Rep. David Hadley

Existing decisions of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) institute an Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) that requires electric utility corporations to collect a surcharge on their ratepayers' electricity bills to fund renewable energy research, development, and demonstration projects with the aim of making electricity service cheaper, safer, and more reliable for the corporations' own ratepayers. Existing law creates in the State Treasury the EPIC Fund to be administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires moneys received by the PUC for those programs the PUC has determined should be administered by the Energy Commission to be forwarded by the PUC to the Energy Commission at least quarterly for deposit in the fund. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates specified portions of the annual proceeds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to various programs related to transportation, affordable housing, and sustainable communities. This bill would discontinue the EPIC surcharge and repeal the EPIC Fund. The bill would create the Green and Renewable Energy Enlisting New Technologies (GREEN) Fund to fund the GREEN program. The bill would transfer previously collected EPIC moneys to a specified account within the GREEN Fund. The bill would convey the Legislature's intent that the EPIC program's renewable energy research, development, and demonstration projects continue under the GREEN program. The bill would continuously appropriate $200,000,000 of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to a specified account within the GREEN Fund to fund the GREEN program.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a driver's license to an applicant when the department determines that the applicant is lawfully entitled to a license. Existing law allows an applicant for a driver's license or identification card to request the word "VETERAN" be printed on the face of the driver's license or identification card, subject to certain requirements, including, among others, payment of an additional $5 fee. This bill would repeal the $5 fee requirement and make additional conforming changes.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would exempt from the provisions of CEQA a project, or the issuance of a permit for a project, that consists of the inspection, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, replacement, or removal of, or the addition of an auxiliary lane or bikeway to, existing transportation infrastructure and that meets certain requirements. The bill would require the public agency carrying out the project to take certain actions.

This measure would proclaim February 14, 2016, as V-Day to encourage all Californians to become more aware about and prevent violence against women.

This measure would declare May 18, 2016, as the 28th Annual State Scientist Day, as a tribute to the dedication and professionalism of the state scientists who work on behalf of all the residents of California.