Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to collect and publish annually quantitative information concerning the operation of various provisions relating to community mental health services, including the number of persons admitted for evaluation and treatment for certain periods, transferred to mental health facilities, or for whom certain conservatorships are established, as specified. Existing law requires each local mental health director, and each facility providing services to persons under those provisions, to provide the department, upon its request, with any information, records, and reports that the department deems necessary for purposes of the data collection and publication. This bill would additionally require the department to collect data quarterly and publish, on or before May 1 of each year, a report including quantitative, deidentified information relating to, among other things, the number of persons in designated and approved facilities admitted or detained for 72-hour evaluation and treatment, clinical outcomes and services for certain individuals, waiting periods prior to receiving an evaluation or treatment services in a designated and approved facility, demographic data of those receiving care, the number of all county-contracted beds, and an assessment of the disproportionate use of detentions and conservatorships on various groups. The bill would specify that the information be from each county for some of those data. The bill would require the Judicial Council to provide the department, by October 1 of each year, with data from each superior court to complete the report, including, among other things, the number and outcomes of certification review hearings, petitions for writs of habeas corpus, and judicial review hearings. The bill would, beginning with the report due May 1, 2025, require the report to also include the progress that has been made on implementing recommendations from prior reports. The bill would require the department to make the report publicly available on the department's internet website. The bill would require each county behavioral health director or other entity involved in implementing the provisions relating to detention, assessment, evaluation, or treatment for up to 72 hours to provide data as prescribed by the department. The bill would authorize the department to impose a plan of correction against a facility or county that fails to submit data timely or as required. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through information notices or other similar written instructions. The bill would exempt contracts entered into by the department for purposes of these provisions from certain contract-related requirements. To the extent that the bill would increase the duties of county behavioral health directors, facilities of local entities, or any other local entities with regard to providing the department with new types of data, 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, 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.
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Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, 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. Under existing law, Medi-Cal services may be provided pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care health plans, including through a county organized health system. Under existing law, in-person contact between a health care provider and a patient is not required under the Medi-Cal program for services appropriately provided through telehealth. Existing law provides that neither face-to-face contact nor a patient's physical presence on the premises of an enrolled community clinic is required for services provided by the clinic to a Medi-Cal beneficiary during or immediately following a proclamation declaring a state of emergency. Existing law defines "immediately following" for this purpose to mean up to 90 days following the termination of the proclaimed state of emergency, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Under existing law, federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program, to be reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, to providers on a per-visit basis. "Visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and any of specified health care professionals. Under existing law, "visit" also includes an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified medical professionals when services delivered through that interaction meet the applicable standard of care. Existing law prohibits an FQHC or RHC from establishing a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction and authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that prohibition, developed in consultation with affected stakeholders and published in departmental guidance. This bill would authorize the department to authorize an FQHC or RHC to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the visit is related to sensitive services, as defined, and authorize an FQHC or RHC to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the patient requests an audio-only modality or attests they do not have access to video. Existing law provides that face-to-face contact is not required when covered health care services are provided by video synchronous interaction, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other permissible virtual communication modalities when those services and settings meet certain criteria. Existing law, effective as specified, requires a provider furnishing services via audio-only synchronous interaction to also offer those same health care services via video synchronous interaction to preserve beneficiary choice. Existing law authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that requirement based on a Medi-Cal provider's access to requisite technologies, as specified. Existing law also prohibits a health care provider from establishing a new patient relationship with a Medi-Cal beneficiary via, among other interactions, telephonic (audio-only) synchronous interaction. Existing law authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that prohibition, as specified. This bill would authorize the department to take into consideration the availability of broadband access when providing those specific exceptions. The bill would authorize the department to authorize a health care provider to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the visit is related to sensitive services, as defined, and authorize a health care provider to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the patient requests an audio-only modality or attests they do not have access to video. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132.100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 966 to be operative only if this bill and SB 966 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, which consists of various departments and commissions, including the Department of Conservation, Department of Parks and Recreation, and State Lands Commission. Existing law vests in the agency various powers, including those related to conservation of lands. Pursuant to the agency's general authority, the agency established the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names to be a liaison to the United States Board on Geographic Names. The duties, powers, and responsibilities of the committee are established by its internal charter. Commencing on January 1, 2025, this bill would require the term "squaw" to be removed from all geographic features and place names in the state. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to direct the committee to revise its existing charter to perform specified responsibilities, including notifying public agencies, as defined, of each geographic feature and place name that includes the term "squaw." The bill would require the committee to choose a replacement name, under its discretion, and in consultation with advisory bodies, if the local governing body fails to recommend a replacement name within the allotted 180 days. The bill would require the committee to work in formal consultation with California Native American tribes on the list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission to establish a procedure for receiving name recommendations. This bill would require public agencies to no longer replace signs, interpretive markers, or any other marker or printed material with the discontinued name containing the word "squaw." The bill would require each agency or local governing body to ensure that map updates and sign replacements use the new name. Commencing January 1, 2025, the bill would require the committee to annually report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of these provisions, and would require that report to include specified information, including each geographic feature and place name that uses the term "squaw" in that public agency's jurisdiction and the proposed replacement name. By imposing requirements on local governments to remove the term "squaw" from geographic features and place names and to report specified information to the committee, this 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, 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.
Existing law generally designates local air districts with primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to coordinate air pollution control activities throughout the state and to ensure that the entire state is, or will be, in compliance with state standards, to review a district's attainment plan, and any revised plan, to determine whether the plan will achieve and maintain the state's ambient air quality standards by the earliest practicable date, to review the rules, regulations, and programs submitted by an air district to determine whether they are sufficiently effective to achieve and maintain the state ambient air quality standards, and to review the enforcement practices of a district to determine whether reasonable action is being taken to enforce the district's programs, rules, and regulations. Existing law authorizes the state board, if, after a public hearing, it finds that a program or the rules and regulations of an air district will not likely achieve and maintain the state's ambient air quality standards, to establish a program, or portion thereof, or rules and regulations it deems necessary to enable the air district to achieve and maintain ambient air quality standards. This bill would require the state board, if the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District does not receive a determination of attainment from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for a national ambient air quality standard established by the agency pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act by the applicable attainment date for that standard, to undertake certain activities, including coordinating with the district and community-based organizations in the district and conducting outreach to under-resourced communities in the district to identify gaps in the state implementation plan and the district's attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices that impact the district's ability to attain and maintain that ambient air quality standard. This bill would require the state board to conduct at least one public hearing in the district regarding the district's attainment plan, and would require the state board to solicit public comment on specified topics, including the state board's review of the district's attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices, data regarding stationary sources in the district, including monitoring and enforcement of those sources, and the state board's plan to coordinate with the district to provide additional monitoring and enforcement capacity for stationary sources in the district. The bill would require the state board, after the final public hearing, to draft, and post on its internet website, a report that includes an outline of the program, or portion thereof, or rules or regulations that the state board deems necessary for the district to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard and a summary of, and response to, all public comments received by the state board. The bill would require the state board, after finalizing the report and based on the findings in the report, to develop the program, or portion thereof, or rules or regulations that the state board deems necessary for the district to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
The Cemetery and Funeral Act provides for the licensure and regulation of cemeteries, crematoria, hydrolysis facilities, cremated remains disposers, funeral establishments, and their personnel by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law creates the Cemetery and Funeral Fund, which is continuously appropriated for the purpose of implementing the act. Under existing law, the violation of the act is a misdemeanor. Existing law provides for the disposition of human remains and makes specified acts relating to human remains, including improperly disposing of human remains, a crime. This bill, commencing January 1, 2027, would require the bureau to license and regulate reduction facilities, as defined, and would enact requirements applicable to reduction facilities substantially similar to those applicable to crematoria and hydrolysis facilities and would enact provisions relating to the disposition of reduced human remains by integration into the soil. By expanding the definition of crimes relating to the disposition of human remains and creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the application for a reduction facility license to be made in writing on the form prescribed by the bureau and accompanied by a licensing fee. The bill would also require a licensed reduction facility to pay a specified fee to the bureau for every reduction during the preceding quarter. The bill would require the bureau to set the licensing and renewal fees and the per reduction fees in amounts that cumulatively do not exceed the reasonable costs of administering the licensing program and would cap the per reduction fee at a maximum of $8.50 per reduction. By depositing moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to adopt rules and regulations prescribing the standards for reduction chambers to preserve the public health and safety and to ensure the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms. The bill, commencing January 1, 2027, would require reduction chamber manufacturers to apply to the State Department of Public Health for approval of reduction chambers for use in the state and to charge a reduction chamber manufacturer a regulatory fee for the evaluation of a reduction chamber, as specified. The bill would prohibit the use of a nonapproved reduction chamber by a reduction facility or its employees. Existing law requires a local registrar of births and deaths to issue permits for the disposition of cremated and hydrolyzed remains. This bill, commencing January 1, 2027, would require a local registrar of births or deaths to issue permits for the disposition of reduced human remains. By increasing the duties of local agencies, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law provides for various proceedings under the Family Code, including, among others, dissolution of marriage, legal separation of the parties, paternity, and custody or support of a child. Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to provide by rule for the practice and procedure in proceedings pursuant to those provisions. This bill would require a court, in family law proceedings, to provide self-identified veterans with a list of resources for veterans, including information about how to contact the local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill would authorize a veteran to provide the information about their veteran status on a Judicial Council military service form, file the form with the court, and serve it on the other parties to the action. The bill would require the court to transmit a copy of the form to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and would require the department, within a reasonable time of receipt, to contact the person using the information provided on the form. The bill would authorize the Judicial Council to develop the rules and forms needed to implement those provisions on or before January 1, 2024. Existing law governs the determination of child custody and visitation in contested proceedings. Under existing law, custody should be granted in a specified order of preference according to the best interest of the child. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2024, require a court, in granting custody pursuant to the best interest of the child, to provide the parent, legal guardian, or relative with a list of local resources for mental health treatment and state its reasons for the finding in writing or on the record, if the court finds that the effects of a parent's, legal guardian's, or relative's history of or current mental illness are a factor in determining the best interest of the child. The bill would specify that these requirements do not relieve a court from ensuring that the health, safety, and welfare of the child is the court's primary concern in determining the best interests of children when making any order regarding the physical or legal custody, or visitation, of the child. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board (state board) as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , to prepare an evaluation posted to the state board's internet website by June 1, 2024, that includes specified information relative to the deployment, development, and use of hydrogen. The bill would require the state board, in making this evaluation, to consult with the California Workforce Development Board and labor and workforce organizations. (2) Existing law requires the Energy Commission, beginning November 1, 2003, and every 2 years thereafter, to adopt an integrated energy policy report that includes an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state. This bill would require the Energy Commission, as part of the 2023 and 2025 editions of the integrated energy policy report, to study and model potential growth for hydrogen and its role in decarbonizing, as defined, the electrical and transportation sectors of the economy, and helping to achieve specified goals. (3) Existing law requires the PUC, state board, and Energy Commission to consider green electrolytic hydrogen an eligible form of energy storage, and to consider other potential uses of green electrolytic hydrogen. This bill would require the PUC, state board, and Energy Commission to consider other potential uses of green electrolytic hydrogen specifically in all of their decarbonization strategies, as defined.
(1) The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (act) requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect from a consumer at the time of retail sale a covered electronic waste recycling fee, as specified. The act defines "covered electronic device" to mean a video display device containing a screen greater than 4 inches, measured diagonally, that is identified in the regulations adopted by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) , subject to certain exclusions. The act requires all fees collected pursuant to the act to be deposited in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, and outlines certain other requirements related to the establishment, adjustment, and administration of the fee. Moneys in the account are continuously appropriated for specified purposes, including, but not limited to, paying covered electronic waste recycling fee refunds and making electronic waste recovery and recycling payments. Moneys in the account may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for other specified purposes, including the administration of the act by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and DTSC and to provide funding to DTSC to implement and enforce the hazardous waste control laws as they relate to covered electronic devices. Existing law incorporates the requirements and other provisions of the act by reference as requirements and provisions of the hazardous waste control laws. The act also expressly authorizes DTSC to enforce the act, and all regulations adopted pursuant to the act, through the hazardous waste control laws. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would, among other things, expand the definition of "covered electronic device" to include a "covered battery-embedded product," as defined, thereby expanding the scope of the act to include covered battery-embedded products, as provided. The bill would require a consumer, on and after January 1, 2026, to pay a covered battery-embedded waste recycling fee in an amount established by CalRecycle upon the purchase of a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product. The bill would authorize, beginning on August 1, 2028, CalRecycle, in collaboration with DTSC, to establish more than one covered electronic waste recycling fee for covered battery-embedded products based on categories of those products. The bill would also require, on or before October 1, 2025, and on or before October 1 each year thereafter, CalRecycle to establish a covered electronic waste recycling fee based on the reasonable regulatory costs to administer covered electronic waste recycling. The bill would require the charge to be imposed upon the purchase of a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product. The bill would also require the charge to be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index. The bill would require CalRecycle, on or before August 1, 2027, and thereafter as specified, in collaboration with DTSC, to review, at a public hearing, the covered battery-embedded waste recycling fee applicable to covered battery-embedded products and to make any fair and reasonable adjustments to the charge to ensure that there are sufficient revenues in the Covered Battery-Embedded Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount to fund the covered electronic waste recycling program established pursuant to the act. The bill would create the Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount and the Covered Battery-Embedded Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount as continuously appropriated funds in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account. Because the funds deposited to the Covered Battery-Embedded Waste Recycling Fee Subaccount would be a new source of funds in the continuously appropriated subaccount within the continuously appropriated Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, the bill would make an appropriation. By expanding the scope of the act to make it applicable to covered battery-embedded products, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The act imposes certain obligations on a manufacturer of a covered electronic device sold in the state, including, but not limited to, requiring a manufacturer to submit a report to CalRecycle, as provided, and to make information available to consumers that describes where and how to return, recycle, and dispose of the covered electronic device. The act defines "manufacturer" as either a person who manufacturers a covered electronic device sold in the state or a person who sells a covered electronic device in the state under that person's brand name. This bill would revise and expand the definition of "manufacturer" for purposes of the act and would therefore extend the aforementioned obligations to these persons. The act would require a manufacturer of a covered battery-embedded product to also submit a report to CalRecycle, as provided, and to make certain information available to consumers. The bill would provide that any information submitted to CalRecycle that is proprietary in nature or a trade secret shall be protected under state laws and regulations governing that information. The bill would require a manufacturer of a covered electronic device to maintain and keep accessible for a minimum of 3 years all records required to be kept or submitted pursuant to the act and, upon request, provide those records to CalRecycle. This bill would require all reports and records provided to CalRecycle pursuant to the act to be provided under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of persons subject to the act's requirements and by expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The act prohibits a person from selling a new or refurbished covered electronic device to a consumer if CalRecycle or DTSC determines that the manufacturer of that covered electronic device is not in compliance with the act, as provided. The act prohibits a person from selling or offering for sale in this state a new or refurbished covered electronic device unless the device is labeled with the name of the manufacturer or the manufacturer's brand label, so that it is readily visible. This bill, by expanding the definition of "covered electronic device," would expand the sales prohibition for noncompliance to covered battery-embedded products. The bill would also prohibit a person, on or after January 1, 2026, from selling or offering for sale in the state a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product unless the product is labeled with the name of the manufacturer or the manufacturer's brand label so that it is readily visible. The bill would also require a new or refurbished covered battery-embedded product to be labeled with information identifying the chemistry of the embedded product. By expanding the scope of the sales prohibitions to include covered battery-embedded products, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also replace references to the State Board of Equalization with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and make other nonsubstantive changes. (2) Existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control laws, requires the department to adopt regulations to identify electronic devices, as defined, that the department determines are presumed to be, when discarded, a hazardous waste. Existing law requires a manufacturer of an electronic device that is identified in those regulations to send to any retailer that sells that electronic device a notice that identifies the electronic device and informs the retailer that the electronic device is subject to the covered electronic waste recycling fee. The act requires a manufacturer of a covered electronic device to comply with these hazardous waste control law notification requirements. Existing law defines the term "manufacturer" for the purposes of these provisions in the same way as the act. This bill, for purposes of the aforementioned notification requirement, would specify that the requirement applies only to video display devices, as defined by the act, and would expressly exclude from the notification requirement a covered battery-embedded product, as defined by the act. The bill would expand the definition of "manufacturer" in the act and thereby would make those additional persons subject to the notice requirement. By expanding the scope of a crime under the hazardous waste control laws, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also replace references to the State Board of Equalization with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and make other nonsubstantive changes. This bill would require instead that, as part of the act, a manufacturer of a covered battery-embedded product comply with similar notification requirements. (3) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires the county or regional agency integrated waste management plan that a county or regional agency is required to submit to the board to contain a household hazardous waste element. Existing law requires that when a county or regional agency revises the county or regional integrated waste management plan and its elements, the city household hazardous waste element and county household hazardous waste element is required to identify those actions the city, county, or regional agency is taking to promote the collection, consolidation, recovery, and recycling of covered electronic waste, as defined. This bill would, as a result of the aforementioned amendments to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, expand the definition of covered electronic waste pursuant to the act to include a covered battery-embedded product, as defined by the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, thereby creating a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies. (4) 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. (5) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (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 specified reasons.
The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006 requires every retailer, as defined, to have in place a system for the acceptance and collection of used rechargeable batteries for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. The Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004 prohibits the sale of a cell phone in this state to a consumer unless the retailer of that cell phone has in place a take-back system for the acceptance and collection of used cell phones for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. This bill would make the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006 inoperative as of September 30, 2026, and would repeal that act as of January 1, 2027, and would make the Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004 inoperative as of September 30, 2027, and would repeal that act as of January 1, 2028. This bill would enact the Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022, which would require producers, as defined, either individually or through the creation of one or more stewardship organizations, to establish a stewardship program for the collection and recycling of covered batteries, as defined. The bill would require a program operator, as defined, to develop, and to submit to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (department) and the Department of Toxic Substances Control for review and for approval by the department, as specified, a stewardship plan and would prescribe the standards and elements required to be contained in a stewardship plan for covered batteries. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to adopt regulations to implement the act with an effective date of no earlier than April 1, 2025. The bill would require a program operator to have a complete stewardship plan approved by the department no later than 24 months after the effective date of the regulations adopted by the department in order for the program operator to be in compliance with the act. This bill would require a program operator to be audited annually, and submit a report and budget to the department, as prescribed, and would require a program operator, stewardship organization, producer, manufacturer, distributor, retailer, importer, recycler, or collection site to, among other things, provide the department and the Department of Toxic Substances Control with relevant records necessary to determine compliance with the act. The bill would require reports and records provided to the department to be provided under penalty of perjury, thereby creating a state-mandated local program by expanding the crime of perjury. The bill would restrict public access to certain information collected for the purpose of administering a stewardship program. The bill would preempt all rules, regulations, codes, ordinances, or other laws adopted by a city, county, city and county, municipality, or a local agency on or after January 1, 2023, regarding stewardship programs for covered batteries. This bill would require the department, within 24 months of the effective date of the regulations to implement these provisions, and each year thereafter, to post on its internet website a list of producers that are in compliance with the act, including the reported brands of covered batteries of each producer. The bill would require the department to remove from the list any producer, including its brands and covered batteries, that is not in compliance with the act. The bill would prohibit, on and after the date that a stewardship plan is approved by the department, a retailer or distributor from selling, distributing, offering for sale, or importing a covered battery in or into the state unless the producer of the covered battery is listed on that list as in compliance on the act, except as specified. The bill would require the department to relist on its internet website a producer, along with its brands and covered batteries, if the department subsequently determines that the producer is in compliance with the act. This bill would require a program operator to reimburse the department and the Department of Toxic Substances Control for their respective actual and reasonable regulatory costs that are directly related to implementing and enforcing the act in relation to the program operator's activities. The bill would require the department and the Department of Toxic Substances Control to deposit those moneys into the Covered Battery Recycling Fund, which the bill would establish, and would authorize the department and the Department of Toxic Substances Control to expend those moneys, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce the act. This bill would provide for enforcement of the act, including authorizing the department to impose an administrative civil penalty on a program operator, stewardship organization, producer, manufacturer, distributor, retailer, importer, recycler, or collection site in violation of the act not to exceed $10,000 per day, unless the violation is intentional, knowing, or reckless, then in that case not to exceed $50,000 per day. The bill would require the department to deposit those moneys into the Covered Battery Recycling Penalty Account, which the bill would establish in the fund, and would make those moneys available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. 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.
(1) Existing law, the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration Project Act of 2002, known as Laura's Law, requires each county to offer specified mental health programs, unless a county or group of counties opts out by a resolution passed by the governing body, as specified. Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, provides for short-term and longer-term involuntary treatment and conservatorships for people who are determined to be gravely disabled. This bill, contingent upon the State Department of Health Care Services developing an allocation to provide financial assistance to counties, would enact the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which would authorize specified adult persons to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan and implement services, to be provided by county behavioral health agencies, to provide behavioral health care, including stabilization medication, housing, and other enumerated services to adults who are currently experiencing a severe mental illness and have a diagnosis identified in the disorder class schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and who meet other specified criteria. The bill would require the Counties of Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne and the City and County of San Francisco to implement the program commencing October 1, 2023, and the remaining counties to commence no later than December 1, 2024. The bill would require the Judicial Council to develop a mandatory form for use in filing a CARE process petition and would specify the process by which the petition is filed and reviewed, including requiring the petition to be signed under penalty of perjury, and to contain specified information, including the facts that support the petitioner's assertion that the respondent meets the CARE criteria. The bill would also specify the schedule of review hearings required if the respondent is ordered to comply with an up to one-year CARE plan by the court. The bill would make the hearings in a CARE Act proceeding confidential and not open to the public, thereby limiting public access to a meeting of a public body. The bill would authorize the CARE plan to be extended once, for up to one year, and would prescribe the requirements for the graduation plan. By expanding the crime of perjury and imposing additional duties on the county behavioral health agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the court to appoint counsel for the respondent, unless the respondent has retained their own counsel. The bill would require the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission at the State Bar to provide funding to qualified legal services projects to provide legal counsel in CARE Act proceedings, as specified. The bill would authorize the respondent to have a supporter, as defined. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to provide optional training and technical resources for volunteer supporters on the CARE process, community services and supports, supported decisionmaking, and other topics, as prescribed. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency, or a designated department within that agency, to engage an independent, research-based entity to advise on the development of data-driven process and outcome measures for the CARE Act and to convene a workgroup to provide coordination and support among relevant state and local partners and other stakeholders throughout the phases of county implementation of the CARE Act. The bill also would require the State Department of Health Care Services to provide training and technical assistance to county behavioral health agencies to implement the act and to provide training to counsel, as specified. The bill would require the Judicial Council, in consultation with the department and others, to provide training to judges regarding the CARE process, as specified. This bill would authorize the court, at any time during the CARE process, if it finds the county or other local government entity not complying with court orders, to report that finding to the presiding judge of the superior court or their designee. If the presiding judge or their designee finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the local government has substantially failed to comply with the CARE process, the presiding judge may impose a fine of up to $1,000 per day and, if the court finds persistent noncompliance, to appoint a special master to secure court-ordered care for the respondent at the county's cost. The bill would establish the CARE Act Accountability Fund in the State Treasury to receive the fines collected under the Act, which would, upon appropriation, be allocated and distributed by the department to the local government entity that paid the fines to serve individuals who have schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness, criminal justice involvement, hospitalization, or conservatorship. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the Judicial Council, to develop an annual reporting schedule for the submission of CARE Act data from the trial courts and would require the Judicial Council to aggregate the data and submit it to the department. The bill would require the department, in consultation with various other entities, to develop an annual CARE Act report and would require county behavioral health agencies and other local governmental entities to provide the department with specified information for that report. The bill would require an independent, research-based entity retained by the department to develop an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the CARE Act and would require the department to produce a preliminary and final report based on that evaluation. By increasing the duties of a local agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would exempt a county or an employee or agent of a county from civil or criminal liability for any action by a respondent in the CARE process, except when an act or omission constitutes gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the Mental Health Services Fund (MHSF) , a continuously appropriated fund, to fund various county mental health programs, including children's mental health care, adult and older adult mental health care, prevention and early intervention programs, and innovative programs. This bill would clarify that MHSA funds may be used to provide services to individuals under a CARE agreement or a CARE plan. (2) Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plans and insurers to provide coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Violation of the Knox-Keene Act by a health care service plan is a crime. This bill would require health care service plans and insurers to cover the cost of developing an evaluation for CARE process services and the provision of all health care services for an enrollee or insured when required or recommended for the person pursuant to a CARE plan, as specified, without cost sharing, except for prescription drugs, and regardless of whether the services are provided by an in-network or out-of-network provider. Because a violation of this requirement by a health care service plan would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged to punishment while that person is mentally incompetent. Existing law establishes a process by which a defendant's mental competency is evaluated and by which the defendant receives treatment, with the goal of returning the defendant to competency. Existing law suspends a criminal action pending restoration to competency. This bill, for a misdemeanor defendant who has been determined to be incompetent to stand trial, would authorize the court to refer the defendant to the CARE process. (4) 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. (5) This bill would state that its provisions are severable. (6) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1370.01 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1223 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1223 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (7) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.