Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations and electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to ensure that an electrical corporation or gas corporation with a commission-approved program to provide discounts based on economic need uses a single application form to enable an applicant to alternatively apply for any assistance program for which the applicant may be eligible. This bill would require the commission, on or before June 30, 2024, in coordination and consultation with the Department of Community Services and Development and other relevant state agencies that provide low-income electric or gas utility customer assistance programs, to develop a process that enables customers to concurrently apply, or begin to apply, to multiple low-income customer assistance programs, as specified. Existing law establishes the Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the commission on low-income electric, gas, and water customer issues and to serve as a liaison for the commission to low-income ratepayers and representatives. The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act establishes the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service program in order to provide low-income households with access to affordable basic residential telephone service. The act requires the program's third-party administrator to verify each subscriber's identity using the personally identifiable information that the administrator has on file. This bill would require the board, on or before June 30, 2023, to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the opportunity and process for expanding the third-party administrator contract used for the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service program, or establishing a similar new contract, to include water, gas, and electric utility service for purposes of facilitating enrollment between low-income assistance programs, minimizing privacy and data sharing concerns, and expediting eligibility verification processes, as specified. 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 above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes in state government the Ocean Protection Council. Existing law requires the council to, among other things, establish policies to coordinate the collection, evaluation, and sharing of scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among agencies. Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy with prescribed powers and responsibilities for implementing and administering various programs intended to preserve, protect, and restore the state's coastal areas. This bill would require the council, in consultation with the conservancy, to develop the Sea Level Rise Revolving Loan Pilot Program, within 12 months of receiving specified requests from local jurisdictions to do so, for purposes of providing low-interest loans to local jurisdictions, as defined, for the purchase of coastal properties in their jurisdictions identified as vulnerable coastal property, as defined, located in specified communities, including low-income communities, as provided. The bill would require the council in consultation with other state planning and coastal management agencies, as provided, to adopt guidelines and eligibility criteria for the program. The bill would authorize specified local jurisdictions to apply for, and be awarded, a low-interest loan under the program from the conservancy, in consultation with the council, if the local jurisdiction develops and submits to the conservancy a vulnerable coastal property plan and completes all other requirements imposed by the council. The bill would require the conservancy, in consultation with the council, to review the plans to determine whether they meet the required criteria and guidelines for vulnerable coastal properties to be eligible for participation in the program. The bill would establish the Sea Level Rise Revolving Loan Fund, to be administered by the conservancy, in consultation with the council, for purposes of providing, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the low-interest loans to eligible local jurisdictions, as provided. The bill would also require that loan repayments, fees, interest, and penalties be deposited in the fund for specified uses, upon appropriation by the Legislature, including for additional loans authorized under the program. The bill would require, 3 years after issuing the first loan, but no later than January 1, 2028, the conservancy and the council to provide a report to the Legislature that evaluates the efficacy of the program, as provided. The bill would make the bill's provisions contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.
Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, to regulate the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil or gas wells in the state. Existing law establishes the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund in the State Treasury for expenditure by certain public entities in connection with various activities relating to oil and gas operations, as specified. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to order certain operations to be carried out on any property in the vicinity of which, or on which, is located any well or facility that the supervisor determines to be a hazardous well, an idle-deserted well, a hazardous facility, or a deserted facility, as specified. Existing law also establishes and requires the division to administer and manage the Oil and Gas Environmental Remediation Account in the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund. Existing law requires moneys in the account to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to plug and abandon oil and gas wells, decommission attendant facilities, or otherwise remediate sites that the supervisor determines could pose a danger to life, health, water quality, wildlife, or natural resources, as specified. Existing law prohibits the division from expending more than $3,000,000 in any one fiscal year, for the 2018–19 fiscal year to the 2021–22 fiscal year, inclusive, and, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, no more than $5,000,000 in any one fiscal year from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund for those purposes related to hazardous wells, idle-deserted wells, hazardous facilities, and deserted facilities. This bill would instead prohibit the division from expending, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, more than $5,000,000, and, in addition, (1) the amount actually expended by the division in the preceding fiscal year, not to exceed $7,500,000, from the dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2022–23 fiscal year for the purposes of plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning facilities, and site remediation, and (2) the amount actually expended by the division in the preceding fiscal year, not to exceed $7,500,000, from the dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2023–24 fiscal year, only if there is a dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2023–24 fiscal year for the purposes of plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning facilities, and site remediation. The bill would also require the Controller, commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, in any fiscal year that the division makes expenditures that are less than the amount appropriated, to transfer from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund to the Oil and Gas Environmental Remediation Account an amount equal to the difference between what was appropriated and what was expended by the division for that fiscal year, unless there is more than $200,000,000 in the account. The bill would also provide that the expenditure limits in these provisions do not apply to funds received by the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund pursuant to a federal grant authorized under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Existing law defines "public works," for purposes of regulating public works contracts, as, among other things, construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds. Existing law further requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement. This bill would deem all work to plug and abandon wells, decommission production facilities, or otherwise remediate well sites that is undertaken, funded, or financed by the division, as specified, and performed by outside contractors to be public work for which prevailing wages are required to be paid. The bill would require, not later than June 30, 2024, the California Workforce Development Board to consult with the division in developing and implementing the Oil and Gas Well Capping Pilot initiative established pursuant to the Budget Act of 2022 to assist state-registered apprenticeship programs in creating curriculum for training apprentices and to upskill journeypersons on well capping projects. The bill would require the division, when contracting on or after January 1, 2028, for the performance of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or work to ensure that all entities selected for these projects enter into a project labor agreement, as defined, that will bind all of the contractors performing work on the project. The bill would also require, for contracts that are awarded, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2028, and for specified work performed by contractors licensed by the Contractors State License Board, including the plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of production facilities, or otherwise remediating well sites, that contractors and any subcontractors at every tier use a skilled and trained workforce, as defined, to perform all work within an apprenticeable occupation, as defined, in the building and construction trades, as defined. The bill would require the division to develop a procurement process to group multiple projects, as specified. The bill would also make other changes relating to workforce development. Because the willful violation of prevailing wage requirements when engaged in these public works projects would result in the imposition of misdemeanor penalties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the supervisor to make public, on or before the first day of October of each year, a report in writing showing, among other things, the total amounts of oil and gas produced in each county in the state during the previous calendar year and the total cost of the division for the previous fiscal year. This bill would also require the supervisor to include in the report on the total cost of the division for the previous fiscal year an accounting of any General Fund moneys appropriated and used for plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of facilities, and site remediation, or appropriated and used to facilitate those activities. Existing law requires the supervisor, only until July 1, 2026, to prepare and transmit to the Legislature a comprehensive report on the status of idle and long-term idle wells for the preceding calendar year, as specified. This bill would instead make that requirement operative indefinitely. 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) The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, the suspension of, and the conditions imposed upon, alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a special on-sale general license to any nonprofit theater company that is exempt from the payment of income taxes, as specified. Existing law specifies that the license shall be for a single specified premises only, and authorizes a theater company that holds the license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages to ticketholders only during, and two hours before and one hour after, a bona fide theater performance of the company. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for any on- or off-sale licensee, or agent of that licensee, to sell, give, or deliver to any persons any alcoholic beverage between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. of the same day. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act also provides for application fees for a new license and for various annual renewal fees, depending on the type of license. This bill would additionally authorize the department to issue a special on-sale general license to a nonprofit radio broadcasting company. The bill would authorize those nonprofit radio broadcasting companies, subject to the misdemeanor provision described above, to sell and serve alcoholic beverages, as specified, to ticketholders only during, and 2 hours before and one hour after, a bona fide performance. The bill would provide the application fee for a new license and for annual renewal fees for that license type, as specified. By expanding the application of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, known as tied-house restrictions, generally prohibits certain alcoholic beverage licensees, including manufacturers, from holding any ownership interest in an on-sale license, subject to a variety of exceptions. In connection with special on-sale general licenses issued to nonprofit theater companies, existing law creates an exception to tied-house restrictions, by permitting specified licensees, including a licensed manufacturer, to serve on the board of trustees or as an officer, director, or employee of a nonprofit theater company operating in the County of Napa, the City of Livermore, or the City of Modesto. This bill would expand the list of cities to include the City of Sacramento. The bill would extend the exception to tied-house restrictions provided to special on-sale general licenses for the trustees, officers, directors, and employees of nonprofit theater companies, described above, to a nonprofit radio broadcasting company operating a venue in the specified cities and county. (3) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Sacramento. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 23039 and 24045.7 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 631 to be operative only if this bill and AB 631 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) 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 Department of Toxic Substances Control regulates the handling and management of hazardous substances, materials, and waste. Existing law requires the department, among other things, to issue hazardous waste facilities permits to facilities handling hazardous waste and to enforce the requirements of the hazardous waste control laws. This bill would require, as part of the hazardous waste control laws, the department to contract with an existing multistate chemical data collection entity that is used by other states and jurisdictions to implement, by January 1, 2026, a publicly accessible data collection interface to collect information about perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and products or product components containing intentionally added PFAS. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, a manufacturer, as defined, of PFAS or a product or a product component containing intentionally added PFAS that, during the prior calendar year, is sold, offered for sale, distributed, or offered for promotional purposes in, or imported into, the state to register the PFAS or the product or product component containing intentionally added PFAS, and specified other information, on the publicly accessible data collection interface. The bill would specify that the above requirements do not apply to certain products regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration or products intended for certain animal uses that are regulated under certain federal laws.
The California Hospice Licensure Act of 1990 (act) requires a person, political subdivision of the state, or other governmental agency to obtain a license from the State Department of Public Health to provide hospice services to an individual who is experiencing the last phase of life due to a terminal disease, as defined, and their family, except as provided. The act also provides for the renewal of a license. The act imposes criminal penalties on any person who violates any provision of the act or any rule or regulation promulgated under the act. Existing law prohibits any person, political subdivision of the state, or other governmental agency from establishing, conducting, maintaining, or representing itself as a hospice unless a license has been issued under the act. This bill would generally replace the term "hospice" with the term "hospice agency." The bill would provide that hospice agency licenses are not transferable. The bill would specify that only the person or entity initially issued the license may use the license for 5 years. The bill would prohibit the department from approving a change of ownership of a licensed hospice agency for 5 years from the date of initial licensure. The bill would authorize the department to make an exception to the 5-year prohibition under extenuating circumstances, as prescribed. Existing law requires an applicant for a hospice license to satisfy certain conditions, and to satisfy the definition of a hospice and provide specified services in order to be licensed as a hospice. Existing law authorizes the department to deny an application for licensure, or suspend or revoke any license issued to provide hospice services for various reasons, including, but not limited to, violation by the applicant or licensee of the act or related rules and regulations promulgated by the department. Existing law authorizes the department to conduct a survey of an accredited hospice to ensure that the accreditation requirements are met. This bill would revise and expand the department's application requirements, and would additionally require an applicant who has not previously qualified for a hospice agency license to, as a condition of licensure, demonstrate and provide evidence of an unmet need of hospice services in the geographic region the hospice would serve, except under specified circumstances. The bill would require a hospice agency to have specified personnel categories and would require the hospice agency to provide certain information for each individual on an initial application for those positions. The bill would add to the reasons for denial, suspension, or revocation of a license to include, among others, improperly certifying a patient as eligible for hospice care, and demonstrating a pattern and practice of violations of state or federal standards during the last 3 years of a hospice agency owned, operated, or managed by the applicant or licensee. The bill would require the department to conduct annual surveys of 5% of initial hospice agency licenses approved by accrediting organizations during the previous calendar year to ensure that the accreditation requirements are met, using a selective sample basis, and would authorize the department to survey an accredited hospice agency not included as part of the required surveys. The bill would establish a procedure for a person to request an investigation of an accredited hospice agency by making an oral or written complaint alleging a violation of the requirements applicable to hospice agencies. The bill would require the department to make a preliminary review and to make an onsite investigation within 10 business days after receiving the complaint, except as specified. The bill would require the department to notify the complainant in writing of its determination as a result of the investigation within 10 business days of completing the investigation. Existing law imposes a moratorium on the department issuing a new license to provide hospice services, except as specified. Existing law requires the moratorium to end on the earlier of 365 days from the date that the California State Auditor publishes a report on hospice licensure or on January 1, 2027, when the moratorium provisions are repealed. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2024, to adopt emergency regulations to implement the recommendations in a specified report of the California State Auditor. The bill would require the department to maintain the general moratorium on new hospice agency licenses until the department adopts the regulations. The bill would require the regulations, among other things, to establish guidelines for assessing the appropriateness of a hospice agency's ratio of patients to nurses, require hospice agency management personnel to meet minimum standards of training and experience, and to establish timelines for reporting changes to application information, as specified. The bill would require the moratorium to end on the earlier of 2 years from the date that the California State Auditor publishes a report on hospice agency licensure, or the date the emergency regulations are adopted. The bill would exempt licensed hospice facilities, as defined, from the moratorium. Because a violation of certain of the bill's requirements would be a misdemeanor, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of craft distillers and prohibits issuance of a craft distiller's license to any person, or any officer, director, employee, or agent of a person, among others, who manufactures more than 150,000 gallons of distilled spirits per year within or without the state, as specified. Existing law authorizes a craft distiller to sell up to the equivalent of 2.25 liters in any combination of prepackaged containers per day per consumer of distilled spirits manufactured or produced by the licensee at its premises to a consumer. This bill, until January 1, 2024, would authorize a licensed craft distiller to directly ship distilled spirits manufactured or produced by the licensee at its premises to a consumer pursuant to specified requirements. The bill would prohibit the amount shipped from exceeding the equivalent of 2.25 liters in any combination of prepackaged containers per day per consumer and would require that the distilled spirits be solely for the consumer's personal use and not for resale. The bill would require the craft distiller to maintain adequate records of the shipments and to provide those records to the department upon request. The bill would require the craft distiller to require the common carrier to obtain the signature of any individual 21 years of age or older before delivering any distilled spirits shipped. The bill would prescribe labeling requirements for the containers in which the distilled spirits are shipped. The bill would make a statement of legislative findings regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on craft distillers and the need to provide craft distillers with a limited authorization to ship distilled spirits, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes the Employment Development Department (EDD) within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to perform various functions and duties, including administering the federal-state unemployment insurance program and the disability insurance program. Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits and extended benefits to eligible individuals who meet specified requirements. Existing law provides for elective coverage for employers and self-employed individuals. This bill would require the EDD to conduct a feasibility study, as specified, that examines the idea of extending unemployment insurance benefits to self-employed individuals and reports on what actions are necessary to implement the expansion. The bill would require the EDD to complete and submit the feasibility study to the Legislature and the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement by December 1, 2023.
Existing law establishes the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy in the Natural Resources Agency and prescribes the functions and duties of the conservancy with regard to the protection, preservation, and enhancement of specified areas of the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange located along the San Gabriel River and the lower Los Angeles River and tributaries along those rivers. Existing law, for purposes of those provisions, defines "territory" to mean the territory of the conservancy that consists of those portions of the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange located within the San Gabriel River and its tributaries, the lower Los Angeles River and its tributaries, and the San Gabriel Mountains, as described. This bill would additionally include the Dominguez Channel watershed and Santa Catalina Island, as described, within that definition of territory, and would make various related changes to the boundaries of that territory. Existing law requires the conservancy to prepare a San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Parkway and Open Space Plan with specified elements to be approved by specified entities. This bill would require the conservancy to update the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Parkway and Open Space Plan to include the priorities for conservation and enhanced public use within the Dominguez Channel watershed and Santa Catalina Island.
The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified. The act authorizes the agreement to set forth the manner by which the joint powers authority will be governed. The act specifically authorizes the establishment of specified joint powers authorities, including the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust, for the purposes of funding housing specifically assisting the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income, as specified. This bill would similarly authorize the establishment of the South Bay Regional Housing Trust, a joint powers authority, by the County of Los Angeles and any or all of the cities within the jurisdiction of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, with the stated purpose of funding housing to assist the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income within the South Bay. The bill would authorize the South Bay Regional Housing Trust to fund the planning and construction of housing, receive public and private financing and funds, and authorize and issue bonds. The bill would require that the joint powers agreement establishing the South Bay Regional Housing Trust incorporate specified annual financial reporting and auditing requirements. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the South Bay Cities region of the County of Los Angeles.