(1) Existing law requires an operator of a store, as defined, to establish an at-store recycling program that provides to customers the opportunity to return clean plastic carryout bags to that store. This requirement is repealed on January 1, 2013. Existing law prohibits a city, county, or other local public agency from taking specified regulatory actions with regard to the recycling of plastic carryout bags. Existing law provides for the enforcement of those provisions by local agencies and by the state and requires the civil penalties collected by the state to be expended by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement these requirements. This bill would require a retail establishment, as defined, to collect a charge of $0.05 for each single-use carryout bag provided to a customer. The bill would require the retail establishment to retain $0.005 of that charge and would allow a retail establishment to retain an additional $0.005 if the retail establishment credits the consumer no less than $0.05 for each carryout bag provided by the consumer for packaging his or her purchases, and meets other requirements. The bill would require the retail establishment to remit the collected charges to the State Board of Equalization, which would be required to collect the charges pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. Since certain violations of that law are a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would allow the governing body of a city or county to adopt an ordinance that provides that the charge does not apply in that city or county. The bill would require the collected charges to be deposited in the Local Environmental Enhancement Fund, which this bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would provide that the money deposited in the fund is available for expenditure by the Natural Resources Agency, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require the agency, after retaining no more than 5% of the moneys for the implementation of the bill, to allocate the remaining revenues in the fund to issue grants to a city or county for local parks and for local programs aimed at reducing and cleaning up litter. The bill would allow a city or county to apply for grants up to an amount that does not exceed the total amount of revenues generated by the city or county in which the park or program is located, except as specified with regard to administrative costs. The bill would require cities and counties eligible to receive grants from the Natural Resources Agency to develop, through a public process, criteria for determining eligibility to receive and for awarding local grants. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to annually post on a publicly accessible Internet Web site a list of cities and counties receiving funding and the amounts received, and would require the cities and counties receiving grant funding to annually post on a publicly accessible Internet Web site a list of the projects receiving local grants and the amounts received. The bill would require the Bureau of State Audits and Evaluations to review the Natural Resources Agency grants to the cities and counties and the local grant programs administered by the cities and counties. This bill would constitute a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII   A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. (2) This bill would provide that it would not take effect if Senate Bill 405 of the 2013–14 Regular Session amends state law to prohibit the provision of single-use carryout bags to a customer at a point of sale, and that bill is enacted and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2014. (3) 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
Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation shall have full possession and control of the state highway system and associated real property. Existing law, if the department determines that real property, or an interest in the property, acquired for highway purposes is no longer necessary for those purposes, authorizes the department to sell or exchange the property or property interest in the manner and upon terms, standards, and conditions established by the California Transportation Commission, as specified. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
Existing law, the General Corporation Law, provides for the regulation of corporations. Under existing law, the board of directors of a corporation is required, except as specified, to send an annual report to shareholders containing, among other things, a balance sheet as of the end of that fiscal year and an income statement and a statement of cashflows for that fiscal year. The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the regulation of political campaign financing, including the reporting and disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures. Under the act, elected officers, candidates for elective office, and campaign committees are required to file periodic campaign statements that disclose specified information for specified reporting periods, including the amount of contributions received and the identities of donors. This bill would require a corporation, as defined, that reasonably believes it has one or more shareholders located in this state and that makes a contribution or expenditure, as defined, to, or in support of or in opposition to, a candidate, ballot measure campaign, or a signature-gathering effort on behalf of a ballot measure, political party, or political action committee to issue a report on the political expenditures of the corporation in the previous fiscal year, and to notify shareholders not less than 24 hours prior to each political contribution during the fiscal year, by specified means, including posting the report and notification on the corporation's Internet Web site, if any. This bill would provide for a civil cause of action for damages by specified shareholders against a corporation for willful or reckless violations of the bill's provisions and would specify a prevailing shareholder's remedies. The bill would require a corporation to maintain records that include copies of the reports on its political activities for 5 years, and to make copies of these reports available to the Secretary of State upon request. The bill would also state findings and declarations of the Legislature.
(1) The California Environmental Quality Act, referred to as CEQA, requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report, referred to as an EIR, 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. If a project is required to undertake mitigation measures pursuant to an EIR or a mitigated negative declaration, CEQA requires the lead agency to adopt a reporting or monitoring program for the project. This bill would authorize a person meeting specified requirements to bring an action or proceeding to enforce the implementation of the mitigation measures specified in a reporting and monitoring program adopted pursuant to CEQA if a project applicant fails to implement those measures. This bill would prohibit a project proponent or environmental consultant retained by the project proponent to contract for, direct, or prepare the initial study, EIR, draft EIR, negative declaration, or mitigated negative declaration. (2) Where a prior EIR has been certified for a project, CEQA authorizes the lead agency to rely on the prior EIR by authorizing the preparation of a tiered EIR for a later project if the lead agency makes a specified determination. If a prior EIR has been certified for a planning level decision, CEQA limits the environmental review of an infill project to those effects that are specific to the project that were not addressed in the prior EIR or, if substantial new information shows that the effects will be more significant, those effects that were considered in the prior EIR. This bill would prohibit the use of a prior EIR for the above-described purposes if the EIR was certified more than 7 years prior to the issuance of a notice of preparation of an EIR for the later project or infill project or the commencement of the environmental review of the later project or infill project, whichever is earlier. By prohibiting the use of those prior EIRs, this bill would increase the level of service provided by the lead agency, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (3) CEQA caps the amount a project applicant is required to pay for mitigation measures to avoid or mitigate the project's impact on archaeological resources to a specified amount. This bill would repeal the cap on that amount. (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.
Under existing law, Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989, every owner of an underground storage tank is required to pay a storage fee for each gallon of petroleum placed in the tank. The fees are required to be deposited in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund. The money in the fund may be expended by the State Water Resources Control Board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for various purposes, including the payment of claims of up to $1,500,000 per occurrence, as defined, to aid owners and operators of petroleum underground storage tanks who take corrective action to clean up unauthorized releases from those tanks and the payment of claims for certain 3rd-party injuries and damages. Existing law requires the board to pay a claim for the costs of corrective action to a person who owns property on which is located a release from a petroleum underground storage tank that has been the subject of a corrective action, and for which additional corrective action is required because of additionally discovered contamination from the previous release, if the person who carried out the earlier and completed corrective action was eligible for, and applied for, reimbursement pursuant to specified provisions, only to the extent that the amount of reimbursement for the earlier corrective action did not exceed the amount of $1,500,000. This bill would additionally impose as a requirement for that reimbursement that the subject tank has been removed. The bill would also require the board to pay a claim for the costs of corrective action to a person who owns property on which is located a release from a petroleum underground storage tank that has been removed if the site has been the subject of a corrective action, additional corrective action is required because of additionally discovered contamination from the previous release, the person who owns the property meets specified requirements and is required to perform corrective action pursuant to those provisions because of additionally discovered contamination, and the person who carried out the earlier and completed corrective action did not apply for reimbursement, as prescribed. This bill would become operative only if legislation is enacted in the 2013–14 Regular Session and becomes operative that extends the January 1, 2014, reversion date in a specified provision of the Health and Safety Code to a date that is after January 1, 2014, relative to petroleum underground storage tank fees.
Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose an oil and gas severance tax upon any operator, as defined, for the privilege of severing oil or gas from the earth or water in this state for sale, transport, consumption, storage, profit, or use, as provided, at the specified rates, calculated as provided. The tax would be administered by the State Board of Equalization and would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require the board to deposit all tax revenues, penalties, and interest collected pursuant to these provisions into the California Higher Education Fund, a continuously appropriated fund created by this bill, for allocation to the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and to a reserve account, as provided. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. 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 provides that the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. The State Oil and Gas Supervisor supervises the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field regarding safety and environmental damage. Existing law also requires an operator of a well, before commencing the work of drilling the well, to obtain approval from the State Oil and Gas Supervisor or a district deputy. Under existing law, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (act) establishes specified rights and remedies for the misappropriation of a trade secret. This bill would require the division to regulate oil and gas operations in conformance with the provisions of the act.
(1) Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or sexual orientation. This bill would add "military and veteran status," as defined, to the list of categories protected from employment discrimination under the act. The bill would also provide an exemption for an inquiry by an employer regarding military or veteran status for the purpose of awarding a veteran's preference as permitted by law. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 12940 of the Government Code made by SB 292 that would become operative if both bills are chaptered on or before January 1, 2014, and this bill is chaptered last.
Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The State Bar is governed by a board of trustees. Existing law, until January 1, 2014, requires the board to charge an annual membership fee for active members of up to $315 for 2013. Existing law requires the board to charge an annual membership fee for inactive members of up to $75. Existing law requires the State Bar, until January 1, 2014, to allocate $20 of those fees to support nonprofit organizations that provide free legal services to persons of limited means, except to the extent that a member elects not to support those activities. This bill would, until January 1, 2015, require the board to charge the annual membership fee for active members described above. The bill would require the board to increase each of the annual membership fees described above by an additional $30, to be allocated only to support nonprofit organizations that provide free legal services to persons of limited means, except to the extent that a member elects not to support those activities. The bill would require that the invoice provided to members for payment of the annual membership fee provide each member the option of deducting $30 from the annual membership fee if the member elects not to have this amount allocated for the purposes described above. Existing law generally authorizes the Controller to offset any amount due a state agency from a person or entity against any amount owing the person or entity by any state agency, as specified, and requires the Controller, in conjunction with the Franchise Tax Board, to develop a program to provide for multiple offsets to various participating state agencies, as specified. This bill would authorize and direct the State Bar of California to participate as a state agency in the program described above for the collection of specified fines, penalties, assessments, costs, or reimbursements owed to the State Bar of California.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, participating counties, and the State Public Works Board to acquire, design, and construct local jail facilities approved by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) . Existing law authorizes the State Public Works Board to issue revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the amounts of $445,771,000 and $774,229,000, in 2 phases, to finance the acquisition, design, and construction, and a reasonable construction reserve, of approved local jail facilities, as specified. The funds derived from those revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes are continuously appropriated for the purposes described above. This bill would decrease the authorization for revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the first phase from $445,771,000 to $365,771,000 and increase the authorization of the 2nd phase from $774,229,000 to $854,229,000. Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a participating county, and the board to acquire, design, renovate, or construct a local youthful offender rehabilitative facility, approved by the BSCC, or a site or sites owned by, or subject to a lease or option to purchase held by, a participating county. Existing law authorizes the issuance of up to $300,000,000 in revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes to finance the acquisition, design, renovation, or construction, and a reasonable construction reserve, of approved local youthful offender rehabilitative facilities. This bill would, in the event that a county that has been conditionally awarded financing later determines that participating with other counties in a shared regional facility would provide an improved solution to the county's needs and the needs of other counties, authorize the county to apply to the BSCC for redirection of the conditional award to another county that will be the lead county for the regional facility, in conjunction with the original county and, potentially, other counties. The bill would authorize the board to redirect the conditional award, prior to any approval and establishment of the project, if certain determinations are made by the BSCC.