled nursing facility to disclose to the department, among other things, the names and addresses of any person or organization, or both, having an ownership or control interest of 5% or more in a management company that operates, or is proposed to operate, the facility. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to violate laws relating to the licensing of health facilities. This bill would require a licensee of a skilled nursing facility, at least 90 days prior to the finalization of a sale, transfer of operation, or other change or transfer of ownership interests, to give a written notice of the proposed change in licensee or management company to all residents of the facility and their representatives that contains specified information relating to the prospective licensee, transferee, assignee, lessee, or licensee's parent company or management company. The bill would impose a civil penalty of $100 per day on a licensee for each day the notice is delayed. This bill would prohibit a prospective transferee, in the capacity of a prospective licensee, during a 60-day transition period, from discharging an employee, other than the nursing home administrator and the director of nursing, without cause. The bill would prohibit, during that 60-day period, an employee from suffering any reduction in wages, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment as a result of the transfer or change of ownership. This bill would exempt from the above provisions a skilled nursing facility that is a distinct part of an acute care hospital and would specify that these provisions only apply to license applications submitted after a specified date. Because a violation of the above-described requirements would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law establishes priorities and procedures that any state agency disposing of surplus residential property is required to follow. Under existing law, specified single-family residences must first be offered to their former owners or present occupants, as specified. Existing law also gives tenants in good standing of nonresidential properties priority to purchase, at fair market value, the property they rent, lease, or otherwise legally occupy. This bill would require a state agency to give priority to a tenant in good standing of a nonresidential property to purchase, at the lesser of fair market value or value in use, as defined, if the tenant is a city or a nonprofit organization, as specified. The bill would prohibit the Department of Transportation from selling a nonresidential property to a tenant described above at a value below the minimum sales price, as defined in the department's Affordable Sales Program as of July 1, 2019. The bill would require the selling agency, if a nonresidential property is offered at a price that is less than fair market value, to impose appropriate terms, conditions, and restrictions. (2) Existing law provides, notwithstanding any other law, for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, that the preliminary project alternative referred to as Alternative F-6 in the December 2012 Alternative Analysis Report of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is no longer deemed to be a feasible alternative for consideration in any state environmental review process for the Interstate 710 North Gap Closure project. This bill would revise this provision to instead provide that the preliminary project alternatives referred to as Alternative F-5, F-6, and F-7 in the December 2012 Alternative Analysis Report of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and any other freeway or tunnel alternatives to close the Interstate 710 North Gap are no longer deemed to be feasible alternatives for consideration in any environmental review process for the Interstate 710 North Gap Closure project. (3) Existing law prohibits the Department of Transportation, until January 1, 2020, from increasing the rent of tenants who reside in surplus residential property located within the State Route 710 corridor in the County of Los Angeles and who participate in the Affordable Rent Program administered by the department. This bill would make this prohibition permanent and would also provide that signatories of active rental agreements for residential property entered into with the department as of July 1, 2019, and continuously residing at the property since that date, may be eligible to participate in the department's Affordable Rent Program. (4) Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of all state highways and associated property. Existing law designates and describes state highway routes, and also describes the state highway routes in the California freeway and expressway system, including all of State Highway Route 710 in the County of Los Angeles. This bill would, on January 1, 2024, remove from the California freeway and expressway system the portion of Route 710 between Alhambra Avenue in the City of Los Angeles and California Boulevard in the City of Pasadena. (5) Existing law establishes a process for the California Transportation Commission to adopt a highway on an authorized route, requires the commission to relinquish to local agencies state highway portions that have been deleted from the state highway system by legislative enactment, and authorizes relinquishment in certain other cases. This bill would authorize the commission to relinquish to the City of Pasadena the specified portions of Route 710 within its city limits, upon terms and conditions the commission finds to be in the best interests of the state, if the department and the city enter into an agreement providing for that relinquishment.
Existing law establishes the policy of the Legislature to ensure equal access to specific information about the many local regulating and advisory boards, commissions, and committees and to ensure equal opportunity to be informed of vacancies on those boards. Existing law requires each legislative body of a local agency to prepare an appointments list of all regular and ongoing boards, commissions, and committees that are appointed by the legislative body of the local agency. This bill, on and after January 1, 2030, would require, with respect to a city with a population of 50,000 or more, that the city not appoint members of nonsalaried, nonelected boards or commissions consisting of 5 or more members such that individuals of the same gender identity comprise more than 60% of the board or commission's membership. The bill would also prohibit a board or commission with 4 or fewer nonelected and nonsalaried members from being comprised exclusively of people with the same gender identity. The bill would define "gender identity" for purposes of the bill, and would exclude from its provisions a board or commission that has as its primary purpose addressing issues of relevance to a particular gender identity. By imposing new requirements on cities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would include findings that the changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain a statewide telecommunications system for use by law enforcement agencies. Existing law also requires the Attorney General, upon the advice of an advisory committee, to adopt policies, practices and procedures, and conditions of qualification for connection to the system. Existing law, the California Values Act, generally prohibits, with exceptions, a California law enforcement agency from using its moneys or personnel to investigate, detain, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2020, consistent with the California Values Act, prohibit subscribers to the system from using information other than criminal history information transmitted through the system for immigration enforcement purposes, as defined. The bill would also prohibit subscribers to the system from using the system for purposes of investigating violations of a specified federal law if a violation of that federal law is the only criminal history in an individual's record. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2021, with exceptions, require any inquiry submitted through the statewide telecommunications system for information other than criminal history information to include a reason for the inquiry. The bill would also, commencing July 1, 2021, authorize the Attorney General, and personnel they so authorize, to conduct investigations, as provided, as the Attorney General deems appropriate to monitor compliance with these provisions.
(1) Existing law generally requires the State Department of Public Health to license, regulate, and inspect health and care facilities. Existing law specifically requires the department to adopt regulations that require a general acute care hospital, an acute psychiatric hospital, and a special hospital to meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and assign additional staff according to a documented patient classification system for determining nursing care requirements. Existing law also generally requires the department to periodically inspect every health facility for which a license or special permit has been issued for compliance with state laws and regulations, and to ensure that those periodic inspections are not announced in advance of inspection. This bill would require the periodic inspections of these specified health facilities to include reviews of compliance with the nurse-to-patient ratios and staff assignment regulations described above. The bill would require the department to conduct these inspections in a manner that is not announced in advance of the date of inspection. (2) Existing law requires the department to promulgate regulations establishing criteria to assess an administrative penalty against a general acute care hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, or special hospital for a deficiency constituting an immediate jeopardy violation and a violation of the rules and regulations applicable to these types of hospitals that do not constitute an immediate jeopardy. Existing law requires certain penalties collected by the department to be deposited into the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account, to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for internal quality improvement activities in the Licensing and Certification Program. This bill would require the department to assess specified administrative penalties for a violation of the nurse-to-patient ratios and staff assignment regulations described above. The bill would exempt from those administrative penalties a general acute care hospital that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that, among other things, prompt efforts were made to maintain required staffing levels, as specified.
Existing law establishes the segments of the public postsecondary education system in the state, including the University of California administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law provides that a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, who has attended high school in California for 3 or more years, who has graduated from a California high school or attained the equivalent thereof, who has registered at or attends an accredited institution of higher education in California not earlier than the fall semester or quarter of the 2001–02 academic year, and who, if the student is an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed a specified affidavit, is exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University. This bill, commencing with the 2020–21 academic year, would require the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request the University of California, to designate a Dreamer Resource Liaison on each of their respective campuses, as specified, to assist students meeting specified requirements, including undocumented students, by streamlining access to all available financial aid, social services, state-funded immigration legal services, internships, externships, and academic opportunities for those students. By requiring community colleges to designate a Dreamer Resource Liaison, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would encourage those institutions to establish Dream Resource Centers, and would authorize those centers to provide specified support services. The bill would authorize the trustees, the board of governors, and the regents to seek and accept on behalf of the state any gift, bequest, devise, or donation for the creation and operation of Dream Resource Centers for their respective systems. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the availability of abortion by medication techniques at on-campus student health centers at public postsecondary educational institutions in the state. The bill would require, on and after January 1, 2023, each student health care services clinic on a California State University or University of California campus to offer abortion by medication techniques, as specified. The bill would require the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to administer the College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund, which the bill would establish. The bill would continuously appropriate the moneys in that fund to the commission for allocations to each public university student health care services clinic for specified activities in preparation for providing abortion by medication techniques, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would provide that its requirements would be implemented only if, and to the extent that, a total of at least $10,290,000 in private moneys is made available to the fund in a timely manner on or after January 1, 2020. The bill would require the commission to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2021, and on or before December 31 of every year thereafter until December 31, 2026, that includes, but is not necessarily limited to, specified information relating to abortion by medication techniques at these student health clinics.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (division) within the Department of Industrial Relations. The division is headed by the Labor Commissioner and the department is headed by the Director of Industrial Relations. Existing law establishes certain protections for janitorial workers, including a requirement that the division establish a biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement for certain employees and employers. Existing law requires employers of at least one employee and one or more covered workers, as defined, who provide janitorial services, as specified, to register with the commissioner annually and prohibits them from conducting business without a registration. Existing law requires an application for registration to be in a form prescribed by the commissioner and subscribed and sworn to by the employer, as specified. This bill would require the division to issue 2 types of registrations, one for registrants without employees and one for registrants with employees, and prohibit the division from approving a registration, as described above, if the employer does not include, among other things, in their written application the name of any subcontractor or franchise servicing contracts affiliated with branch locations and the name of any subcontractor on franchise servicing the contracts. Existing law requires the director to convene an advisory committee to assist in development of training standards. This bill would require the director to convene a training advisory committee to assist in compiling a list of qualified organizations and peer trainers that employers would be required to use to provide the biennial training described above. The bill would require the department to make the list of qualified training organizations available on its internet website. The bill would require those qualified training organizations to provide specified information to the division for inclusion on its internet website by January 1, 2021. This bill would require the division to require employers subject to the training requirements to use the training content created by the Labor Occupational Health Program. This bill would require employers to use a qualified organization from the list of qualified organizations developed and maintained by the director to provide the required training, and would require qualified organizations to provide peer trainers for employers to use in the training, as specified. The bill would require the employer to pay the qualified organization a specified amount per participant, unless an alternative payment has been agreed to pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The bill would require the qualified organization to ensure that the peer trainer is paid at least twice the state minimum wage per hour. This bill would require an employer to document and certify compliance with the training to nonsupervisors and payment of the qualified organization, as specified, on a form prescribed by, and available to, the division. The bill would require an employer to submit a specified report of training completion to the director. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the training advisory committee to approve and recommend the qualified organizations to the director. The bill would authorize a qualified organization to work with a training partner, as defined, to provide the required training. The bill would prescribe certain minimum qualifications for qualified organizations and peer trainers. The bill would require the director to develop, as prescribed a list of qualified organizations and qualified peer trainers, as recommended by the training advisory committee. Existing law provides for specified civil penalties for an employer subject to these provisions who fails to register with the department. This bill would also subject an employer who makes a material misrepresentation on their application to these civil penalties. The bill would make conforming changes. 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) The California Fair Employment and Housing Act makes specified employment practices unlawful, including the harassment of an employee directly by the employer or indirectly by agents of the employer with the employer's knowledge. Under existing law, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing administers these provisions. Existing law, by January 1, 2021, requires a specified employer with 5 or more employees to provide at least 2 hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all nonsupervisory employees in California and, after that date, once every 2 years. Existing law requires new nonsupervisory employees to be provided training within 6 months of hire and new supervisory employees to be provided training within 6 months of their assumption of a supervisory position. Existing law establishes a separate timeline for seasonal, temporary, or other employees that are hired to work for less than 6 months that requires an employer, beginning January 1, 2020, to provide the training within 30 days after the hire date or within 100 hours worked, whichever occurs first. (2) Existing law creates the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations and authorizes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to enforce the provisions of the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. Existing law provides for apprenticeship programs within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards within the Department of Industrial Relations, sponsored by specific entities and employers, and requires the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to perform various functions with respect to apprenticeship programs and the welfare of apprentices. Existing law also establishes the California Apprenticeship Council within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, and requires the council to issue rules and regulations which establish standards for minimum wages, maximum hours, and working conditions for apprentice agreements in the building and construction trades and for firefighter occupations, and to issue rules and regulations governing equal opportunities in apprenticeship affirmative action programs which include women and minorities in apprenticeship and other on-the-job training, and criteria for selection procedures, as specified. (3) Existing law prohibits a building and construction trades apprenticeship program from discriminating against an apprentice or applicant for apprenticeship on the basis of certain enumerated categories, including, race, sex, religious creed, or national origin, with regard to acceptance into, or participation in, the program, as specified. Existing law requires the apprenticeship program to develop and implement procedures to ensure that its apprentices are not harassed or discriminated against. Existing law requires the apprenticeship program to provide antiharassment and antidiscrimination training to all apprentices, instructors, and employees of the apprenticeship program, as specified. Existing law authorizes the council to issue rules and regulations as necessary to implement these provisions. (4) This bill would authorize a building and construction trades apprenticeship program to provide prevention of harassment training programs for journey-level workers, and would require the apprenticeship program to maintain certain records and to issue a certificate of completion to the apprentice or journey-level worker. (5) This bill would extend to January 1, 2021, the date on which an employer identified in paragraph (1) is required to begin providing training to seasonal, temporary, or other employees hired to work for less than 6 months. (6) The bill would authorize an employer that employs workers pursuant to a multiemployer collective bargaining agreement in the construction industry to satisfy the sexual harassment training and education requirement specified in paragraph (1) by demonstrating that an employee has received the training in one of specified circumstances within the past 2 years. The bill would require verification that an employee has undergone that training within the past 2 years. The bill would require the employer to provide the training for any unverified employee. The bill would require a state-approved apprenticeship program, labor management training trust, or labor management cooperation committee to maintain the certificate of completion of training for a period of not less than 4 years. The bill would require the apprenticeship program, labor management training trust, or labor management cooperation committee to maintain a database of journey-level worker and apprentice training and to provide verification of an employee's or apprentice's training status upon the request of an employer that is a party to the multiemployer collective bargaining agreement. The bill would authorize a qualified trainer to provide prevention of harassment training on behalf of an apprenticeship program, a labor management training trust, or a labor management cooperation committee. The bill would also authorize an apprenticeship program, labor management training trust, or labor management cooperation committee to provide training by use of a specified online training course. The bill would prohibit an apprenticeship program, a labor management training trust, or a labor management cooperation committee from incurring any liability for providing training and education or for maintaining records pursuant to the above-described provisions. The bill would define terms for these purposes. (7) This bill would require the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to develop recommendations for an industry-specific harassment and discrimination prevention policy and training standard for use by employers in the construction industry, as defined. The bill would require the Director of Industrial Relations to convene an advisory committee by March 1, 2020, consisting of specified representatives from the construction industry and state agencies to assist the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in developing the policy. The bill would require the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, with recommendations for a harassment and discrimination prevention policy and training standard for the construction industry and recommendations for legislation to implement such a standard.