Existing law establishes the Department of Transportation in the Transportation Agency. Existing law authorizes the department subject to approval of the Secretary of Transportation, to enter into an interagency transfer agreement under which a joint powers board assumes responsibility for administering state-funded intercity rail service in certain rail corridors, including the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. Existing law defines the LOSSAN Rail Corridor as the intercity passenger rail corridor between San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo. Pursuant to this authority, the department entered into an interagency transfer agreement with the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency to administer intercity passenger rail service in the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. This bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to provide guidance and recommendations to, and coordination between, stakeholders as necessary to ensure the performance of the LOSSAN Rail Corridor, as specified. This bill would also require the Secretary of Transportation, with technical and subject matter assistance from the Secretary for Environmental Protection and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the LOSSAN Rail Corridor that includes specified information no later than 2 years after an appropriation is made by the Legislature for purposes of this report. The bill would also require the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with stakeholders responsible for operating rail services along the LOSSAN Rail Corridor, to submit a report to the Legislature on the performance of the LOSSAN Rail Corridor no later than 3 years after an appropriation is made by the Legislature for purposes of this performance report and biennially thereafter. This bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to convene a working group composed of representatives of certain types of entities, including, among others, metropolitan planning organizations from specified counties. The bill would require the working group to submit consensus recommendations and feedback in a report to the Legislature on or before February 1, 2026, on various topics relating to rail service in the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. Before submitting the report to the Legislature, the bill would require the recommendations and feedback to be submitted to the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, and the North County Transit District for review and consideration. By adding to the duties of local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the state flag and the state's emblems, including, among other things, the golden poppy as the official state flower, the California redwood as the official state tree, and the California gray whale as the official state marine mammal. This bill would establish the Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) as the official state crustacean. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
Existing law establishes the state flag and the state's emblems, including, among other things, the poppy as the official state flower, the California redwood as the official state tree, and the California gray whale as the official state marine mammal. This bill would establish the banana slug (Ariolimax) as the official state slug.
Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities attendant to oil and gas production, so as to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources, as provided; to permit owners and operators of wells to utilize all known methods and practices to increase the ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons; and to perform the supervisor's duties in a manner that encourages the wise development of oil and gas resources to best meet oil and gas needs in this state. Existing California Supreme Court case law holds that these provisions preempt certain local ordinances that ban certain oil production methods, as provided. Existing law provides that the laws relating to oil and gas regulation apply to any land or well situated within the boundaries of an incorporated city in which the drilling of oil wells is now or may hereafter be prohibited, as provided. Existing law requires the operator of a well to file a written notice of intention to commence drilling with, and prohibits any drilling until approval is given by, the supervisor or district deputy. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to require other pertinent information to supplement the notice. Existing law requires an operator proposing to perform a well stimulation treatment to apply to the supervisor or district deputy for a permit to perform the well stimulation treatment and imposes other requirements and conditions on the use of well stimulation treatments. This bill would authorize a local entity, as defined, by ordinance, to limit or prohibit oil and gas operations or development in its jurisdiction, as provided, notwithstanding any other law or any notice of intention, supplemental notice, well stimulation treatment permit, or similar authorization issued by the supervisor or district deputy. The bill would authorize these limitations or prohibitions to include, but not be limited to, limitations or prohibitions related to the methods and locations of oil and gas operations or development. If a local entity limits or prohibits oil and gas operations or development of an owner or operator, the bill would require that owner or operator to comply with existing rules related to plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning attendant production facilities, and related measures, as provided. This bill would state that its provisions are severable.
Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board various responsibilities and duties relating to providing a dependable, safe supply of drinking water. Existing law requires the state board to directly enforce the provisions of the act for all public water systems, except as specified. The act prohibits a person from operating a public water system unless the person first submits an application to the state board and receives a permit to operate the system, as specified. Existing law authorizes the state board to impose permit conditions, requirements for system improvements, technical, financial, or managerial requirements, and time schedules as it deems necessary to ensure a reliable and adequate supply of water at all times that is pure, wholesome, potable, and does not endanger the health of consumers. Existing law makes it a crime to knowingly make any false statement or representation in any application, record, report, or other document submitted, maintained, or used for purposes of compliance with the act. This bill would require the state board to develop and adopt minimum standards related to the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections and nontransient noncommunity water systems that serve K–12 schools. The bill would require community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections and nontransient noncommunity water systems that serve K–12 schools to demonstrate compliance with those standards, as provided. The bill would require new community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons or 3,300 service connections and nontransient noncommunity water systems that serve K–12 schools to demonstrate, as part of a permit application, compliance with the minimum technical, managerial, and financial standards. This bill would authorize the state board to require a community water system serving fewer than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections and a nontransient noncommunity water system that serves K–12 schools subject to the minimum standards to show proof that it has the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to comply with the standards, including, but not limited to, annual reporting of information necessary and appropriate to monitor its current capacity status. Because knowingly making a false statement or representation in that report would be a crime under the California Safe Drinking Water Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the scope of a crime. 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.
(1) Existing law, the California Organic Food and Farming Act, requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and county agricultural commissioners to enforce state and federal laws governing the production, labeling, and marketing of organic products, as specified. Existing law authorizes, to the extent that funds are available, the secretary, in consultation with the California Organic Products Advisory Committee, to establish procedures for and conduct specified activities, including conducting periodic spot inspections and conducting periodic prohibited substance testing on products labeled as organic. Existing law also authorizes the secretary and county agricultural commissioners to conduct a program of spot inspections to determine compliance with the act. This bill would authorize the secretary to establish procedures for and conduct announced and unannounced periodic spot inspections and collect samples to conduct periodic substance testing on products labeled as organic and would prohibit any charge to the inspector or investigator for the samples taken. The bill would authorize the secretary and county agricultural commissioners to conduct a program of announced and unannounced spot inspections. (2) Existing law requires every person engaged in the state in the processing or handling of specified products for human consumption that are sold as organic to register with the secretary or the State Public Health Officer and to pay a registration fee pursuant to a fee schedule based on total gross sales by the registrant of the product, as specified. Existing law authorizes the secretary to lower the amounts specified in the fee schedule by regulation. Existing law makes it unlawful for a person to produce or handle a product sold as organic unless duly registered. Existing law makes a violation of the provisions relating to organic products a crime. This bill would also require a person who takes title of an organic product that is outside the jurisdiction of the State Public Health Officer, packs, repacks, labels, sorts, or otherwise handles the product, and provides only handling services for the product, to register and pay a fee according to the fee schedule, as specified. The bill would instead make it unlawful for a person to sell, advertise, label, or otherwise represent any product as organic unless duly registered. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires a registrant to notify the secretary of a change of information reported on the registration form within a reasonable time and requires the secretary, to the extent funds are available, to establish procedures for handling complaints. Existing law authorizes a person to appeal to the secretary for a hearing for the denial or revocation of any registration. Existing law requires an appeal to be submitted to the secretary in writing within 30 days from the date of the action or the letter proposing the action. This bill would change the time frames for the above-described procedures and appeals, as specified. The bill would also authorize a person to appeal to the secretary for a hearing under specified federal regulations and for the suspension of any registration. The bill would provide that an adverse action becomes final and nonappealable unless an appeal is timely filed. (4) Existing law authorizes, in lieu of prosecution, the secretary or a county agricultural commissioner to levy a civil penalty in a specified amount of not more than $5,000 against a person under the secretary's enforcement jurisdiction who violates this act or implementing regulations. This bill would authorize, notwithstanding these penalties, the secretary or county agricultural commissioner to levy a civil penalty in an amount not more than an amount specified under federal law, if they find that a person or responsibly connected person knowingly sells or labels a product as organic in violation of the act or implementing regulations. The bill would provide that a person who makes a false statement under the act to the secretary, a state organic program governing official, or an accredited certifying agent is subject to specified fines or imprisonment under federal law. (5) Existing law, unless a different penalty is expressly provided, makes a violation of any provision of the Food and Agricultural Code a misdemeanor. Because the above provisions would be part of that code, the violation of which would be a crime, 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.
Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to adopt regulations to achieve specified organic waste reduction goals and to analyze the progress that the waste sector, state government, and local governments have made in achieving those reduction goals, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to include incentives or additional requirements in specified regulations to facilitate progress towards achieving the organic waste reduction goals if the department determines that significant progress has not been made. 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, as provided. Existing regulations describe the advantages and uses of a program environmental impact report. This bill would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to prepare and certify, by January 1, 2027, a program environmental impact report that streamlines the process with which jurisdictions can develop and site small and medium compostable material handling facilities or operations, as defined, for processing organic material, as specified.
Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, establishes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and requires the department to adopt rules and regulations, as necessary, to carry out the act. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, prohibit the sale or offer for sale of propane cylinders other than those propane cylinders that are reusable or refillable, as defined. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of this bill with an effective date of January 1, 2028.
Existing law, for purposes of attendance counting, defines a school month as 20 days or 4 weeks of 5 days each. Existing law authorizes specified school districts, including, among others, certain school districts in the County of San Diego, to operate one or more schools in their respective school districts on a 4-day school week if the school district complies with specified requirements, including, among other requirements, instructional time requirements and a plan, submitted to the State Department of Education for review and approval, for how the school district will meet those instructional time requirements. This bill would, commencing with the 2025–26 school year, additionally authorize the Stony Creek Joint Unified School District to operate one or more schools in the district on a 4-day school week in accordance with those requirements, except that the Stony Creek Joint Unified School District would also be required to (1) include in its plan an annual school calendar with at least 5 additional days of instruction than is otherwise needed to meet the minimum instructional minute requirements in the event that one or more of the schools in the school district is prevented from operating for specified reasons and (2) make a nutritionally adequate breakfast, and a nutritionally adequate lunch, available 5 days per week to any pupil who requests a meal, free of charge, and without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for federally funded free or reduced-price meals. If the Stony Creek Joint Unified School District operates a 4-day school week pursuant to these provisions but subsequently experiences, in a single year, a decline in status in 50% or more of the state indicators used to measure performance that are included in the evaluation rubrics adopted by the State Board of Education, this bill would, commencing with the following school year, prohibit the school district from operating a 4-day school week. The bill also would update a cross reference relating to the applicable minimum instructional minute requirements for the school districts in the County of San Diego operating a 4-day school week. This bill would make these provisions relating to the Stony Creek Joint Unified School District inoperative on July 1, 2029, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2030. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Stony Creek Joint Unified School District.
Existing law requires the board of supervisors of each county, following each decennial federal census, and using that census as a basis, to adjust the boundaries of any or all of the supervisorial districts of the county so that the districts are as nearly equal in population as possible and comply with applicable federal law, and specifies the procedures the board of supervisors must follow in adjusting those boundaries. Existing law establishes redistricting commissions in certain counties, and charges them with adjusting the supervisorial district boundaries for those counties. This bill would establish the Citizens Redistricting Commission in the County of San Luis Obispo, which would be charged with adjusting the boundary lines of the districts of the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo in accordance with specified criteria. The commission would consist of 11 members who meet specified qualifications. The bill would require each commission member to attend all public hearings and meetings of the commission to the greatest extent practicable, and would create specified procedures by which the commission may remove a member for substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct of office, inability to discharge the duties of the office, or if it is later discovered that the commission member did not meet the required qualifications at the time of appointment or no longer meets those qualifications while serving on the commission. The bill would provide that if the commission is unable to act because it does not have 7 voting members to constitute a quorum, then the county elections official must fill the vacancies to bring the commission to 7 voting members, as specified. By increasing the duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of San Luis Obispo. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.