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Legwatch 2003-04
| Corp. counsel (46 bills) Energy (24 bills) | Environmental qual. (63 bills) Govt. Relations (4 bills) Labor, employment (36 bills) | Tax (71 bills) Worker's comp. (18 bills) |
| ENERGY CMTA lobbyist: Joe Lyons, (916) 498.3341 | Position | Status | Energy Independence Board | AB 2685 (Oropeza) Creates the Energy Independence Board within the Office of Planning and Research to facilitate the development of electricity generation facilities, as defined. Requires the focus of the board to be on streamlining regulatory requirements and processes but does not authorize it to reduce existing environmental or other regulatory requirements. This bill was gutted and amended to a new subject. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Watch | Failed passage | | Judicial Review of CPUC Decisions | AB 840 (Calderon) (Spot bill) Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Watch | Failed passage | ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | CMTA lobbyist: Mike Rogge, (916) 498.3313 Position | Status | Underground Petroleum Storage Tank Fees | AB 1906 (Lowenthal) Increases the petroleum storage fee by $.001/gallon on January 1, 2005 and again on January 1, 2006 by the same amount. We have members who are both supporting and opposing this bill. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Watch | Signed by Gov. | | Hazardous Waste Facility Permits | AB 1942 (Lowenthal) This bill has been amended twice and only one positive aspect of the bill remains. If DTSC decides that changes to a structure or equipment is necessary to comply with requirements or the request of a state or federal agency or air district and if the change will decrease risks to human health and safety or the environment related to the management of the hazardous wastes in the structure, then the change can be handled as a Class I permit modification. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Support | Failed passage | | Air Pollution: Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles | AB 2042 (Lowenthal) Despite recent amendments, this bill continues to discourage growth at the ports. The bill proposes to cap emissions at the Ports of Long Beach and LA by imposing growth restrictions that will limit imports and exports, causing price increases for California consumers and cost increases for California exporters. The bill, as amended, also continues to encourage litigation against local and state government by organizations who desire to limit growth at the ports, and conflicts with federal law by placing air emission "oversight" authority with the South Coast Air Quality Management District an area that should be left to appropriate state and federal agencies like CARB and USEPA. And, the credit trading program that was added to the bill creates a new and costly program with little or no chance of achieving success. As long as this bill continues to include an emissions cap for the ports by a date certain, and then a no-net-increase in emissions thereafter, this bill will be a major threat to California's economy. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Governor's Desk | | California Ocean Plan | AB 2529 (Kehoe) Requires the State Water Resources Control Board to add marine protected areas, marine reserves, marine parks, marine conservation areas, marine cultural preservation areas, and marine recreational management areas to the list of beneficial uses of ocean waters. The Water Code already sets forth a process for the Board to adopt and update the California Ocean Plan to designate beneficial uses and corresponding water quality objectives to protect those uses. The bill could impose new stormwater requirements for areas far removed from the coast (i.e., foothills or Central Valley) as it does not specify how far upstream the State Water Board could go to identify and eliminate point and non-point source discharges into ocean waters. Provisions in the bill requiring new beneficial use designations for marine managed areas are unnecessary and in essence would upstage the regulatory process already in place to address these issues. This bill has been amended appeasing all of our concerns, removing our opposition. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Neutral | Signed by Gov. | | Hazardous Waste: Cellular Telephone Recycling | AB 2901 (Pavley) Prohibits the sale of cellular telephones due to the presence of heavy metals, if they are prohibited in the European Union, after 1/1/07 or the date that Directive 2002/95/EC takes effect, whichever date is later. It would be unlawful for a retailer not to have a system for collection, reuse, and recycling or proper disposal in place by 7/1/05. Mandates the Integrated Waste Management Board to develop a program, establish goals adopt regulations and impose civil liability for violations. (Passed the Assembly by one vote.) This bill has been amended significantly. The bill now only mandates a recycling program which industry has already voluntarily implemented. The regulated community coalition is currently debating whether or not it will remove its opposition. New amendments have removed concerns. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Neutral | Signed by Gov. | | Radioactive Waste Disposal | SB 13 (Romero) Effectively bans disposal of any waste exhibiting trace radioactivity in California. This issue is already addressed in Governor's Executive Order # D 62-02, which places a moratorium on disposal in municipal landfills pending a new regulation from DHS that specifically addresses disposal-related health risks. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Failed passage | | Air Pollution: Smog Check, Out-of-State Vehicles | SB 1615 (Denham) Amended to state that the requirement for smog checking a vehicle from out-of-state will match in-state requirements. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Support | Signed by Gov. | | Proposition 65: Enforcement Judgments | SB 1722 (Ducheny) Eliminates double jeopardy suits by a second party once a suit has already been settled for the same cause. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Support | Failed passage | | Radioactive Materials Management Authority | SB 201 (Romero) Transfers radioactive materials management and cleanup oversight authority from DHS to DTSC and requires DTSC to develop regulations for remediating licensed facilities. SB 201 disregards Governor's Executive Order D-62-02 which directs DHS to adopt a new license termination regulation through the CEQA process. The order specifically requires an environmental impact report to address a California appellate court's criticism of the existing regulation. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Failed passage | | Hazardous Materials: Liability, Brownfields | SB 493 (Cedillo) This bill initially would have limited liability for Brownfield redevelopers. It was amended in committee and no longer carries all of the previous positives. It is now primarily a funding bill. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Support | Failed passage | | CEQA Risk Assessments | SB 532 (Romero) Requires cumulative health risk assessments where a "reasonable possibility" exists that a project subject to CEQA would create a significant risk to public health from exposure to toxic substances. This concept is sufficiently vague that these highly complex risk assessments could become a default requirement, even if the project itself is an insignificant contributor. Moreover, absent any scientifically accepted methodology, projects would suffer major delays and cost increases driven by disputes over risk assessment and mitigation. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose |  Job killer Failed passage | GOVERNMENT RELATIONS | CMTA lobbyist: Dorothy Rothrock, (916) 498.3319 Position | Status | Pharmacy Benefit Standards | AB 1960 (Pavley) Would require pharmacy benefit manager (PBMs) to make various disclosures and establish certain standards and requirements with regard to PBM contracts. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Governor's Desk | LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT | CMTA lobbyist: Willie Washington, (916) 498.3322 Position | Status | Occupational Safety and Health | AB 1923 (Lowenthal) Defines "unhealthy condition" to include exposure to a critical incident and requires employers or emergency response personnel to establish, implement, and maintain a critical incident stress program for the purpose of relieving stress generated by exposure to a critical incident. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Failed passage | | Employment Discrimination | AB 196 (Leno) Expands the prohibition on sexual discrimination and harassment by including gender in the definition of sex. Employers must allow an employee to dress consistent with the employee's gender identity. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Signed by Gov. | | Gender Pay Equity | AB 2317 (Oropeza) Existing law prohibits employers from paying an employee at a wage rate less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex in the same establishment for equal work, except where the payment differential is made pursuant to a bona fide factor other than sex. This bill increases the amount of damages due to employees who are paid unfairly and mandates the types of damages those employees should recover if successful in bringing a civil action against their employer. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Vetoed by Gov. | | Displaced Private Security Officers | AB 2850 (Ridley-Thomas) Enacts the Private Security Service Assurance Act, requiring contractors and subcontractors providing private security services at a particular job site or sites, to retain, for a period of 90 days, certain employees who were employed at that site by the previous contractor or subcontractor. Requires that employees retained under the bill's provisions for that 90-day period be offered continued employment if their performance during that 90-day period is satisfactory. This bill would only apply to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2005. Authorizes an employee who was not retained in accordance with the bill's provisions to bring an enforcement action in a court of competent jurisdiction. This bill additionally authorizes local government agencies to enact ordinances imposing stricter standards or additional enforcement provisions. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Governor's Desk | | Occupational Safety and Health | AB 3037 (Yee) Requires the injury and illness prevention program (IIPP) of an employer to include either a joint employer-employee occupational safety and health committee or an employer-employee safety liaison team. Requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to adopt regulations to implement this new requirement on or before January 1, 2006, and to establish minimum criteria regarding committee duties and selection of employee representatives. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Failed passage | | Employment Discrimination | AB 76 (Corbett) Expands current law to make it unlawful for an employer to fail to take immediate and appropriate corrective action to prevent harassment of an employee by any person, once the employer knows or should have known of this conduct. Bill text at www.leginfo.ca.gov Oppose | Signed by Gov. | | ||||||||||||||||