Sen. Susan Eggman

(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. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the state board, by December 31, 2022, as a part of the scoping plan and the state's goal for carbon neutrality, to identify the role of hydrogen, and particularly green hydrogen, in helping California achieve the goals of the act and the state's other climate goals. The 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, 2023, that includes specified information relative to the deployment, development, and use of hydrogen. The bill would require the state board, in making these evaluations, 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. (4) This bill would require the state board, by June 1, 2023, in conjunction with the Energy Commission and the PUC, to (A) jointly develop recommendations to the Legislature on definitions for different categories of hydrogen, and potential end uses for those categories of hydrogen and would authorize the use of the recommendations to the Legislature to inform the oversight and administration of their respective hydrogen programs and eligibility rules, (B) provide guidance to the Legislature on which categories of hydrogen may be used to meet eligibility requirements for the programs under each state entity's jurisdiction, (C) jointly develop prohibitions against double counting of environmental attributes associated with production, distribution, and use of hydrogen, and (D) calculate life-cycle carbon dioxide intensity values for hydrogen pathways that reflect the fuels, feedstocks, and production processes used for their production.

Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency every 3 years to update the Safeguarding California Plan, the state's climate adaptation strategy. As part of the update, existing law requires the agency to coordinate with other state agencies to identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation efforts in each sector. Existing law requires state agencies to work to maximize specified objectives related to climate change. Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research in state government in the Governor's office. Existing law establishes the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, to be administered by the Office of Planning and Research, to coordinate regional and local efforts with state climate adaptation strategies to adapt to the impacts of climate change in order to facilitate the development of holistic, complimentary strategies for adapting to climate change impacts. This bill would establish the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program for the purpose of coordinating state efforts and supporting local and regional efforts to mitigate the impacts of, and reduce the public health risks of, extreme heat and the urban heat island effect, and would require the Office of Planning and Research to administer the program through the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program. Under the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program, the bill would require the Office of Planning and Research to coordinate the state's efforts to address extreme heat and the urban heat island effect and to provide financial and technical assistance to eligible entities to support local and regional efforts to mitigate the impacts of, and reduce the public health risks of, extreme heat or the urban heat island effect, as provided. The bill would require the Office of Planning and Research to submit a report to the Legislature by July 1, 2023, on certain matters relating to extreme heat and the urban heat island effect. The bill would require the Office of Planning and Research, before awarding grants under the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program, to adopt certain guidelines for the program and would require the Office of Planning and Research to seek input from the public, academic and technical experts, and relevant state agencies, as appropriate, in the drafting of those guidelines. The bill would establish the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Fund in the State Treasury and would require the Office of Planning and Research, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to expend moneys in the fund for the implementation of the Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program.

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 July 1, 2023, 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, commencing July 1, 2023, 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 micro-organisms. The bill 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 July 1, 2023, 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, 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 continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs, including the Adult and Older Adult Mental Health System of Care Act. Existing law authorizes the MHSA to be amended by a 23 vote of the Legislature if the amendments are consistent with, and further the purposes of, the MHSA, and also permits the Legislature to clarify procedures and terms of the MHSA by a majority vote. This bill would establish within the State Department of Health Care Services an Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator to oversee behavioral health services for older adults. The bill would require that position to be funded with administrative funds from the Mental Health Services Fund. The bill would prescribe the functions of the administrator and its responsibilities, including, but not limited to, developing outcome and related indicators for older adults for the purpose of assessing the status of behavioral health services for older adults, monitoring the quality of programs for those adults, and guiding decisionmaking on how to improve those services. The bill would require the administrator to receive data from other state agencies and departments to implement these provisions, subject to existing state or federal confidentiality requirements. The bill would require the administrator to report to the entities that administer the MHSA on those outcome and related indicators by July 1, 2022, and would require the report to be posted on the department's internet website. The bill would also require the administrator to develop a strategy and standardized training for all county behavioral health personnel in order for the counties to assist the administrator in obtaining the data necessary to develop the outcome and related indicators. This bill would declare that it clarifies procedures and terms of the Mental Health Services Act.

Existing law establishes various programs to facilitate the expansion of the health care workforce in rural and underserved communities, including, but not limited to, the Health Professions Career Opportunity Program, the California Registered Nurse Education Program, and the Steven M. Thompson Medical School Scholarship Program. This bill, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature, as specified, would create the California Medicine Scholars Program, a 5-year pilot program commencing January 1, 2023, and would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to establish and facilitate the pilot program. The bill would require the pilot program to establish a regional pipeline program for community college students to pursue premedical training and enter medical school, in an effort to address the shortage of primary care physicians in California and the widening disparities in access to care in vulnerable and underserved communities, including building a comprehensive statewide approach to increasing the number and representation of minority primary care physicians in the state. The bill would require the office to contract with a managing agency for the pilot program, as specified. The bill would require the pilot program to consist of 4 Regional Hubs of Health Care Opportunity (RHHO) to achieve its objectives, and would require each RHHO to include, at a minimum, 3 community colleges, one public or nonprofit, as defined, 4-year undergraduate institution, one public or nonprofit, as defined, medical school, and 3 local community organizations. The bill would require the managing agency to appoint an objective selection committee, with specified membership, to evaluate prospective RHHO applications and select RHHOs that meet certain requirements to participate in the pilot program. The bill would require each selected RHHO to enter into memoranda of understanding between the partnering entities setting forth participation requirements, and to perform other specified duties, including establishing an advisory board to oversee and guide the programmatic direction of the RHHO and developing partnership agreements with one or more campus-based learning communities, groups, or entities to assist with outreach, recruitment, and support of students. The bill would require the selection process to be completed by June 30, 2022. This bill would require each RHHO to recruit and select 50 California Medicine Scholars each calendar year from 2023 to 2026, inclusive, in accordance with specified criteria, and to provide, by December 31, 2023, and by that date of each year thereafter, up to and including 2026, a status report on the implementation of the pilot program to the managing agency and the office, including data and information collected by each RHHO during the applicable program year. The bill would require the managing agency and the office to jointly prepare and submit to the Legislature a final report evaluating the success of the pilot program, including the data and information provided by the RHHOs, in accordance with specified metrics. The bill would declare that its provisions are severable. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2027, and would repeal the provisions as of January 1, 2028.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or a county to make, by ordinance, any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty and limits the maximum fine or penalty amounts for infractions, to $100 for the first violation, $200 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation, and $500 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation. This bill would authorize the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, that provides water service to adopt an ordinance that prohibits water theft, as defined, subject to an administrative fine or penalty in excess of the limitations above, as specified. The bill would require the local agency to adopt an ordinance that sets forth the administrative procedures governing the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review of the administrative fines or penalties for water theft and to establish a process for granting a hardship waiver to reduce the amount of the fine, as specified.

Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the department, in allocating specified state and federal funding to area agencies on aging, to ensure that priority consideration is given to criteria that reflect the state's intent to target services to those in greatest economic or social need. Existing law defines "greatest social need" to mean the need caused by noneconomic factors, including physical and mental disabilities, that restrict an individual's ability to perform normal daily tasks or that threaten the individual's capacity to live independently. This bill would revise this definition to include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status as a specified noneconomic factor.