California Air Resources Board

Summary

Would have established the Office of Regulatory Counsel in the Governor’s Office under the direction and control of an executive officer. The bill would have required the Office of Regulatory Counsel to draft and assist in the preparation, consideration, amendment, and repeal of regulations for a State agency, before the State agency submits a proposed action regarding that regulation to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Adds an additional unusual circumstance under which the initial response time to a public records request may be extended during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor in the jurisdiction where the agency is located. This circumstance applies when the state of emergency currently affects, due to the state of emergency, the agency’s ability to provide a timely response to requests due to staffing shortages or closure of facilities where the request records are located, and specifies that this provision only applies to records not created during and applying to the state of emergency.

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Summary

Would have prohibited, under the Public Records Act, an elected or appointed official or employee of a public agency from creating or sending a public record using a nonofficial electronic messaging system unless the official or employee sends a copy of the public record to an official electronic messaging system. The bill would have prohibited, under the Legislative Open Records Act, a Member of the Legislature, legislative officer, standing, joint, or select committee or subcommittee of the Senate and Assembly, or agency or employee of the Legislature from creating or sending a legislative record using a nonofficial electronic messaging system unless the Member of the Legislature, legislative officer, standing, joint, or select committee or subcommittee of the Senate and Assembly, or agency or employee of the Legislature sends a copy of the legislative record to an official electronic messaging system. Was amended to deal with fentanyl.

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Summary

Authorizes a State agency administering a grant program to provide advanced payment of up to 25% to a federally recognized Indian tribe recipient under nearly the same conditions afforded 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The bill allows CARB to authorize advance payment from contract recipients and grant recipients to subrecipients.

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Summary

Establishes the Salton Sea Conservancy (Conservancy) within the California Natural Resources Agency to operate, maintain, and manage projects that are planned and built under the authority of the Salton Sea Management Program to fulfill the State's obligations under the State Water Resources Control Board Order WR 2017-0134. The bill creates a board of directors to govern the Conservancy and adds CARB as one of seven nonvoting ex officio members. Operation of the statute established by SB 583 is contingent upon passage by the voters of the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024 at the November 2024 State election.

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Governor’s Signing Message

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am signing Senate Bill 583, which creates the Salton Sea Conservancy within the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to operate, maintain, and manage projects that are planned or built under the authority of the Salton Sea Management Program.

The Salton Sea Management Program is committed to building 30,000 acres of habitat and dust suppression projects around the Salton Sea to improve air quality and provide critical environmental habitat for birds along the Pacific Flyway. As the first projects are near completion, the state will need to transition to the operation and maintenance of completed projects. This bill will centralize the operation and maintenance of these projects in a new, mission-focused conservancy, led by the state, with extensive local community involvement and partnership. Importantly, enactment of this bill is contingent upon passage by the voters of the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, placed on the November 2024 ballot.

I support this approach, which balances the creation of a new, mission-focused conservancy with viable and stable funding sources. In signing this bill, I expect that this conservancy will remain focused on fulfilling its primary objective - operation, maintenance, and management of Salton Sea restoration projects - without placing undue pressure on the state's General Fund.

Sincerely,
Gavin Newsom

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Summary

Would have streamlined the application and implementation process for covered grants, defined as a grant award not exceeding $20,000 with a duration not more than a year, with 501(c)(3) nonprofits as the eligible recipient. The bill would have had website requirements for a State agency or third-party contractor to post application information for a covered grant and to allow completion of a covered grant application online. The bill would have required advanced payment of at least 50% of the grant award and prohibited an administrator from requiring specified receipts, reports, and insurance coverage. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Prohibits, under the Public Records Act, a public agency from publicly posting both the name and assessor parcel number associated with the home address of any elected or appointed official on the internet without first obtaining the written permission of that official. However, the bill does not prohibit a State or local agency from publicly posting a legally required notice or publication of an

elected or appointed official on the internet.

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Summary

Would have provided that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that provides that the policy of the State is to ensure that companies that contract with the State are not contributing to tropical deforestation, either directly or through their supply chains. Remains at the Assembly Desk.

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Summary

Would have required CARB, if it proposed a regulation to regulate an on-road mobile source, to prepare a lifecycle analysis, as defined, of any technology required by the regulation. The scope of environmental impacts in the lifecycle analysis would have been required to include, but would not have been limited to, the assessment from raw material extraction and processing, through the product’s manufacture, distribution, and use, to the recycling or final disposal of the materials composing it. The assessments would have been required to include, but would not have been limited to, consideration of carbon dioxide emissions. Was not heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have allowed, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and before January 1, 2028, a credit against State taxes for a qualified taxpayer in an amount equal to $800 per ton of criteria air pollutant reduced beyond the baseline amount. The bill would have defined “qualified taxpayer” to mean a major source emitter, as defined, that has emissions levels of criteria air pollutants for the taxable year at least 5 percent below the requirements set by the federal Clean Air Act. The bill also would have defined “baseline amount” with respect to criteria air pollutants to mean the level of criteria air pollutants the taxpayer may emit to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act. Was amended to deal with student loan debt.

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