(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and authorizes those boards to adopt regulations to enforce the laws pertaining to the profession and vocation for which they have jurisdiction. Existing law makes decisions of any board within the department pertaining to setting standards, conducting examinations, passing candidates, and revoking licenses final, except as specified, and provides that those decisions are not subject to review by the Director of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes the director to audit and review certain inquiries and complaints regarding licensees, including the dismissal of a disciplinary case. Existing law requires the director to annually report to the chairpersons of certain committees of the Legislature information regarding findings from any audit, review, or monitoring and evaluation. Existing law authorizes the director to contract for services of experts and consultants where necessary. Existing law requires regulations, except those pertaining to examinations and qualifications for licensure and fee changes proposed or promulgated by a board within the department, to comply with certain requirements before the regulation or fee change can take effect, including that the director is required to be notified of the rule or regulation and given 30 days to disapprove the regulation. Existing law prohibits a rule or regulation that is disapproved by the director from having any force or effect, unless the director's disapproval is overridden by a unanimous vote of the members of the board, as specified. This bill would instead authorize the director, upon his or her own initiative, and require the director, upon the request of the board making the decision or the Legislature, to review any nonministerial market-sensitive decision or other action, except as specified, of a board within the department to determine whether it furthers state law and to approve, disapprove, request further information, or modify the board decision or action, as specified. The bill would require the director to issue and post on the department's Internet Web site his or her final written decision and the reasons for the decision within 90 days from receipt of the request for review or the director's decision to review the board decision. The bill would prohibit the executive officer of any board, committee, or commission within the department from being an active licensee of any profession that board, committee, or commission regulates. The bill would, commencing on March 1, 2017, require the director to annually report to the chairs of specified committees of the Legislature information regarding the director's disapprovals, modifications, or findings from any audit, review, or monitoring and evaluation. The bill would authorize the director to seek, designate, employ, or contract for the services of independent antitrust experts for purposes of reviewing board actions for unreasonable restraints on trade. The bill would also require the director to review and approve any regulation promulgated by a board within the department, as specified. The bill would authorize the director, for a specified period of time, to approve, disapprove, or require modification of a proposed rule or regulation on the ground that it does not further state law. The bill would prohibit any rule or regulation from having any force or effect if the director does not approve the rule or regulation and prohibits any rule or regulation that is not approved by the director from being submitted to the Office of Administrative Law. (2) Existing law, until January 1, 2018, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to appoint an executive officer who is a nurse currently licensed by the board. This bill would instead prohibit the executive officer from being a licensee of the board. (3) The Veterinary Medicine Practice Act provides for the licensure and registration of veterinarians and registered veterinary technicians and the regulation of the practice of veterinary medicine by the Veterinary Medical Board, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and authorizes the board to appoint an executive officer, as specified. Existing law repeals the provisions establishing the board and authorizing the board to appoint an executive officer as of January 1, 2017. That act exempts certain persons from the requirements of the act, including a veterinarian employed by the University of California or the Western University of Health Sciences while engaged in the performance of specified duties. That act requires all premises where veterinary medicine, dentistry, and surgery is being practiced to register with the board. That act requires all fees collected on behalf of the board to be deposited into the Veterinary Medical Board Contingent Fund, which continuously appropriates fees deposited into the fund. That act makes a violation of any provision of the act punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would extend the operation of the board and the authorization of the board to appoint an executive officer to January 1, 2021. The bill would authorize a veterinarian or registered veterinary technician who is under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian to compound a drug for animal use pursuant to federal law and regulations promulgated by the board and would require those regulations to, at a minimum, address the storage of drugs, the level and type of supervision required for compounding drugs by a registered veterinary technician, and the equipment necessary for safe compounding of drugs. The bill would instead require veterinarians engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine employed by the University of California or by the Western University of Health Sciences and engaged in the performance of specified duties to be licensed as a veterinarian in the state or be issued a university license, as specified. The bill would authorize an individual to apply for and be issued a university license if he or she meets certain requirements, including paying an application and license fee. The bill would require a university license, among other things, to automatically cease to be valid upon termination or cessation of employment by the University of California or the Western University of Health Sciences. The bill would also prohibit a premise registration that is not renewed within 5 years after its expiration from being renewed, restored, reissued, or reinstated; however, the bill would authorize a new premise registration to be issued to an applicant if no fact, circumstance, or condition exists that would justify the revocation or suspension of the registration if the registration was issued and if specified fees are paid. This bill would provide that the Veterinary Medical Board Contingent Fund is available for expenditure only upon an appropriation by the Legislature. By requiring additional persons to be licensed under the act that were previously exempt, this bill would expand the definition of an existing crime and would, therefore, result in a state-mandated local program. (4) The Government Claims Act, except as provided, requires a public entity to pay any judgment or any compromise or settlement of a claim or action against an employee or former employee of the public entity if the employee or former employee requests the public entity to defend him or her against any claim or action against him or her for an injury arising out of an act or omission occurring within the scope of his or her employment as an employee of the public entity, the request is made in writing not less than 10 days before the day of trial, and the employee or former employee reasonably cooperates in good faith in the defense of the claim or action. That act prohibits the payment of punitive or exemplary damages by a public entity, except as specified. This bill would require a public entity to pay a judgment or settlement for treble damage antitrust awards against a member of a regulatory board for an act or omission occurring within the scope of his or her employment as a member of a regulatory board. The bill would specify that treble damages awarded pursuant to a specified federal law for violation of another federal law are not punitive or exemplary damages within the Government Claims Act. (5) The Administrative Procedure Act governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. That act requires an agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to prepare a notice to the public that includes specified information, including reference to the authority under which the regulation is proposed. This bill would also require a board within the Department of Consumer Affairs to submit a statement to the office that the Director of Consumer Affairs has reviewed the proposed regulation and determined that the proposed regulation furthers state law. (6) 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.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California for the licensing, regulation, and discipline of physicians and surgeons. Existing law establishes the California Board of Podiatric Medicine within the Medical Board of California for the licensing, regulation, and discipline of podiatrists. Existing law, the Osteopathic Act, enacted by an initiative measure, establishes the Osteopathic Medical Board of California for the licensing and regulation of osteopathic physicians and surgeons and requires the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to enforce the Medical Practice Act with respect to its licensees. Existing law, the Naturopathic Doctors Act, establishes the Naturopathic Medicine Committee in the Osteopathic Medical Board of California for the licensing and regulation of naturopathic doctors. Existing law, the Chiropractic Act, enacted by an initiative measure, establishes the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners for the licensing and regulation of chiropractors. Existing law, the Acupuncture Licensure Act, establishes the Acupuncture Board for the licensing and regulation of acupuncturists. Existing law authorizes each of these regulatory entities to discipline its licensee by placing her or him on probation, as specified. This bill, on and after January 1, 2018, would require these regulatory entities to require a licensee on probation pursuant to a probationary order made after January 1, 2017, to disclose on a separate document her or his probationary status, certain information related to his or her probation, the address of his or her BreEZe profile Internet Web page or a specified Internet Web site, and the regulatory entity's telephone number to a patient, the patient's guardian, or the health care surrogate prior to the patient's first visit following the probationary order while the licensee is on probation under specified circumstances, including an accusation alleging, a statement of issues indicating, or an administrative law judge's legal conclusion finding the licensee committed gross negligence or the licensee having been on probation more than once, among others. The bill would require the licensee to obtain from the patient a signed receipt containing specified information following the disclosure. The bill would exempt a licensee, except for a licensed chiropractor, from that disclosure requirement if the patient is unable to comprehend the disclosure and sign an acknowledgment and a guardian or health care surrogate is unavailable. The bill would require in that instance that the doctor disclose his or her status as soon as either the patient can comprehend and sign the receipt or a guardian or health care surrogate is available to comprehend the disclosure and sign the receipt. The bill would also exempt a licensee from that disclosure requirement if the visit occurs in an emergency room and the licensee who will be treating the patient during the visit is not known to the patient until immediately prior to the start of the visit. (2) Existing law requires the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, and the California Board of Podiatric Medicine to disclose to an inquiring member of the public and to post on their Internet Web sites specified information concerning each licensee including revocations, suspensions, probations, or limitations on practice. This bill would require the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the California Board of Podiatric Medicine, the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, the Naturopathic Medicine Committee, and the Acupuncture Board by January 1, 2018, to develop a standardized format for listing specified information related to the probation and to provide that information to an inquiring member of the public, on any documents informing the public of probation orders, and on a specified profile Internet Web page of each licensee subject to probation, or an Internet Web site, as specified. (3) Existing law, in any order issued in resolution of a disciplinary proceeding before any board within the Department of Consumer Affairs or before the Osteopathic Medical Board, upon request of the entity bringing the proceeding unless the entity is the Medical Board of California, authorizes the administrative law judge to direct a licentiate found to have committed a violation or violations of the licensing act to pay a sum not to exceed the reasonable costs of the investigation and enforcement of the case, as specified. This bill would authorize the Medical Board of California to request and obtain from a physician and surgeon the investigation and prosecution costs for a disciplinary proceeding in which the physician and surgeon's license is placed on probation.
(1) Existing law generally prohibits the possession or transfer of assault weapons, except for the sale, purchase, importation, or possession of assault weapons by specified individuals, including law enforcement officers. Under existing law, "assault weapon" means, among other things, a semiautomatic centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and has any one of specified attributes, including, for rifles, a thumbhole stock, and for pistols, a second handgrip. This bill would revise this definition of "assault weapon" to mean a semiautomatic centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of those specified attributes. The bill would also define "fixed magazine" to mean an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires that any person who, within this state, possesses an assault weapon, except as otherwise provided, be punished for a felony or for a period not to exceed one year in a county jail. This bill would exempt from punishment under that provision a person who possessed an assault weapon prior to January 1, 2017, if specified requirements are met. (3) Existing law requires that, with specified exceptions, any person who, prior to January 1, 2001, lawfully possessed an assault weapon prior to the date it was defined as an assault weapon and that was not specified as an assault weapon at the time of lawful possession, must register the firearm with the Department of Justice. Existing law permits the Department of Justice to charge a fee for registration of up to $20 per person but not to exceed the actual processing costs of the department. Existing law, after the department establishes fees sufficient to reimburse the department for processing costs, requires fees charged to increase at a rate not to exceed the legislatively approved annual cost-of-living adjustment for the department's budget or as otherwise increased through the Budget Act. Existing law requires those fees to be deposited into the Dealers' Record of Sale Special Account. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, establishes the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. This bill would require that any person who, from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2016, inclusive, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, including those weapons with an ammunition feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm with the use of a tool, register the firearm with the Department of Justice before January 1, 2018, but not before the effective date of specified regulations. The bill would permit the department to increase the $20 registration fee as long as it does not exceed the reasonable processing costs of the department. The bill would also require registrations to be submitted electronically via the Internet utilizing a public-facing application made available by the department. The bill would require the registration to contain specified information, including, but not limited to, a description of the firearm that identifies it uniquely and specified information about the registrant. The bill would permit the department to charge a fee of up to $15 per person for registration through the Internet, not to exceed the reasonable processing costs of the department to be paid and deposited, as specified, for purposes of the registration program. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations for the purpose of implementing those provisions and would exempt those regulations from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. (4) 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 requires the state to have the primary financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state responsibility areas, as defined. Existing law requires that a fire prevention fee be charged on each habitable structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, collected annually by the State Board of Equalization, in accordance with specified procedures, and specifies that the annual fee shall be due and payable 30 days from the date of assessment by the state board. Existing law authorizes a petition for redetermination of the fee to be filed within 30 days after service of a notice of determination, as specified. This bill would extend the time when the fire prevention fee is due and payable from 30 to 60 days from the date of assessment by the State Board of Equalization and would authorize the petition for redetermination to be filed within 60 days after service of the notice of determination, as specified.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to administer various grant programs, including a program to provide incentives for liquid fuels fermented from biomass and biomass-derived resources. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms to achieve its goals. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This bill would require the commission to develop and implement the Biosolids to Clean Energy Grant Program to provide 50% matching funds to local wastewater agencies for biosolids to clean energy capital projects. Beginning with the 2016–17 fiscal year, the bill would continuously appropriate $20,000,000 annually from the fund to the commission for purposes of the program.
This measure would designate the month of April 2016 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and would recognize April 27, 2016, as Denim Day California.
This measure would designate the month of April 2016 as Autism Awareness Month and would encourage residents to show support for autism awareness by lighting their homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship with blue light bulbs.
This measure would recognize and honor the men and women of California agriculture for their dedication and productivity by observing March 15, 2016, as National Agriculture Day, and designating March 16, 2016, as California Agriculture Day.
Existing law requires every operator of a subsurface installation, except the Department of Transportation, to become a member of, participate in, and share in the costs of, a regional notification center. Existing law requires any person who plans to conduct any excavation to contact the appropriate regional notification center before commencing that excavation, as specified. Existing law defines a subsurface installation as any underground pipeline, conduit, duct, wire, or other structure. Existing law requires an operator of a subsurface installation, who receives notification of proposed excavation work, within 2 working days of that notification, excluding weekends and holidays, to mark the approximate location and number of subsurface installations that may be affected by the excavation or to advise that no subsurface installations operated by him or her would be affected. Existing law requires an operator of a subsurface installation that has failed to comply with these provisions to be liable to the excavator for damages, costs, and expenses. This bill, the Dig Safe Act of 2015, would declare the need to clarify and revise these provisions. The bill would define and redefine various terms relating to a regional notification center. The bill would expand the definition of a subsurface installation to include an underground structure or submerged duct, pipeline, or structure, except as specified. The bill would require an excavator planning to conduct an excavation to delineate the area to be excavated before notifying the appropriate regional notification center of the planned excavation, as provided. The bill would require an operator, before the legal start date and time of the excavation, to locate and field mark, within the area delineated for excavation, its subsurface installations. The bill would require an operator to maintain and preserve all plans and records for any subsurface installation owned by that operator as that information becomes known, as specified. This bill would prohibit an excavator that damages a subsurface installation due to an inaccurate field mark, as defined, by an operator from being liable for damages, replacement costs, or other expenses arising from damage to the subsurface installation, provided that the excavator complied with the provisions described above. The bill would also authorize, in any action for reimbursement or indemnification for a claim arising from damage to a subsurface installation in which a court finds that the excavator complied with those provisions, the excavator to be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and expenses. The bill would delete the existing exemptions pertaining to an owner of real property and would instead exempt an owner of residential real property who, as part of improving his or her principal residence, is performing, or is having performed, an excavation using hand tools that does not require a permit, as specified. The bill would also require the Public Utilities Commission and the Office of the State Fire Marshal to enforce the requirement to locate and field mark subsurface installations and lines against operators of natural gas and electric underground infrastructure and hazardous liquid pipelines, unless these operators are municipal utilities. This bill, if specified funds are appropriated by the Legislature and authority to hire sufficient staff is granted to the Contractors' State License Board, would create the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee under, and assisted by the staff of, the Contractors' State License Board, in the Department of Consumer Affairs. The bill would require the committee to coordinate education and outreach activities, develop standards, and investigate violations of the provisions described above, as specified. The bill would also require the advisory committee, by December 31, 2017, and in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to make recommendations, informed by a specified study, that addresses the long-term treatment of agricultural activities in relation to subsurface excavation, and whether those provisions are appropriate or could be modified in ways to promote participation in safe agricultural practices around high priority subsurface installations, as specified. The advisory committee would be composed of 9 members who would serve 2-year terms, and 2 nonvoting ex officio members who may be invited by the appointed members of the committee. The bill would authorize the advisory committee, commencing on January 1, 2017, to use compliance audits in furthering the purposes of these provisions. The bill would require the advisory committee to conduct an annual meeting on or before February 1, 2017, and each year thereafter, to report to the Governor and the Legislature on its activities and any recommendations. The California Building Standards Law requires state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval and adoption. Under existing law, if a state agency does not have authority to adopt building standards applicable to state buildings, the commission is required to adopt specific building standards, as prescribed. Existing law requires the commission to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the California Building Standards Code in its entirety once every 3 years. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of building standards to the commission and to adopt, amend, and repeal other rules and regulations for the protection of the public health, safety, and general welfare of the occupants and the public involving buildings and building construction. This bill would require the department and the commission to develop, and propose for adoption by the commission, building standards requiring all new residential and nonresidential nonpressurized building sewers that connect from building structures to the public right-of-way or applicable utility easement to include the installation of tracer wire or tape, as specified. The bill would authorize the department and the commission to expend funds from the existing Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund for this purpose, upon appropriation. The bill would create the Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund in the State Treasury and would provide that moneys deposited into the fund are to be used to cover the administrative expenses of the advisory committee, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would authorize the Public Utilities Commission to use excess moneys in the fund for specified purposes relating to the safety of underground utilities, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011, within the Public Utilities Act, designates the Public Utilities Commission as the state authority responsible for regulating and enforcing intrastate gas pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities pursuant to federal law, including the development, submission, and administration of a state pipeline safety program certification for natural gas. Existing federal law requires each operator of a buried gas pipeline to carry out a program to prevent damage to that pipeline from excavation activities, as specified. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, no later than February 1, 2019, to report to the Legislature and to the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee an analysis of excavation damage to commission-regulated pipeline facilities. The bill would also require each gas corporation, as part of its damage prevention program, to collect certain information until January 1, 2020, to inform its outreach activities, and to report this information annually until January 1, 2020, to the Public Utilities Commission and the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee, as specified. The bill would also require each gas corporation to estimate Californians' use of regional notification centers, as specified, and to provide this estimate to the commission and the advisory committee on or before July 1, 2016. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the requirements described above are within the act, a violation of these requirements would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop and implement a safety enforcement program that is applicable to gas corporations and electrical corporations and that includes procedures for monitoring, data tracking and analysis, and investigations, as well as issuance of citations by commission staff, under the direction of the executive director of the commission, for correction and punishment of safety violations. That law requires the commission to develop and implement an appeals process to govern issuance and appeal of citations, or resolution of corrective action orders. That law requires the commission to implement the safety enforcement program for gas safety by July 1, 2014, and for electrical safety by January 1, 2015. This bill would require that moneys collected as a result of the issuance of citations to gas corporations and electrical corporations pursuant to the above-described law be deposited in the Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund. The bill would make other conforming and clarifying 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.