Sen. Bob Wieckowski

Existing law requires the State Department of Public health to develop a plan, addressing specified issues, with recommendations and guidelines for counties to use in the case of a significant air quality event, as defined, caused by wildfires or other sources. Existing law requires the department to consult with specified stakeholders in developing the plan. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

This measure would designate the month of November 2021 to be California's Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month. The measure would recognize and acknowledge the significant contributions made by Californians of Sikh heritage to our state and seeks to afford all Californians the opportunity to better understand, recognize, and appreciate the rich history and shared principles of Sikh Americans. The measure would condemn all hate crimes and bias incidents against Sikh Americans and encourage all Sikhs to practice their faith freely and fearlessly.

This measure would designate the month of October 2021 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.

Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining with respect to wages, terms of employment, and other employment conditions, and authorizes employees to elect exclusive bargaining representatives for these purposes. Existing law requires the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to certify the results of an election conducted by secret ballot of employees in a collective bargaining unit to designate a collective bargaining representative, unless the board determines there are sufficient grounds to refuse to do so. Existing law further provides that if the board refuses to certify an election because of employer misconduct that would render slight the chances of a new election reflecting the free and fair choice of employees, the labor organization shall be certified as the bargaining representative for the bargaining unit. This bill would refer to the secret ballot election as a polling place election. This bill would also permit agricultural employees, as an alternative election procedure, to select their labor representatives through a representation ballot card election by submitting a petition to the board supported by representation ballot cards signed by a majority of employees in the bargaining unit. This bill would require the board to conduct an immediate investigation regarding the validity of the petition and the supporting representation ballot cards and, within 5 days after receiving a petition, to make an administrative decision as to whether the petition meets certain requirements and as to whether the labor organization submitted the requisite number of cards. The bill would require the board to certify the labor organization as the exclusive bargaining representative if the board determines that the labor organization has submitted the required number of representation ballot cards and the cards meet specified criteria. Existing law authorizes a person aggrieved by the final order of the board granting or denying in whole or in part the relief sought for an unfair labor practice, to obtain a review of the order in a specified court of appeal by filing in the court a written petition requesting that the order of the board be modified or set aside. This bill would require an employer who appeals or petitions for a writ of review of any order of the board involving make-whole, backpay, or other monetary awards to employees, to post an appeal bond in the amount of the entire economic value of the order, as specified, and would provide for the bond to be forfeited under specified conditions. This bill would state that its provisions are severable.

Existing law, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) , governs collective bargaining between the state and recognized state public employee organizations. Existing law excludes certain employees from coverage under the Dills Act, including, among others, managerial employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees, as defined. Existing law creates the Public Employment Relations Board and authorizes it, among other things, to determine appropriate state employee bargaining units, as specified. This bill would enact the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, to provide employees of the Legislature, including some supervisory and managerial employees, the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The bill would prescribe rights, duties, and prohibitions in this context that parallel those in the Dills Act. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from including employees of the Legislature in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the Legislature. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to its provisions. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that the provisions of the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act are severable. 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 a local agency from imposing a tax, permit fee, or other charge for the privilege of using its streets or highways, other than a permit fee for extra legal loads, after December 31, 1990, unless the local agency had imposed the fee prior to June 1, 1989. This bill would delete obsolete references and make other technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Existing law authorizes the service of documents in a civil action by electronic means pursuant to rules adopted by the Judicial Council. Existing law authorizes a court to electronically serve any document issued by the court that is not required to be personally served on a party that has agreed or consented to accept electronic service, with the same legal effect as service by mail, except as specified. This bill would, on and after July 1, 2023, instead require the court to electronically serve those documents on a party that has agreed or consented to accept electronic service.

Existing law creates the Trade Corridor Enhancement Account to receive revenues attributable to 50% of a $0.20 per gallon increase in the diesel fuel excise tax imposed by the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 for corridor-based freight projects nominated by local agencies and the state. Existing law makes these funds and certain federal funds apportioned to the state available upon appropriation for allocation by the California Transportation Commission for trade infrastructure improvement projects that meet specified requirements. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

Existing law regulates the control of hazardous waste, but exempts from the hazardous waste control laws, wood waste that is exempt from regulation under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, if the wood waste is disposed of in a municipal landfill that meets certain requirements imposed pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act for the classification of disposal sites, and the landfill meets other specified requirements. A violation of the state's hazardous waste control laws, including a regulation adopted pursuant to those laws, is a crime. This bill would define the term "treated wood" and would require treated wood waste, as defined, to be disposed of in either a class I hazardous waste landfill or in a composite-lined portion of a solid waste landfill unit that meets specified requirements. The bill would require any solid waste landfill accepting treated wood waste to meet certain requirements specified in the bill and to manage the treated wood waste in a specified manner. The bill would authorize treated wood waste to be reused only if certain conditions apply, including, among other conditions, that the reuse occurs onsite at the facility at which the treated wood waste was generated. The bill would require each wholesaler and retailer of treated wood and treated wood-like products to conspicuously post information that contains a specified message, including a certain internet website address at which more information can be found, at or near the point of display, sale, or customer selection of treated wood and treated wood-like products, as provided. The bill would require the wood preserving industry, as defined, to, in consultation with the department, maintain an internet website and prepare fact sheets and other outreach materials on the appropriate handling, disposal, and other management of treated wood waste for generators of treated wood waste and for facilities that may receive or handle treated wood waste. The bill would require the wood preserving industry to annually update and renew the outreach materials, disseminate the outreach materials, and provide a specified update to the department relating to that dissemination, as provided. The bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations establishing management standards for treated wood waste as an alternative to the requirements specified in the hazardous waste control laws. Since a violation of the regulations adopted by the department would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a person subject to the hazardous waste control laws to comply with the alternative standard specified in the regulations adopted by the department or with the requirements of the hazardous waste control laws. The bill would provide that all variances granted by the department before January 1, 2005, governing the management of treated wood waste are inoperative and have no further effect. The bill would require the department, on or before March 31 of each year, to produce a list that includes the generators that generated more than 10,000 pounds of treated wood waste in the previous calendar year. The bill would require the department to provide the list to a unified program agency that has in its jurisdiction a generator that is on the list. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2024, and on or before July 1 annually thereafter, to post on its internet website specified information on the generation, management, and disposal of treated wood waste in the state for the previous calendar year. The bill would require the department to perform regular inspections of representative treated wood waste generator sites and treated wood waste disposal facilities. The bill would require the department, no later than March 1, 2023, to develop, and submit to specified legislative committees, an inspection and compliance plan. 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 authorizes the Department of the California Highway Patrol to retain license plate data captured by license plate reader technology, also referred to as an automated license plate recognition (ALPR) system, for not more than 60 days unless the data is being used as evidence or for the investigation of felonies. Existing law authorizes the department to share that data with law enforcement agencies for specified purposes and requires both an ALPR operator and an ALPR end-user, as those terms are defined, to implement a usage and privacy policy regarding that ALPR information, as specified. Existing law requires that the usage and privacy policy implemented by an ALPR operator or an ALPR end-user include the length of time ALPR information will be retained and the process the ALPR operator and ALPR end-user will utilize to determine if and when to destroy retained ALPR information. This bill would include in those usage and privacy policies a requirement that, if the ALPR operator or ALPR end-user is a public agency and not an airport authority, ALPR data that does not match a hot list be destroyed within 24 hours. Existing law requires an ALPR operator and an ALPR end-user to maintain reasonable security procedures and practices. Under existing law, the reasonable security procedures and practices must include operational, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect ALPR information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. This bill would additionally require those procedures and practices to include an annual audit to review ALPR end-user searches during the previous year and, where the ALPR operator or ALPR end-user is a public agency and not an airport authority, the destruction of all ALPR information that does not match information on a hot list within 24 hours. The bill would also prohibit an ALPR operator or an ALPR end-user that is a public agency and not an airport authority from accessing an ALPR system that retains ALPR information for more than 24 hours that does not match a hot list. Existing law requires an ALPR operator that accesses or provides access to ALPR information to maintain a record of that access and require that ALPR information only be used for the authorized purposes described in the usage and privacy policy. This bill would extend the requirement to keep a record of access to ALPR information to an ALPR end-user. The bill would additionally require an ALPR operator or an ALPR end-user that accesses or provides access to ALPR information to conduct an annual audit to review ALPR end-user searches during the previous year and to confirm that, if the ALPR operator or ALPR end-user is a public agency and not an airport authority, all ALPR information that does not match a hot list is routinely destroyed in 24 hours or less. The bill would require these annual audits be made available to the public in writing, and, if the ALPR operator or ALPR end-user has an internet website, would require the annual audits be posted conspicuously on that internet website. This bill would require the Department of Justice, on or before July 1, 2022, to draft and make available on its internet website a policy template and would permit local law enforcement agencies to use the template as a model for their ALPR policies. The bill would also require the Department of Justice to develop and issue guidance to help local law enforcement agencies identify and evaluate the types of data they are currently storing in their ALPR database systems.