(1) The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act generally requires the administrator for oil spill response, acting at the direction of the Governor, to implement activities relating to oil spill response, including drills and preparedness, and oil spill containment and cleanup, and to represent the state in any coordinated response efforts with the federal government. The act requires the administrator to periodically carry out announced and unannounced drills to test response and cleanup operations, equipment, contingency plans, and procedures. This bill would require the administrator to develop and implement a screening mechanism and a comprehensive risk-based monitoring program for inspecting the bunkering and lightering operations of vessels at anchor and alongside a dock. The bill also would require that the administrator identify bunkering and lightering operations that pose the highest risk of a pollution incident and coordinate with the United States Coast Guard to routinely monitor and inspect those operations. The bill would require the administrator to establish regulations to provide for the best achievable protection during bunkering and lightering operations in the marine environment. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2015. (2) Existing law imposes an oil spill prevention and administration fee in an amount determined by the administrator to be sufficient to implement oil spill prevention activities, but not to exceed $0.05 per barrel of crude oil or petroleum products, on persons owning crude oil or petroleum products at a marine terminal. The fee is deposited into the Oil Spill Prevention and Administration Fund in the State Treasury. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund are available for specified purposes. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2012, revise that fee to an amount not to exceed $0.065 per barrel of crude oil or petroleum products and, beginning January 1, 2015, to an amount not to exceed $0.05. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Game to contract with the Department of Finance to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2005, a detailed report on the financial basis and programmatic effectiveness of the state's oil spill prevention, response, and preparedness program. This bill would require the Department of Fish and Game and the State Lands Commission, independently, to contract with the Department of Finance to prepare and submit that report to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2013, and no less than once every 4 years thereafter. (4) Under existing law, the State Lands Commission has jurisdiction over state lands and ungranted tidelands and submerged lands owned by the state. This bill would require the State Lands Commission, on or before March 1, 2012, in consultation with the Department of Conservation, to report to the Legislature on regulatory action, pending or already taken, and statutory recommendations for the Legislature to ensure maximum safety and prevention of harm during offshore oil drilling. This provision would be repealed on January 1, 2016.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law authorizes any person to obtain a right to appropriate water for small domestic use or livestock stockpond use upon registering the use with the State Water Resources Control Board and upon thereafter applying the water to reasonable and beneficial use with due diligence. For these purposes, existing law defines a small domestic use as a domestic use, as defined by board rule, including impoundment for incidental aesthetic, recreational, or fish and wildlife purposes, not to exceed direct diversion of 4,500 gallons per day or diversion to storage of 10 acre-feet per annum. With regard to small domestic use, existing law prohibits more than one registration from being in effect at any time for any facility. Existing law allows a registrant to maintain more than one registration for livestock stockpond use if stockponds subject to registration do not exceed the ratio of one per 50 acres. Existing law provides for registration renewals of small domestic uses and livestock stockpond uses prior to the expiration of each 5-year period following completed registration. Existing law requires the board to establish reasonable general conditions applicable to appropriations for small domestic use or livestock stockpond use, and specifies minimum conditions for those appropriations. This bill would also authorize any person to obtain a right to appropriate water for a small irrigation use, as defined by the bill, upon registering the use with the board, as prescribed, and thereafter applying the water to reasonable and beneficial use with due diligence. The bill would provide that the board is not required to adopt general conditions applicable to appropriations for small irrigation use until the board determines that funds are available for that purpose. The authority to register for small irrigation use would be effective only to the extent that the board has established the general conditions for the applicable category of small irrigation use. The bill would require the board, prior to adopting other general conditions for small irrigation use, and no later than June 30, 2012, to adopt general conditions for small irrigation use for facilities used for frost protection with respect to specified coastal streams, unless the board determines that sufficient funds are not available for that purpose. This bill would redefine small domestic use to mean a domestic use, as defined by board rule, or use for aesthetic, fire protection, recreational, or fish and wildlife purposes, not to exceed direct diversion of 4,500 gallons per day or diversion to storage of 10 acre-feet per annum. The bill would prohibit the filing of a small domestic use registration for a facility served by or used pursuant to a permit or license for domestic or municipal use. This bill would also allow a registrant for a small irrigation use to maintain more than one registration if a small irrigation use subject to registration does not exceed the ratio of one per 20 irrigated acres, and if the total water use on all registered acreage does not exceed 100 acre-feet per annum. This bill would also prohibit a registration with a source of supply on a stream system from taking effect unless the board finds that unappropriated water is available for the proposed appropriation. The bill would authorize the board, following a notice and hearing, to determine whether that stream system should be declared fully appropriated. The bill would make various conforming changes relating to registrations for small irrigation use. (2) Existing law exempts from the provisions described in (1) those stream segments for which the Director of Fish and Game establishes proposed streamflow requirements pursuant to specified existing law. This bill would provide that the exemption does not apply to a registration filed before the director establishes proposed streamflow requirements. The bill would require the renewal of a registration to include certain conditions determined by the department to be necessary. (3) Existing law requires a person who holds a permit or license to appropriate water, leases water pursuant to specified provisions of law, or files a specified application, registration, petition, or request relating to water use to pay fees imposed by the board. The board is required to adopt a fee schedule so that the total amount of fees collected equals that amount necessary to recover costs incurred in connection with the issuance, administration, review, monitoring, and enforcement of permits, licenses, certificates, and registrations to appropriate water, water leases, and orders approving changes in points of discharge, place of use, or purpose of use of treated wastewater. The board is required to set the amount of total revenue collected each year through the fees at an amount equal to the revenue levels set forth in the annual Budget Act for this activity. The revenue generated by those fees is required to be deposited in the Water Rights Fund. This bill would instead require the board to set the total revenue collected each year through the fees at an amount equal to amounts appropriated from the Water Rights Fund by the Legislature for water rights program activities, as specified. The bill would additionally apply the fee requirements to a registration of appropriation for small irrigation use.
(1) Existing law authorizes specified local agencies that provide water service to adopt and implement a groundwater management plan. Existing law requires a local agency that elects to develop a groundwater management plan to hold a hearing prior to adopting a resolution of intention to draft a plan and, after the plan is prepared, to hold a 2nd hearing to determine whether to adopt the plan. Existing law requires the local agency to publish a specified notice before each of these hearings. Existing law requires a local agency to prepare a groundwater management plan within 2 years of the date of the adoption of the resolution of intention. This bill would require the local agency to provide a copy of a resolution of intention to the Department of Water Resources within 30 days of the date of adoption. The bill would authorize any person to request to be placed on a list established by the local agency for purposes of receiving notices regarding plan preparation, meeting announcements, and availability of draft plans, maps, and other relevant documents. The bill would require the local agency to provide each of those interested persons and the department with a specified notice prior to the 2nd hearing to determine whether to adopt the plan. The bill would require, if a groundwater management plan is not adopted within 2 years of the date of the adoption of a resolution of intention and the local agency is operating under a previously adopted groundwater management plan, that the previously adopted plan remain in effect. The bill would require the department to post on its Internet Web site the information the department possesses regarding the local agencies that have jurisdiction to develop groundwater management plans and information regarding groundwater management plans provided by local agencies and specified groundwater monitoring entities. (2) Existing law requires a local agency seeking specified state funds for certain groundwater projects to include in a groundwater management plan various components, including components relating to the monitoring and management of groundwater levels within the groundwater basin. This bill would specify that the groundwater projects to which these requirements apply include projects that are part of an integrated regional water management program or plan. The bill, commencing January 1, 2013, would additionally require a map identifying the recharge areas, as defined, for the groundwater basin to be included in a groundwater management plan for purposes of the state funding requirements. The bill would require the local agency to provide the map of the recharge areas to local planning agencies and notify the department and other interested persons when a map is submitted to those local planning agencies.
Existing law makes it unlawful to possess any bird, mammal, fish, reptile, or amphibian, or parts thereof, taken in violation of any of the provisions of the Fish and Game Code, or of any regulation made under it. This bill would create exemptions from a shark fin prohibition proposed by AB 376. The bill would require the Ocean Protection Council to submit an annual report to the Legislature that lists any shark species that have been independently certified to meet internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood, as provided. The provisions of the bill would become operative only if AB 376 is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2012.
Existing law prohibits any person from being registered as a voter except by affidavit of registration and requires that the affidavit be mailed or delivered to the county elections official. The Secretary of State has certain administrative duties under existing law in providing voter registration materials. The federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 provides for state departments of motor vehicles to make voter registration information and materials available to an applicant for a driver's license and other vehicular documents. Existing state law requires licensed persons to provide to the Department of Motor Vehicles a signature and the Department of Motor Vehicles is required to digitize that signature and forward the digitized signature to the Secretary of State if a person wishes to register to vote. Under existing law, operative when 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, a person who is qualified to register to vote and who has a valid California driver's license or state identification card is authorized to submit an affidavit of voter registration electronically on the Internet Web site of the Secretary of State. Under the above-described online voter registration provisions, the Secretary of State, for each electronic affiant, is required to obtain an electronic copy of the applicant's signature from his or her driver's license or state identification card directly from the Department of Motor Vehicles. This bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Secretary of State to develop a process and the infrastructure to allow electronic copies of the applicants' signatures and other information required under the above provisions that is in the possession of the department to be transferred to the Secretary of State and to the county election management systems to allow a person who is qualified to register to vote in California to register to vote under the above provisions. This bill would provide, as an alternative operative date, that the above provisions shall become operative on the date the Secretary of State either certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with the requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 or executes a declaration stating that certain specified conditions have occurred. For purposes of implementing the above provisions as expeditiously as possible, if the provisions become operative under the latter, the Secretary of State's office would be exempt from certain provisions relating to information technology, as specified, in implementing the provisions.
Existing law makes it unlawful to possess any bird, mammal, fish, reptile, or amphibian, or parts thereof, taken in violation of any of the provisions of the Fish and Game Code, or of any regulation made under it. This bill, except as specified, would make it unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin, as defined. The bill, by creating a new crime, 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.
Existing law prohibits employment discrimination based on sex or disability. Existing law prohibits an employer from refusing to allow a female employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition to take a leave for a reasonable time of up to 4 months before returning to work. This bill would also prohibit an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes that leave, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 12945 of the Government Code proposed by AB 592, to be operative only if AB 592 and this bill are both enacted, both bills become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, a health insurer that provides maternity coverage may not restrict inpatient hospital benefits, as specified, and is required to provide notice of the maternity services coverage. This bill, commencing July 1, 2012, would require every group health insurance policy to provide coverage for maternity services for all insureds covered under the policy. This bill would become operative only if SB 222 is also enacted.
Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, a health insurer that provides maternity coverage may not restrict inpatient hospital benefits, as specified, and is required to provide notice of the maternity services coverage. This bill, commencing July 1, 2012, would require every individual health insurance policy to provide coverage for maternity services for all insureds covered under the policy. This bill would become operative only if AB 210 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is also enacted.
Existing law gives control of the state park system to the Department of Parks and Recreation. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into agreements with an agency of the United States, a city, county, district, or other public agency or any combination thereof, for the care, maintenance, administration, and control by a party to the agreement of lands under the jurisdiction of a party to the agreement, for the purpose of the state park system. This bill would authorize the department to enter into an operating agreement 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, with a qualified nonprofit organization, as provided. This bill would require the operating agreement to include, among other things, a requirement that the nonprofit organization annually submit a report to the department, to be available on the Internet Web site of both the department and the nonprofit organization. The bill would require the nonprofit organization and the district superintendent for the department to hold a joint public meeting for discussion of the report. The bill would require the department to notify a Member of the Legislature of an intention to enter into an operating agreement relating to a park in the member's district, as well as notify specified committees of the Legislature. The bill would also require the department to report to the Legislature, on a biennial basis, the status of any operating agreement. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2019.