(1) Existing law regulates the safe operation of various types of vessels navigating the state's ports and harbors. Existing law defines "personal watercraft" to mean a vessel 13 feet in length or less, propelled by machinery, that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel. Existing law prohibits a person from operating a personal watercraft with a self-circulating device if the self-circulating device or the engine throttle has been altered in a way that would impede or prevent the self-circulating device from operating in its intended manner. Existing law requires a person operating a personal watercraft equipped by the manufacturer with a lanyard-type engine cut-off switch to attach the lanyard to their clothing, as provided. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would instead define "personal watercraft" to mean a vessel propelled by a water-jet pump or other machinery as its primary source of motive power and designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than within the vessel's hull. The bill would instead prohibit a person from operating a personal watercraft with an engine cut-off switch if the engine cut-off switch or the engine throttle has been altered in a way that would impede or prevent the engine cut-off switch from operating in its intended manner. The bill would instead require a person operating a personal watercraft equipped by the manufacturer with a lanyard-type engine cut-off switch to attach the lanyard to their clothing while operating on plane or above displacement speed, as provided. The bill would define "engine cut-off switch" to mean a switch that automatically stops the engine of a power-driven vessel it activated by an engine cut-off switch link. The bill would define "engine cut-off switch link" to mean a device that activates an engine cut-off switch if the operator is separated from the power-driven vessel, as provided. The bill would additionally prohibit a person from operating or authorizing another to operate specified vessels on plane or above displacement speed if the engine cut-off switch or engine cut-off switch link is missing, disconnected, or not operating properly, except as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law prohibits a person from operating a motorboat, sailboat, or vessel unless every person on board who is under 13 years of age is wearing a specified type of wearable personal flotation device while that motorboat, sailboat, or vessel is underway, as defined, except if the person under 13 years of age is in an enclosed cabin or restrained by a harness tethered to the vessel. A violation of this provision is a crime.
This bill would instead prohibit a person from operating a recreational vessel, as defined, underway with a child under 13 years of age onboard unless the child is either wearing an appropriate personal flotation device, below deck, or in an enclosed cabin. The bill would also prohibit a person from using a recreational vessel unless the vessel has specified types and quantities of personal flotation devices on board. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires every undocumented vessel using the waters or on the waters of the state to be currently numbered. Existing law requires an undocumented vessel that is already covered by a number issued to it pursuant to federal law or another state to be numbered in this state if its state of principal use has changed and it has been within this state for a period in excess of 90 consecutive days. A violation of these requirements is a crime.
This bill would shorten that period from 90 consecutive days to 60 consecutive days. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would make various conforming changes.
(2) Existing law authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to expend funds for the improvement of property, including nonnavigable lakes and streams, riparian zones, and upland, in order to restore, rehabilitate, and improve fish and wildlife habitat. Existing law authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to enter into contracts for fish and wildlife habitat preservation, restoration, and enhancement with public and private entities, and to grant funds for those purposes to public agencies, Indian tribes, and nonprofit entities, whenever the Department of Fish and Wildlife finds that the contracts or grant funds will assist in meeting the Department of Fish and Wildlife's duty to preserve, protect, and restore fish and wildlife. Existing law, the Budget Act of 2021, authorized the Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish a wolf conflict compensation pilot program, pursuant to which it established the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program.
This bill would authorize the Department of Fish and Wildlife to allocate federal funds and any moneys received as donations for purposes of the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program to pay for the deterrence of wolf presence near livestock, the impacts of wolf presence on livestock, and for verified loss of livestock for ranchers who participate in the program.
(3) Existing law establishes the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve Maintenance and Preservation Fund in the State Treasury for purposes related to the maintenance and preservation of the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve. Existing law establishes a herring research and management account within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund for the purpose of supporting evaluations and research on herring populations in San Francisco Bay, as provided. Existing law provides that any funds remaining in the Marine Resources Protection Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund on and after January 1, 1995, shall be used to provide grants to certain entities to fund marine resource related scientific research, as provided.
This bill would abolish the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve Maintenance and Preservation Fund, the herring research and management account, and the Marine Resources Protection Account.
(4) Existing law requires a person taking steelhead trout in inland waters, in addition to a valid California sport fishing license and any applicable sport license stamp, to have in their possession a valid nontransferable steelhead trout fishing report-restoration card issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law requires revenues to be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and to be available for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to monitor, restore, or enhance steelhead trout resources consistent with specified law, and to administer the fishing report-restoration card program. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2023, regarding the steelhead trout fishing report-restoration card program's projects undertaken using these revenues derived pursuant to that program, the benefits derived, and its recommendations for revising the fishing report-restoration card requirement, if any. These provisions are repealed as of January 1, 2025.
This bill would instead require the above-described provisions to be repealed as of January 1, 2027. The bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to report to the Legislature regarding the fishing report-restoration card program's projects on or before July 1, 2025.
Under existing law, any violation of the Fish and Game Code, or of any rule, regulation, or order made or adopted under that code, is a misdemeanor, except as provided.
Because this bill would extend the operation of the fishing report-restoration card requirements, the violation of which would be a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
(5) The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act generally requires the administrator for oil spill response, acting at the direction of the Governor, to implement activities relating to oil spill response, including emergency drills and preparedness, and oil spill containment and cleanup, and to represent the state in any coordinated response efforts with the federal government. The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act requires the administrator to submit, for each fiscal year, a proposed appropriation for the Governor's Budget up to $2,500,000 for the purpose of equipping, operating, and maintaining the network of oiled wildlife rescue and rehabilitation stations and proactive oiled wildlife search and collection rescue efforts and for the support of technology development and research related to oiled wildlife care.
This bill would raise the limit on the proposed appropriation from $2,500,000 to $3,250,000.
(6) Existing law provides that the Director of General Services may acquire and dispose of surplus state real property where that property is not needed by another state agency and the Legislature has authorized disposal of the property. Existing law also specifies the manner in which the Department of General Services is to dispose of surplus state real property. Existing law authorizes the Director of General Services to enter into an agreement with the County of Sonoma for the county to develop a specific plan for the state-owned real property comprising the former Sonoma Developmental Center and to manage the land use planning process integrated with a disposition process for the property, to be carried out by the Department of General Services, as provided.
This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of General Services to develop performance criteria for the design, siting, acquisition, planning, and construction of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Sonoma Lake Napa Unit Headquarters and Glen Ellen Fire Station on the former Sonoma Developmental Center property, as provided, and to ensure that those criteria conserve and protect to the greatest extent feasible the habitat, open space, and wildlife resources of the area within the former Sonoma Developmental Center property that is designated as a Habitat Connectivity Corridor and Community Separator in the Sonoma County General Plan. The bill would also require the design and location of those facilities and related infrastructure to avoid and minimize impacts to the Habitat Connectivity Corridor and Community Separator to the greatest extent feasible, and require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of General Services to mitigate any other environmental impacts related to the design, siting, acquisition, planning, and construction of those facilities and related infrastructure. The bill would provide that these provisions do not create a right of action, nor serve as the basis for any challenge of any action or decision, related to those facilities and related infrastructure.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sonoma.
(7) Existing law authorizes the Director of General Services to acquire and convey real property for the state, whenever that transfer is authorized or contemplated by law.
This bill would authorize the Department of General Services to convey all or a portion of the Leviathan Mine Site to any entity if the Director of General Services determines that the conveyance is in the best interests of the State of California. The bill would require the Department of General Services to be reimbursed for any cost or expense incurred in the disposition of the property, and would make the disposition of the property on an "as is" basis exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
Existing law requires the net proceeds received from the disposition of certain real property to be paid into the deficit Recovery Bond Retirement Sinking Fund Subaccount until the bonds issued pursuant to the Economic Recovery Bond Act are retired, and thereafter to the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. Existing law requires the Department of General Services, notwithstanding those provisions, to deposit some or all of the net proceeds into the Property Acquisition Law Money Account for specified purposes.
This bill would require the net proceeds from the disposition of the Leviathan Mine Site to be deposited in accordance with those provisions. By increasing the amount authorized to be transferred into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
(8) The hazardous waste control laws require the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to regulate the handling and management of hazardous waste and hazardous materials. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. The hazardous waste control laws include various definitions that refer to releases of hazardous waste.
This bill would define "release" for purposes of the hazardous waste control laws to mean any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment, as provided.
Existing law establishes in the General Fund the Hazardous Waste Control Account. Existing law authorizes the Legislature to appropriate moneys in the account for specified purposes, including for the administration and implementation of the hazardous waste control laws. Existing law requires a generator of hazardous waste to pay to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) a generation and handling fee for each generator site that generates an amount equal to, or more than, 5 tons for each calendar year, or portion of the calendar year, and requires those moneys to be deposited into the account.
This bill would expressly make that fee applicable to each ton, including the first 5 tons, or fraction of a ton rounded up to the next nearest ton of hazardous waste generated. The bill would require the DTSC to adopt regulations, in consultation with the CDTFA, and after conducting one or more public workshops, to establish a process for evaluating exemptions from the fee described above, as provided. The bill would authorize DTSC to adopt regulations necessary to implement generator fees. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would also make a person who generates or has generated hazardous waste and fails to provide information to DTSC as required liable for a civil or an administrative penalty not to exceed $70,000 for each separate violation or, for continuing violations, for each day that the violation continues.
Existing law, the Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989, requires an owner of an underground storage tank, as defined, for which a permit is required by law to pay storage fees for each gallon of petroleum placed in the tank. The Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989 establishes the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, and requires the storage fees, among other moneys, to be deposited into the fund. The Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989 authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to expend the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay for corrective action in response to an unauthorized release from an underground storage tank and for the cleanup and oversight of unauthorized releases at abandoned tank sites, among other specified purposes. The Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989 requires that certain information be submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board, and other specified agencies, under penalty of perjury. The Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989 provides for the repeal of certain of its provisions on January 1, 2036.
This bill would provide that certain rights, obligations, or authorities, or any provision necessary to carry out those rights and obligations with respect to the collection of unpaid fees by the CDTFA, as specified, continue after January 1, 2036.
Existing law authorizes a county to develop and establish a collection program for the collection of banned, unregistered, or outdated agricultural wastes, which is required to be implemented and operated pursuant to the hazardous waste control laws. Existing law requires, if a county implements a collection program that includes collection sites for the dropoff of banned, unregistered, or outdated agricultural wastes by eligible participants, the county to, upon selection of the sites, complete and submit to the DTSC, for review and approval, specified information, including a completed application for an extremely hazardous waste disposal permit.
This bill would delete the requirement that a county complete and submit to the DTSC a completed application for an extremely hazardous waste disposal permit.
The Hazardous Substances Tax Law authorizes the CDTFA, if it is dissatisfied with a return filed or the amount of tax paid to the state by any taxpayer, or if no return is filed or no payment of the taxes have been made to the state by a taxpayer, to compute and determine the amount to be paid, based upon any information available to it. Under that law, if any part of the deficiency for which a determination of an additional amount due is found to have been occasioned by negligence or intentional disregard, a penalty of 10% of that amount is imposed. If the additional amount is found to have been occasioned by fraud, the existing law imposes a penalty of 25% of that amount.
This bill would instead impose a penalty of 300% of the amount of the determination if a feepayer willfully or knowingly provides incorrect information or withholds information that results in a deficient payment or nonpayment.
This bill would also specifically provide that the authority of the DTSC and the CDTFA to collect fees and take related actions with respect to hazardous waste fees incurred before the repeal of specified statutes authorizing those fees continues after the repeal of those statutes.
(9) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 authorizes the State Air Resources Board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law requires the Department of Finance, commencing with the 2016–17 fiscal year budget and every 3 years thereafter, with the release of the Governor's budget proposal, to include updates to the investment plan following a public process, as specified.
This bill would exempt the Department of Finance from including updates to the investment plan for the 2025–26 fiscal year budget.
(10) Existing law establishes the Clean Cars 4 All Pr