2003 Legislation (Senate & Vetoed Bills)

The California Environmental Protection Agency and its boards, departments and office are tracking the following priority legislation. Use the Legislative Counsel's Web site to track information on specific bills.

Assembly | Senate | Vetoed

Senate Bills	Summary
SB 20 (Sher) Solid waste: hazardous electronic waste. (Chaptered 9/25/03)	Existing law prohibits the management of hazardous waste, except in accordance with the hazardous waste control laws. Under existing law, the Department of Toxic Substances Control is authorized to exempt, until January 1, 2003, by regulation, a hazardous waste management activity from the requirements of the hazardous waste control law if the regulation governs a specified type of hazardous waste, including electronic hazardous wastes, identifies the hazardous waste as a universal waste, and amends specified existing regulations of the department. Existing law prohibits the disposal of electronic products in or on land, except as specified. A violation of the hazardous waste control law is a crime. The bill would authorize the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt management standards, by regulation, as an alternative to the hazardous waste control laws, for electronic waste that the department determines is hazardous, to the extent consistent with the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to prohibit an electronic device from being sold or offered for sale in this state if the electronic device is prohibited from being sold in the European Union on and after its date of manufacture, due to the presence of certain heavy metals. The bill would prohibit these regulations from taking effect until January 1, 2007, or on or after the date the Directive 2002/95/EC, as adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on January 27, 2003, takes effect, whichever date is later. The bill would require the department to exclude certain electronic devices from the regulations and would prohibit the department from requiring the manufacture or sale of an electronic device that is different than, or not otherwise prohibited by, the European Union, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would also incorporate the provisions of the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, as specified below, by reference into the hazardous waste control laws. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 22 (Sher) Surface mining and reclamation. (Chaptered 4/07/03)	The existing Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person from conducting surface mining operations without obtaining a permit from the lead agency for those operations, and submitting and receiving approval for a reclamation plan and financial assurances from the lead agency. This bill would repeal the provision making the operation of those changes contingent on the enactment of SB 1828 on or before January 1, 2003. By repealing the contingent operation of those provisions, the bill would make operative all of the changes specified above. The bill would provide that those changes are operative on the effective date of this bill. The bill would make a related change. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 41 (Bowen) Public contracts: services. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law requires that every contractor who enters into a contract with the state or the University of California for $10,000 or more be assigned an identification number by the Department of General Services or the university, and requires that if the contractor is a corporation or firm, the president's assigned number be used exclusively on each contract. This bill would require each university campus to assign the identification numbers to contractors with whom the campus contracts, instead of all campuses using numbers assigned by the Regents of the University of California, provided that the regents are able to track all identification numbers centrally. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 67 (Bowen) Energy: California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law establishes the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year (renewables portfolio standard). Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is prohibited from requiring an electrical corporation to conduct procurement to fulfill the renewables portfolio standard until it is deemed creditworthy by the commission. Existing law requires the commission to direct electrical corporations to prepare, within 90 days of being deemed creditworthy, and to review and update, as necessary, renewable energy procurement plans that are sufficient to satisfy its obligations under the renewables portfolio standard. Existing law requires the commission to allow an electrical corporation to recover, in rates, electricity procurement and administrative costs associated with long-term contracts reasonably incurred consistent with a renewable energy procurement plan approved by the commission. This bill would prohibit the commission from requiring an electrical corporation to conduct procurement to fulfill the renewables portfolio standard until (1) the commission determines either that the electrical corporation has attained an investment grade credit rating or (2) that the electrical corporation is able to procure eligible renewable energy resources on reasonable terms, those resources can be financed if necessary, and the procurement will not impair the restoration of an electrical corporation's creditworthiness. The second provision would not apply before April 1, 2004, to an electrical corporation that is in federal court under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy law. The bill would clarify that the provision allowing an electrical corporation to recover, in rates, electricity procurement and administrative costs associated with long-term contracts applies to contracts entered into pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The bill would make other clarifying changes. This bill contains other related provisions.
SB 68 (Albert) Water quality: San Diego Bay. (Chaptered 9/24/03)	Under existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements and exercise other functions relating to water quality. This bill would establish the San Diego Bay Advisory Committee for Ecological Assessment. The bill would require the committee to prepare a report relating to the water quality and regulation of the San Diego Bay. The bill would require the committee to submit the report on or before December 31, 2005, to the Legislature, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state board, and the California Coastal Commission. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 168 (Committee on Energy, Utilities, Utilities and Communications) Renewable Resource Trust Fund: Payphone Service Providers Committee. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to certify a sufficient number of sites and related facilities to provide a supply of electric power sufficient to accommodate projected demand for power statewide. The act requires the Energy Commission to not certify any facility contained in an application when it finds that the facility does not conform with any applicable state, local, or regional standards, ordinances, or laws, unless the Energy Commission determines that the facility is required for public convenience and necessity and that there are not more prudent and feasible means of achieving the public convenience and necessity. This bill would instead authorize the Energy Commission to not certify a facility contained in an application when it finds that the facility does not conform with any applicable state, local, or regional standards, ordinances, or laws, unless the Energy Commission determines that the facility is required for public convenience and necessity and that there are not more prudent and feasible means of achieving the public convenience and necessity. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 181 (Machado) Drinking water: requirements: notice. (Chaptered 8/02/03)	Existing law, commonly referred to as the California Safe Drinking Water Act, prohibits certain water districts, as defined, from being considered to be a public water system if the State Department of Health Services makes a prescribed determination. Existing law requires the department, for purposes of the above provisions under which determinations are made regarding whether a system or water district is a public water system, to place certain requirements on affected water systems, utilize certain criteria in making determinations, and monitor and review certain conditions of a water system or water district periodically. Existing law authorizes the department to prescribe reasonable, feasible, and cost-effective actions to be taken by water systems, water districts, and users subject to these provisions. This bill would provide that a notice of noncompliance that states the requirements and actions prescribed by the department under the above provisions, describes the real property to which these requirements and actions apply, and names the record owners of that real property, may be recorded by the affected public water system or water district in the county where the real property is located. It would specify that recordation and proper indexing would provide constructive notice of these requirements and actions and would not constitute a title defect, lien, or encumbrance. It would also require the public water system or water district to provide notice of the recordation to the record owners of the real property, as specified, and to record a subsequent notice of compliance when the public water system or water district determines that the prescribed requirements have been met. The bill would also require a water district subject to the above provisions to annually publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation describing any requirements and actions prescribed by the department to be taken by the water district and any record of compliance by the water district with these requirements and actions.
SB 183 (Sher) Energy: renewable technologies. (Chaptered 10/03/03)	Under the Public Utilities Act, the Public Utilities Commission requires electrical corporations to identify a separate rate component to fund in-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resources technologies. This rate component is a nonbypassable element of local distribution and collected on the basis of usage. Existing law requires specified electrical corporations to collect specific amounts to support in-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resources technologies. Existing law also requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to transfer funds collected for in-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resources technologies into the Renewable Resource Trust Fund. Existing law requires that 17.5% of the funds collected to accomplish the funding of in-state operation and development of existing and new and emerging renewable resources technologies, after deducting certain administrative costs, be used for a multiyear, consumer-based program to foster the development of emerging renewable technologies in distributed generation applications by providing monetary rebates, buydowns, or equivalent incentives. The Emerging Renewable Resources Account is established within the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, to accomplish these purposes. This bill would recast those provisions in the Public Resources Code. The bill would require the Energy Commission, at least once annually, to publish and make available to the public the balance of funds available for emerging renewable energy resources for rebates, buydowns, and other incentives for the purchase of these resources. The bill would make other conforming changes.
SB 189 (Escutia) Environmental health tracking system: chronic disease. (Chaptered 9/17/03)	Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to establish the Environmental Health Surveillance System (EHSS) for the purpose of establishing ongoing surveillance of the environmental exposures and diseases affecting Californians, with a focus on prevalence and determinants of chronic diseases. Existing law requires the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control within the State Department of Health Services, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, to require, on or before July 1, 2002, a working group of technical experts, as specified, to develop possible approaches to establishing the EHSS. This bill would enact the California Health Tracking Act of 2003, and would require the State Department of Health Services, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the University of California to jointly develop and sign a memorandum of understanding to assess the feasibility of integrating existing environmental hazard, exposure, and health outcome data, and describing how the data correspond to specified recommendations of the working group, on or before July 1, 2004. This bill would also require the California Environmental Health Tracking Program to obtain specified information. The bill would authorize the California Environmental Health Tracking Program to collect any relevant information from state agencies, boards, departments, and offices. This bill contains other related provisions.
SB 196 (Kuehl) California regional water quality control boards. (Chaptered 9/04/03)	Existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, requires each California regional water quality control board to consist of 9 members, including one person who is required to be associated with municipal government and, with a certain exception, another person who is required to be associated with county government. This bill would require those persons, upon the next vacancy occurring in those respective offices, to be a city council member or mayor, and, subject to that exception, a county supervisor.
SB 277 (Ducheny) Water: Salton Sea. (Chaptered 9/29/03)	Under existing law, various agencies carry out responsibilities relating to the Salton Sea. This bill would enact the Salton Sea Restoration Act. The bill would establish the Salton Sea Restoration Fund and would require the fund to be administered by the Director of Fish and Game. The bill would require the money deposited in the fund to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for various purposes relating to the restoration of the Salton Sea. The bill would authorize the Department of Water Resources to contract with water suppliers to purchase and sell water made available by specified means to achieve the goals of the act. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 288 (Sher) Air quality: Protect California Air Act of 2003: South Coast Air Quality Management District: air pollution control fees. (Chaptered 9/22/03)	Existing law, the federal Clean Air Act, requires each major new and modified source of air pollution to undergo "new source review" to ensure that facilities install the best available control equipment, obtain offsets for any new emissions, and comply with any other requirement to ensure that the new and modified sources do not adversely affect air quality. On December 31, 2002, the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency promulgated regulations implementing the new source review program that change that program. Under the federal Clean Air Act, states may adopt air pollution control requirements that are more stringent than federal requirements. Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the air pollution control agency responsible for the coordination of the activities of air pollution control districts and air quality management districts for the purposes of the federal Clean Air Act. Subject to the powers of the state board, the districts are required to adopt and enforce rules and regulations to achieve and maintain the state and federal ambient air quality standards in all areas affected by nonvehicular emission sources under their jurisdiction. Each district is authorized to establish a permit system that requires, except as specified, that before any person builds, erects, alters, replaces, operates, or uses any article, machine, equipment, or other contrivance that may cause the issuance of air contaminants, the person obtain a permit from the air pollution control officer of the district. This bill would establish the Protect California Air Act of 2003. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding those new federal regulations and their effect on the federal Clean Air Act, as implemented in California. It would declare the purposes of the bill to include the need to attain and maintain ambient air quality standards by the earliest practicable date, to protect public health and welfare from the adverse effects of air pollution, and to ensure that economic growth will occur in a manner consistent with the preservation of existing clean air resources. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 317 (Kuehl) Resources. (Chaptered 9/29/03)	Existing law authorizes the Department of Fish and Game, contingent upon, among other things, a determination by the Department of Fish and Game and the execution of a specified Quantification Settlement Agreement on or before December 31, 2003, to authorize the take of species resulting from certain environmental impacts attributable to the implementation of the agreement. This bill, for the purposes of that provision, would require that agreement be executed on or before October 12, 2003, and would revise that contingency relating to a determination by that department. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 331 (Romero) Toxic injuries: limitation of actions. (Chaptered 10/12/03)	Existing law sets forth the statute of limitations applicable to various causes of action, including a civil action for injury or illness based upon exposure to asbestos, as specified. This bill would establish a separate statute of limitations for a civil action for injury or illness based upon exposure to a hazardous material or toxic substance other than asbestos, as specified. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to codify and disapprove the rulings in specific court cases.
SB 334 (Romero) San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority. (Chaptered 8/04/03)	Existing law, the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority Act, establishes the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority and provides for its powers and duties. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board, on or before January 1, 2004, and in consultation with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, to report to the Legislature on the progress of the authority relating to groundwater management and other actions undertaken by the authority. Existing law, with certain exceptions, repeals the act on July 1, 2005. Existing law authorizes the authority to impose an annual pumping right assessment, not to exceed $13 per acre-foot, to construct facilities and acquire property, and for other purposes. This bill would delete the consultation requirement relating to the report. The bill would change the repeal date to July 1, 2010, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by extending the period of time in which the authority and other local public entities are required to carry out various duties under the act. The bill would authorize the authority to impose that annual pumping right assessment in an amount that does not exceed $10 per acre-foot. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 352 (Escutia) Schoolsites: sources of pollution. (Chaptered 10/03/03)	Existing law sets forth various requirements regarding the siting, structural integrity, safety, and fitness-for-occupancy of school buildings, including, but not limited to, a prohibition of the approval by the governing board of a school district of the acquisition of a schoolsite by a school district, unless prescribed conditions relating to possible exposure to hazardous substances are satisfied, and a prohibition on the approval of a related environmental impact report or negative declaration. This bill would, in addition, prohibit the approval by the governing board of a school district of a schoolsite that is within 500 feet from the edge of the closest traffic lane of a freeway or other busy traffic corridor, unless prescribed conditions are met and would make conforming and other technical, nonsubstantive changes. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 418 (Sher) Fish and wildlife: streambed alteration agreements. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law requires a governmental agency or public utility that proposes a project that would divert, obstruct, or change the natural flow of, or result in the disposal of debris in, a river, stream, or lake designated by the Department of Fish and Game, to submit prescribed plans and other information to the department, and to follow prescribed procedures. Under existing law, a violation of the Fish and Game Code is a crime. This bill would revise that proposal process by doing all of the following: This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 552 (Burton) State motor vehicle fleets. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law makes it the policy of the state to minimize the economic and environmental costs due to the use of petroleum-based fuels and other transportation fuels by state agencies. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), the Department of General Services, in consultation with the Energy Commission and State Air Resources Board, to develop and adopt fuel-efficiency specifications governing the purchase by the state of motor vehicles and replacement tires. Existing law requires the Energy Commission and the department, in developing the specification, to jointly conduct a study to examine state vehicle purchasing patterns and to analyze the costs and benefits of reducing the energy consumption of the state fleet by no less than 10% on or before January 1, 2005. Existing law also requires the Energy Commission, the department, and the state board, on or before January 31, 2003, and annually thereafter, to develop and adopt air pollution emission specifications governing the purchase by the state of passenger cars and light-duty trucks that meet or exceed the state's Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) standards for exhaust emissions. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, on or before January 31, 2003, to develop and adopt recommendations for consideration by the Governor and Legislature for a California State Fuel-Efficient Tire Program. This bill would require the Department of General Services, on or before January 1, 2005, in consultation with the Energy Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to develop and adopt specifications and standards for all passenger cars and light-duty trucks that are purchased or leased on behalf of, or by, state offices, agencies, and departments. The bill would require the specifications and standards to include certain elements. This requirement would not apply to authorized emergency vehicles, as defined. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 600 (Committee on Judiciary) Maintenance of the codes. (Chaptered 7/14/03)	Existing law directs the Legislative Counsel to advise the Legislature from time to time as to legislation necessary to maintain the codes. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes in various provisions of law to effectuate the recommendations made by the Legislative Counsel to the Legislature.
SB 642 (Hollingsworth) Pest control. (Chaptered 9/17/03)	Existing law provides for the control and eradication of pests by the use of various methods, including establishment of a quarantine area, and defines various terms with respect to these provisions. Existing law allows the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with private and specified state and federal entities for various purposes that promote and enhance agriculture. Existing law provides that grant awards shall be made by the Department of Food and Agriculture, as specified, and that the procedures, forms, and guidelines for grant programs are exempt from procedural requirements applied to the adoption of rules and regulations. This bill would require, if the secretary expends funds or awards grants for the study of protocols for crops to meet standards for transport out of a quarantine area, that primary consideration be given to crops that are most at risk from the imposition of a quarantine and for which protocols do not currently exist, as long as the application otherwise meets reasonable scientific standards. The bill would authorize the department to consult with individuals or representatives of the agriculture industry, and academic or scientific individuals, or organizations to establish criteria and assist in the recommendation of any expenditure of funds or the award of grants. This bill would also define the terms "crop" and "forage," as specified.
SB 649 (Kuehl) Mining. (Chaptered 10/11/03)	Existing law prohibits a state agency from purchasing or utilizing sand, gravel, aggregates, or other minerals produced from a surface mining operation subject to the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, unless the operation is identified in a specified list. This bill would prohibit operators of surface mines in California, whose operations are not identified in that specified list, from selling that California mined material to a local agency. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 654 (Machado) Water: Salton Sea: Colorado River. (Chaptered 9/29/03)	Existing law appropriates General Fund moneys to, among other things, line portions of the All American Canal and the Coachella Branch of the All American Canal. Existing law requires the lining projects to be completed not later than December 31, 2006, or such later date as may be required by extraordinary circumstances. This bill would make legislative findings as to the extraordinary circumstances that prevent the lining projects from being completed by December 31, 2006, and would extend the date to December 31, 2008. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 656 (Sher) Air Quality: particulate matter (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with coordinating efforts to attain and maintain ambient air quality standards. Existing law designates the state board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control districts and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires district plans for attaining state ambient air quality standards to assess the cost-effectiveness of available and proposed emission control measures. This bill would require the state board, not later than January 1, 2005, in consultation with the districts, and after at least one public workshop, to identify, develop, and adopt at a public meeting a list of the most readily available, feasible, and cost-effective, as defined, proposed control measures, based on rules, regulations, and programs existing as of January 1, 2004, that could be employed by the state board and the districts to reduce emissions of PM 2.5 and PM 10, as defined, from new and existing stationary, mobile, and area sources. The bill would also require the state board and each district to adopt an implementation schedule, as defined, for the most cost-effective measures on that list after prioritizing the measures based on specified factors. The bill would require the state board and each district, in carrying out those requirements, to adopt and implement control measures to reduce PM 2.5 and PM 10 from stationary, area, and mobile sources, and to make progress toward attainment of state and federal particulate matter standards. The bill would require the state board, by January 1, 2009, to prepare, and make available to the public, a report on the actions taken by the state and districts to comply with the requirements of the bill. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2011. The additional duties for districts required by the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 666 (Bowen) Environment. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would provide that a project located in Los Angeles County that is approved by a public agency before the effective date of the bill is not in violation of any requirement of CEQA or the Subdivision Map Act if certain transportation improvements are not constructed due to the project owner's or developer's relinquishment of easement rights within the coastal zone. The bill would require the relinquishment of easement rights to be in connection with the state acquiring a wetlands project that is a minimum of 400 acres in size and located within the coastal zone. This bill contains other related provisions.
SB 671 (Florez) Motor vehicle fuel: alcohol content and tax rates. (Chaptered 7/14/03)	Existing law requires a manufacturer, blender, agent, jobber, consignment agent, or distributor who distributes motor fuel products that contain at least 1% alcohol by volume to state on the invoice, bill of lading, shipping paper, or other documentation used in normal and customary business practices, the percentage and type of alcohol, except in specified documentation. This bill would provide that, if applicable, a statement that the product "contains up to 10% ethanol" would meet this requirement. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 700 (Florez) Air quality: emissions: stationary sources: agricultural operations. (Chaptered 9/22/03)	Existing law authorizes the board of every air quality management district and air pollution control district to establish a permit system that requires any person that uses certain types of equipment that may cause the emission of air contaminants to obtain a permit. Existing law exempts vehicles and certain types of equipment from those permit requirements. This bill would eliminate that exemption for any equipment used in agricultural operations in the growing of crops or the raising of fowl or animals. To the extent that the bill would increase the number of permits that a district board, electing to establish a permit system prior to January 1, 2004, would be required to issue, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 704 (Florez) Air quality: agricultural burning (Chaptered 9/22/03)	Under existing law, each air pollution control district and air quality management district is authorized to establish a permit system that requires, except as specified, that before any person builds, erects, alters, replaces, operates, or uses any article, machine, equipment, or other contrivance that may cause the issuance of air contaminants, the person obtain a permit from the air pollution control officer of the district. This bill would repeal the Agricultural Biomass-to-Energy Incentive Grant Program, and instead, would require the Energy Commission, upon determining the project is eligible for funding, to provide incentives to a facility, as defined. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 705 (Florez) Air quality: agricultural burning: San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District. (Chaptered 9/22/03)	Existing law prohibits any person from knowingly setting or permitting agricultural burning unless he or she has a valid permit designated by the State Air Resources Board to issue a permit in the area where the burning is to take place. Existing law requires the state board to designate public fire protection agencies or other equivalent agencies to issue permits, and to adopt rules and regulations to provide a procedure for the issuance of those permits. This bill would prohibit the issuance of any permit to a person to burn certain categories of agricultural waste, as defined, within the jurisdiction of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, commencing on the date specified for each category, except that the bill would authorize the district to postpone those dates under certain circumstances. The bill also would require the district to develop and adopt, by June 1, 2005, rules establishing the best management practices for certain other weeds and maintenance, as defined, and would require those rules to become operative by June 1, 2006. The bill would require the district to develop and adopt rules to regulate the burning of diseased crops. The bill would prescribe the circumstances under which a conditional crop burning permit would be authorized to be issued. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 708 (Florez) Air pollution: motor vehicles. (Chaptered 9/22/03)	Existing law establishes a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program (smog check), administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the State Air Resources Board, that provides for the inspection of all motor vehicles, except those specifically exempted from the program, upon registration, biennially upon renewal of registration, upon transfer of ownership, and in certain other circumstances. Existing law provides for a repair assistance program available to an eligible individual whose vehicle has failed a smog check inspection. This bill would expand the repair assistance program to include the owner of a motor vehicle who was issued a notice to correct for an alleged violation of unlawful motor vehicle exhaust discharge, if the vehicle subject to that notice has failed a smog check inspection subsequent to receiving that notice. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 709 (Florez) San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District: district board. (Chaptered 9/22/03)	Existing law establishes the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, formed by the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare, and consisting of the Counties of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare, and that portion of the County of Kern that is within the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin. This bill would authorize the district board to adopt rules and regulations that require the use of best available control technology for new and modified sources of pollution, promote the use of cleaner burning alternative fuels, and encourage and facilitate ridesharing for commuters. The bill would require the district to expand the office of small business to include agriculture assistance, and to establish expedited permit review and project assistance mechanisms relative to clean fuel technologies. By imposing new duties on the district, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 808 (Karnette) Sales and use taxes: exemptions: bunker fuel. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tangible personal property. That law provides various exemptions from that tax, including an exemption for the sale of tangible personal property to a common carrier, as provided. This bill would additionally exempt, until 2014, the gross receipts from the sale of fuel and petroleum products to a water common carrier for immediate shipment outside this state for consumption in the conduct of its business as a common carrier after the first out-of-state destination, if specified conditions are met. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature that evaluates the economic impact of the exemption. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 810 (Burton) Natural resources: timber harvesting. (Chaptered 10/12/03)	Existing law exempts timber operations from specified waste discharge requirements if the federal Environmental Protection Agency certifies that provisions of the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 constitute the best management practices for silviculture pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. This bill would require both the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the State Water Resources Control Board to make that certification after January 1, 2003. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 833 (Machado) Eastern Water Alliance Joint Powers Agency. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law authorizes public agencies to enter into joint powers agreements. This bill would authorize the Eastern Water Alliance Joint Powers Agency to grant funds to a member public agency for the purposes of assisting that member public agency in acquiring water if the board of directors determines that water supply will benefit the Eastern San Joaquin County Groundwater Basin as a whole and that member public agency would otherwise be unable to acquire that water. The bill would authorize the Board of Supervisors of San Joaquin County to grant to the joint powers agency funds from the county general fund or Zone 2 of the San Joaquin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District that are available to carry out any purposes of the joint powers agency for which the county or the district is authorized to expend funds. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 856 (Committee on Governmental Organization) State property. (Chaptered 9/02/03)	Existing law authorizes the transfer of the control or possession of state-owned real property from one state agency to another state agency with the written approval of the Director of General Services. This bill instead would authorize the transfer of the jurisdiction of state-owned real property from one state agency to another state agency with the written approval of the director. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 915 (Perata) San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law creates the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority with specified powers and duties relative to the development of a plan for implementation and operation of a water transit system on San Francisco Bay. Existing law provides that the authority may not operate a water transit system until the plan has been statutorily approved by the Legislature. Existing law also provides that the authority shall be funded from appropriations in the annual Budget Act and imposes restrictions on the regional transportation funds that the authority may apply for to fund operation of the water transit system. This bill would delete the requirement that the authority's plan be statutorily approved prior to commencement of operation of the water transit system. The bill would delete the requirement to fund the authority through the annual Budget Act and would require that the authority be funded from increases in bridge tolls, as proposed by SB 916. The bill would require the authority to dedicate at least one vessel to employ biodiesel fuel. The bill would require new vessels mandated in the authority's plan to exceed certain federal air quality standards for marine engines by at least 85%. The bill would revise the process for negotiations between the authority and transit operators relative to implementation of water transit services and related ground transportation terminal access services. The bill would make other related changes. The bill would make any duties and responsibilities imposed by the bill contingent upon funding for those purposes being provided from increases in tolls on state-owned toll bridges in the bay area pursuant to the expenditure plan in SB 916.
SB 923 (Sher) Water quality: waivers. (Chaptered 10/11/03)	Existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, provides that a regional board may waive certain waste discharge requirements for specific discharges or specific types of discharges if the waiver is not against the public interest. The act provides that the waivers are subject to conditions. This bill, instead, would authorize the state board or a regional board to waive those waste discharge requirements if certain requirements are met. The bill would require the conditions of the waivers to include, with certain exceptions, the performance of individual, group, or watershed-based monitoring duties. The bill would authorize the state board or a regional board to include as a condition of the waiver the payment of an annual fee. The bill would require the funds generated by the payment of the fee to be deposited in the Water Discharge Permit Fund for expenditure, upon appropriation, by the state board or the appropriate regional board to establish and implement the waiver program. The bill would require the state board or regional board to provide notice regarding the adoption of a waiver.
SB 973 (Machado) State property. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Under existing law, the Department of General Services has various duties relating to state property. This bill would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with federal authorities to sell, lease, or exchange land at the Northern California Women's Facility, which is a correctional institution under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections, under conditions that are in the best interest of the state, as specified.
SB 1002 (Sher) Santa Clara Valley Water District. (Chaptered 9/08/03)	Existing law generally regulates the storage of hazardous substances in underground storage tanks and requires underground storage tanks that are used to store hazardous substances and that are installed after January 1, 1984, to meet certain requirements. These requirements are required to be implemented by the local agency. Under the existing Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989, every owner of an underground storage tank is required to pay a storage fee for each gallon of petroleum placed in the tank. The fees are required to be deposited in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund. The money in the fund may be expended by the State Water Resources Control Board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for various purposes, including paying for an agreement with a local agency for overseeing and abating unauthorized releases. The term local agency is defined for purposes of these provisions as the certified, unified program agency (CUPA), except as specified, which is the only local agency authorized to enforce those provisions. Existing law requires the board to develop and implement a local oversight program for the abatement of, and oversight of the abatement of, unauthorized releases of hazardous substances from underground storage tanks by local agencies. The board is required to enter into an agreement with a local agency to implement the local oversight program. The board is authorized to select only those local agencies that have implemented the provisions regulating underground storage tanks and that collect and transmit to the board a specified surcharge or fees. This bill would authorize the board to enter into an agreement with a local agency and the Santa Clara Valley Water District to implement the local oversight program in Santa Clara County until June 30, 2004. If that agreement is entered into, the bill would authorize the board to provide funding to the Santa Clara Valley Water District for oversight costs incurred by the district on and after July 1, 2002, until June 30, 2004. If the agreement is entered into, the bill would require the Santa Clara Valley Water District to have the same authority and responsibility as a local agency, for specified purposes related to underground storage tanks. This bill contains other related provisions.
SB 1004 (Soto) Resources. (Chaptered 9/29/03)	Existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, with certain exceptions, requires a person who causes or permits any hazardous substance or sewage to be discharged in any waters of the state, or where it may be so discharged or deposited, to immediately notify the Office of Emergency Services. The act makes any person who fails to provide the notice guilty of a misdemeanor that is punishable by a fine of not more than $20,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. This bill, for the purposes of this provision, would require the reportable quantity for perchlorate to be 10 pounds or more by discharge to the receiving waters, unless a more restrictive reporting standard is adopted for a particular body of water. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1049 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Resources. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	The California Emergency Services Act requires the Director of the Office of Emergency Services to coordinate the emergency services of all state agencies in connection with a state or local emergency and requires the transferor or a person who is acting as an agent for a transferor of real property that is located within an area of potential flooding shown on an inundation map to disclose that fact to any prospective transferor of the property. This bill would require local governmental organizations, utilities, or other public or private owner of a dam to submit an inundation map that delineates potential flood zones that could result in the event of dam failure when the reservoir is at specified capacities and would require the Office of Emergency Services to review the maps to determine whether the maps meet the requirements of these provisions, as specified. The bill would also authorize counties to post a notice identifying the locations of inundation maps. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 1074 (Committee on Environmental Quality) Environmental quality. (Chaptered 10/09/03)	Existing law, with certain exceptions, prohibits bodily contact with water in a reservoir in which water is stored for domestic use. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2004, recreational uses in the Modesto Reservoir if certain conditions are satisfied. This bill would revise these conditions and delete the January 1, 2004, repeal date, thereby extending this authorization indefinitely. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SBX1 19 (Chesbro) Reductions in the Budget Act of 2002 relating to state and local government. (Chaptered3/18/03)	The Budget Act of 2002 (Chapter 379 of the Statutes of 2002), makes appropriations for the support of state government during the 2002-03 fiscal year. This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2002 by revising various items of appropriations, as specified, and authorizing the Director of Finance to revert additional amounts from specified funds to the General Fund. This bill contains other related provisions.

Vetoed Bills	Summary
AB 446 (Matthews) State employees: wages. (Vetoed 10/12/03)	Existing law sets forth the requirements for payment cycles for employees of private employers, and provides that any person who fails to pay the wages of these employees as provided in specified provisions is subject to a civil penalty, and any person who violates certain of these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require that wages earned by state employees with regularly designated paydays be paid on those days. For labor performed in excess of the normal work period, the bill would require that employees be paid no later than the next payroll period. The bill would also specify when permanent intermittent state employees and state employees that do not have regularly designated paydays are paid. It would specify that civil and misdemeanor penalties would apply for violation of these requirements. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
AB 1748 (Committee on Budget) Public resources: California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002: Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002. (Vetoed 8/14/03)	The California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002 was approved by the voters at the March 2, 2002, statewide primary election as Proposition 40. Proposition 40 provides bond funds for the acquisition and development of the state park system, for neighborhood, community, and regional parks and recreation areas, for land, air, and water conservation programs, and for acquisition, restoration, preservation, and interpretation of California's historical and cultural resources. This bill would require an acquisition agency, as defined, prior to agreeing to acquire any conservation land, as defined, with a price of more than $25,000,000 that would be acquired with funds from either of the 2 acts described above, or the General Fund, to contract for 2 independent appraisals of the land. The bill would require the 2 independent appraisals to be reviewed by one or more qualified independent appraisers retained by the acquisition agency for this purpose. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
SB 589 (Committee on Rules) Public officers: appointments. (Vetoed 9/06/03)	Existing law prescribes the procedures for filling a vacancy in an office the appointment to which is vested in the Governor and subject to Senate confirmation. Existing law requires the Governor, with respect to the appointment or reappointment by the Governor of a person to an office subject to confirmation by the Senate, to submit the name of the person appointed or reappointed to the Senate, or to the Secretary of the Senate, if the Senate is in recess or adjournment, within 60 days after the person first began performing the duties of the office, or as to a reappointment, within 90 days of the expiration of the term. This bill would provide, with respect to such an office in state government that is designated as an agency or department secretary, deputy secretary, director, or deputy director, that the Governor, prior to making an appointment, may fill the vacancy by granting a commission not subject to Senate confirmation for a term not to exceed six months, or until the office is filled by the prescribed procedure, whichever occurs first. The bill would require the Governor to submit the name of the person commissioned to the Senate or the Secretary of the Senate, as specified. The bill would provide that this procedure may be used only once for any given office to fill a vacancy pending an appointment by the Governor that is subject to Senate confirmation
SB 774 (Vasconcellos) Hypodermic needles and syringes. (Vetoed 10/12/03)	Existing law regulates the sale, possession, and disposal of hypodermic needles and syringes. Under existing law, a prescription is required to purchase a hypodermic needle or syringe for human use, except to administer adrenaline or insulin. This bill would authorize a licensed pharmacist to sell or furnish 30 or fewer hypodermic needles or syringes to a person for human use without a prescription if the pharmacy is registered with a local health department in the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project that would be created by the bill to evaluate the long-term desirability of allowing licensed pharmacies to sell or furnish nonprescription hypodermic needles or syringes to prevent the spread of blood-borne pathogens, including HIV and hepatitis C. The bill would require local health departments to register pharmacies in the program and to cooperate with the Office of AIDS of the State Department of Health Services, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Office of AIDS of the State Department of Health Services, in conjunction with an advisory panel, to evaluate the effects of allowing the sale of hypodermic needles or syringes without prescription, and would require a report to be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature by January 15, 2007, subject to funding being available from federal or private sources. The demonstration program would terminate on December 31, 2007. Alternatively, the bill would also authorize the sale or furnishing of hypodermic needles or syringes to a person for human use without a prescription if the person is known to the furnisher and has previously provided the furnisher with a prescription or other proof of a legitimate medical need. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

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Last updated: December 10, 2003

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