Sen. Megan Dahle

This measure would declare the month of September 2022 as California Emergency Preparedness Month.

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, until January 1, 2029, exempt from CEQA egress route projects undertaken by a public agency to improve emergency access to and evacuation from a subdivision without a secondary egress route if the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has recommended the creation of a secondary access to the subdivision and certain conditions are met. The bill would require the lead agency to hold a noticed public meeting to hear and respond to public comments before determining that a project is exempt. The bill would require the lead agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA and approves or carries out that project, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research and with the clerk of the county in which the project will be located.

Existing law establishes within the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Parks and Recreation, which controls the state park system. Existing law provides a process for the establishment of recreation and park districts. Existing law authorizes a recreation and park district to accept any revenue, money, grants, goods, or services from any federal, state, regional, or local agency or from any person for any lawful purpose of the district. This bill would, to the extent not in conflict with the terms of an existing park grant program or applicable bond act, or the requirements of any other funding source, for any grant application submitted on and after January 1, 2023, prohibit the Department of Parks and Recreation, or any other state agency, from awarding any grant funds to a grant applicant for purposes of constructing or rehabilitating a playground or play structure, unless the playground or play structure that is proposed for construction or rehabilitation complies with the United States Department of Justice's 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The bill would, to the extent not in conflict with the terms of an existing park grant program or applicable bond act, or the requirements of any other funding source, for any grant application submitted on and after January 1, 2024, prohibit the Department of Parks and Recreation, or any other state agency, from awarding any grant funds to a grant applicant for purposes of constructing or rehabilitating a playground or play structure, unless the playground or play structure that is proposed for construction or rehabilitation complies with the United States Department of Justice's 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and the standards to be adopted by the Department of Parks and Recreation on or before January 1, 2024, as provided.

Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, provides for the licensing and regulation of contractors by the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law generally requires an applicant for a contractor's license or a licensee to have on file at all times a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance, except as specified. Existing law requires an active licensee with an exemption for workers' compensation insurance on file with the board, at the time of renewal, to either recertify the licensee's exemption or provide a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance, as applicable, and prohibits renewal of a license unless a licensee satisfies those requirements. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. This bill would require all active licensees who have on file a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance, or are required to provide those certificates, to certify on the license renewal form the workers' compensation classification codes endorsed on the licensee's policy, as specified, and would prohibit renewal without that certification. The bill would require the board, when it updates the public license detail on its internet website for an active renewal, to include the classification codes certified by the licensee. This bill would make the bill's provisions operative on July 1, 2023. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime under the Contractors State License Law and expand the crime of perjury, 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.

This measure would recognize that the Antelope Valley will henceforth be affectionately and acceptably referred to by the State of California as the Aerospace Valley.

This measure would designate the month of October 2022 as California Hindu American Awareness and Appreciation Month. The measure would also recognize and acknowledge the significant contributions made by Californians of Hindu heritage to the state and seek to increase awareness and understanding of the Hindu American community.