(1) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish the watershed enforcement program to facilitate the investigation, enforcement, and prosecution of offenses relating to unlawful water diversions and other violations of the Fish and Game Code associated with cannabis cultivation. Existing law also requires the department, in coordination with specified state agencies, to establish a permanent multiagency task force to address the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation. This bill would require the department to conduct a study to create a framework for cannabis site restoration projects with the goal of providing guidance for the cleanup, remediation, and restoration of environmental damage caused by cannabis cultivation, and to complete the study by January 1, 2027, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with a nongovernmental organization or educational institution for that entity to conduct the study. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, and until January 1, 2036, to submit an annual report to the Legislature on illicit cannabis cultivation and on the status of efforts to repair habitat degradation and other environmental damage in watersheds affected by cannabis cultivation on both public and private lands, as specified. (2) Existing law imposes various civil penalties for violations of specified environmental laws in connection with the production or cultivation of a controlled substance, as specified. Existing law defines controlled substance for this purpose to mean a drug, substance, or immediate precursor listed in any of the schedules established pursuant to the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act. Existing law requires 40% of civil penalties imposed or collected by a court, and 50% of administrative penalties imposed or collected by the department, for violations of these provisions to be deposited into the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund and used for grants for certain environmental purposes, as specified. Existing law also requires 50% of administrative penalties imposed or collected by the department for violations of these provisions to be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. This bill, with regard to the above-described civil penalties, would replace the term "controlled substance" with the term "cannabis or cannabis products." The bill would eliminate those apportionments to the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund and the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and would instead direct those apportionments to the Cannabis-Impacted Lands Restoration Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys in that fund to the department for the remediation and restoration of lands impacted by cannabis cultivation on public or private lands, thereby creating an appropriation. The bill would also eliminate requirements that moneys from these penalties be deposited into the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund under certain circumstances for the repayment of a loan authorized from that fund to the department. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to regulate the handling and management of hazardous waste. Existing law requires the department to develop and adopt by regulation criteria and guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes and extremely hazardous wastes. This bill would exclude plant waste and cannabis waste solely exhibiting the hazardous waste characteristic of toxicity pursuant to a specified regulation from classification as a hazardous waste. (4) Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure, as additionally amended by statute, establishes the California Cannabis Tax Fund as a continuously appropriated fund consisting of specified taxes, interest, penalties, and other amounts related to commercial cannabis activity. Each fiscal year, AUMA requires the Controller to make disbursements from the fund pursuant to a specified schedule, including, among others, amounts to the Environmental Restoration and Protection Account. Of the amount deposited into the Environmental Restoration and Protection Account for disbursement by the Controller, AUMA requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to allocate those funds to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation for certain activities selected by the secretary including, among others, the cleanup, remediation, and restoration of environmental damage in watersheds affected by cannabis cultivation and related activities, as specified, and to support local partnerships for this purpose. This bill would direct the Department of Fish and Wildlife to use moneys made available from that account for those specified purposes to fund the above-described study and annual reports, as specified. (5) AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses to further its purposes and intent, except as specified. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
Sponsored bills
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that drug court programs be designed and operated in accordance with specified standards developed by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Drug Court Standards Committee. Existing law further states the intent of the Legislature that key programs of the drug court programs include, among other things, integration by drug courts of alcohol and other drug treatment services. This bill would instead require, for counties and courts that opt to have treatment court programs, that the treatment court programs be designed and operated in accordance with state and national guidelines incorporating the "Adult Treatment Court Best Practice Standards" and "Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards" developed by All Rise, with consideration for the court system within which the program operates. The bill would revise the above-described statement of legislative intent regarding key components to be included in criminal adult treatment court programs, including requiring a system of incentives, sanctions, and service adjustments to achieve participant success. The bill would require the Judicial Council, no later than January 1, 2026, to revise the standards of judicial administration to reflect state and nationally recognized best practices and guidelines for collaborative programs including those described in these provisions.
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 Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program (program) in the California Physician Corps Program within the Department of Health Care Access and Information, which provides financial incentives, including repayment of educational loans, to a physician and surgeon who practices for 3 years in a medically underserved area, as defined, and in specified practice settings, as defined. Existing law requires the department to establish an advisory committee, in consultation with the Medical Board of California and specified individuals, to provide ongoing management of the program. Existing law authorizes the department to award up to 20% of the available positions to program applicants from specialties outside of primary care specialties. Existing law establishes the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians (account) , a continuously appropriated account, within the Health Professions Education Fund, to primarily provide funding for the ongoing operations of the program. Existing law prohibits loan repayments under the program from exceeding $105,000 per individual licensed physician, and from exceeding the amount of the educational loans incurred by the physician participant. This bill would remove the requirement for the department to establish an advisory committee and update the definition of the practice setting in which a physician and surgeon may practice. The bill would decrease the service obligation to 2 years in a medically underserved area. The bill would authorize the department to create additional positions, not using funds from the account, for applicants from specialties outside of the primary specialties and that are not subject to the 20% limit. The bill would also remove the maximum limit for loan repayments per individual licensed physician that may be provided to a program participant who has completed 3 consecutive years of providing services as a physician in a medically underserved area. By expanding the authorization amount for the use of moneys in the Medically Underserved Account for Physicians, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also make confirming changes.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with possession and control of the state highway system and associated property. Existing law prohibits each state agency that has responsibility for roadside vegetation control operations on, or along, a roadway, including a state highway, from conducting a roadside vegetation control operation on a portion of the roadway for which a property owner has made a request for information related to the roadside vegetation control operation until certain conditions are satisfied, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Transportation to adopt, on or before January 1, 2026, a statewide policy to use integrated pest management, as defined, on state roads and highways, as specified, and to implement the statewide policy in cities or counties that have adopted integrated pest management approaches to roadside vegetation management. The bill would require the Department of Transportation, in developing the statewide policy, to consult with the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. The bill would require the Department of Transportation, when operating in a city or a county that has adopted an integrated pest management policy that is more restrictive than the statewide policy, to the extent feasible, to operate in a manner consistent with the city's or county's integrated pest management policy, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Transportation, on or before December 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, to make publicly available on its internet website the amount, location, and type of pesticides, and the pesticide formulation, by city and county, it uses, and, at least 24 hours before applying a pesticide, would require the Department of Transportation to provide on its internet website and mobile application, and through any other means of communication deemed appropriate by the applicable state transportation district, information on when and where it plans to apply the pesticide. Under existing law, a violation of certain provisions and regulations related to pesticides is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000, or by imprisonment of not more than 6 months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. Because a violation of this bill's requirements would be a crime subject to the provision above, 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 regulates healing arts practitioners by various boards under the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing federal regulations, known as the "Three Day Rule," authorize a practitioner who is not specifically registered to conduct a narcotic treatment program to dispense not more than a 3-day supply of narcotic drugs, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, to one person or for one person's use at one time for the purpose of initiating maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment while arrangements are being made for referral for treatment, as specified. This bill, with certain exceptions, would require each board that licenses a prescriber, as defined, to develop and annually disseminate to each licensee informational and educational material regarding the "Three Day Rule," and to post that material on their internet website. The bill would require the Medical Board of California to also annually disseminate the material it develops to each acute care hospital in the state.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including, but not limited to, skilled nursing facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) , a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and after March 7, 1973. The act requires the governing board or other governing authority of a hospital, before adopting plans for the hospital building, as defined, to submit to HCAI an application for approval, accompanied by the plans, as prescribed. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) , and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law authorizes DHCS to adopt regulations to certify providers enrolled in the Medi-Cal program, and applicants for enrollment as providers, including providers and applicants licensed as health care facilities. This bill would require a licensed skilled nursing facility that proposes to provide therapeutic behavioral health programs in an identifiable and physically separate unit of a skilled nursing facility, and that is required to submit an application and receive approvals from multiple departments, as specified above, to apply simultaneously to those departments for review and approval of application materials. The bill, when an applicant for approval from one of the specified departments is unable to complete the approval process because the applicant has not obtained required approvals and documentation from one or both of the other departments, would authorize the applicant to submit all available forms and supporting documentation, along with a letter estimating when the remaining materials will be submitted. The bill would require the receiving department to initiate review of the application, and would require final approval of the application to be granted only when all required documentation has been submitted by the applicant to each department from which approval is required. The bill would require the departments to work jointly to develop processes to allow applications to be reviewed simultaneously and in a coordinated manner, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program, the CalHome Program, and the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program. This bill would enact the Tribal Housing Reconstitution and Resiliency Act and would create the Tribal Housing Grant Program Trust Fund to be administered by the department. The bill would require any moneys appropriated and made available by the Legislature through the annual Budget Act for purposes of the fund and 10% of any moneys that will be appropriated and made available by the Legislature to the department through the annual Budget Act for specified housing programs to be paid and deposited in the fund. The bill would require the department to monitor the balance of the fund and when the department determines that sufficient moneys are available in the fund, the bill would require the moneys in the fund to be allocated in accordance with a specified formula, as provided. This bill would authorize the funds to be allocated for specific purposes, including, among others, housing and housing-related program services for affordable housing, housing and community development project costs, and management services for affordable housing. The bill would require the funds to be allocated only for the benefit of eligible beneficiaries, including, among others, Indian and essential families and individuals residing in an Indian area, as specified. This bill would require recipients of the funds to expend all funds allocated to programs and services within 5 years from the date of execution of a funding agreement with the department, and to expend all funds allocated to projects within 7 years from the date of execution of a funding agreement with the department, unless granted an extension by the department, as specified.
This measure would express the Legislature's support for President Joseph Biden's goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030.
Existing law, the Special Occupancy Parks Act, establishes requirements for the construction, maintenance, occupancy, use, and design of special occupancy parks. Existing law defines "special occupancy park" to mean a recreational vehicle park, temporary recreational vehicle park, incidental camping area, or tent camp. This bill would specify that, for purposes of that act, a special occupancy park does not include a low-impact camping area, as specified, that is located in a county that has enacted an ordinance, as specified, authorizing low-impact camping. The bill would define a "low-impact camping area" to mean any area of private property that provides for the transient occupancy rental of a temporary sleeping accommodation, as defined, for recreational purposes that is not a commercial lodging facility and meets specified requirements. The bill would require the county in which the low-impact camping area is located to enforce some of those requirements, relating to waste disposal and quiet hours, as specified. The bill would require that a county that has authorized low-impact camping to take specified actions, including, among others, to establish a registry of low-impact camping areas, as specified. The bill would require the provisions relating to low-impact camping areas to be in effect only until January 1, 2026, unless certain conditions are met. Existing law, the California Tourism Marketing Act, provides for the California Travel and Tourism Commission, a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation, and authorizes the commission to require businesses to pay an assessment for the purpose of increasing the number of persons traveling to and within California. The act authorizes the commission by written contract to accept a voluntary assessment from any person in a travel- and tourism-related business who is not an assessed business. Existing law also authorizes an assessed business to pass on some or all of the assessment to customers. Existing law exempts a business from assessments under the act if certain conditions apply, including if the business is a small business, which is defined to mean a business location with less than $1,000,000 in total California gross annual revenue from all sources, as specified. This bill would modify the definition of small business to mean a business with less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) in total California gross annual revenue from all sources, as specified. The bill would require the Director of the Office of Tourism to seek to enter into voluntary agreements with online hosting platforms, as defined, to impose, collect, and remit a tourism assessment equal to at least 2% of the total cost of each booking for low-impact camping areas, as specified. The bill would require the Director of the Office of Tourism to provide certain related information to the Director of Finance. The bill would establish the Rural Tourism Marketing Fund, which would be continuously appropriated, and would require that the revenues deposited in the fund consist only of assessments received by the Office of Tourism as described above. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.