California Legislation Update for 2021

AB 9 (Wood) Fire safety and prevention: wildfires: fire adapted communities: Office of the State Fire Marshal: community wildfire preparedness and mitigation.

Status: Chapter 225, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill codifies the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program, an existing program administered by the Department of Conservation and a product of Executive Order N-05-19 and California Climate Investments, to provide grant funding to support projects in areas of the state that contain, or are adjacent to, very high fire hazard severity zones, to enhance California’s forest health and fire resiliency, as specified. This bill also transfers several CalFire duties and responsibilities to the State Fire Marshall.

AB 26 (Holden) Peace officers: use of force.

Status: Chapter 403, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill further clarifies Use of Force statute by defining several terms, including “excessive force” and “intercede”, as well as establishing the circumstances and reporting expectations associated with interceding. This bill defines and prohibits “retaliation” against peace officers, as specified. This bill also requires law enforcement agencies to establish procedures prohibiting officers with substantiated use of force complaints against them from training other officers for a minimum of three years.

AB 89 (Jones-Sawyer) Peace officers: minimum qualifications.

Status: Chapter 405, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill establishes the Peace Officers Education and Age Conditions for Employment Act (PEACE Act), and, beginning December 31, 2021, increases the minimum qualifying age for peace officers from 18 to 21. This bill requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), law enforcement stakeholders, CSUS, and others, to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2023, on recommendations and a plan to develop an Associate Degree in modern policing and financial aid program, as specified.

AB 105 (Holden) The Upward Mobility Act of 2021: boards and commissions: civil service: examinations: classifications.

Status: 10/8/2021-Vetoed

Summary: This bill would have established the Upward Mobility Act of 2021. This bill would have created new requirements for CalHR and the State Personnel Board to revise processes and standards for recruitment, examinations, hiring process and upward mobility to enhance diversity amongst state employees. These revisions would be disseminated to all state agencies and Departments for implementation.

AB 232 (Gallagher) Off-highway vehicles: reciprocity.

Status: Chapter 739, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill limits California’s registration reciprocity for off-highway motor vehicles to those states that recognize California’s off-highway motor vehicle registration. This bill requires off-highway motor vehicles from states without this reciprocity to purchase a nonresident pass in order to operate on public lands in California.

AB 361 (R. Rivas) Open meetings: state and local agencies: teleconferences.

Status: Chapter 165, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill extends temporary exemptions to the Bagley-Keene Act granted by the Governor in Executive Order N-29-20, allowing state bodies to meet remotely, until January 31, 2022, as specified.

AB 472 (Cooley) Campsite reservations: securing an equitable process.

Status: 10/7/2021-Vetoed

Summary: This bill would have made it unlawful for a person to intentionally use or sell software or services to avoid a security control or measure used to ensure an equitable campsite reservation-making process for visitors.

AB 1183 (Ramos) California Desert Conservation Program.

Status: Chapter 380, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill establishes the California Desert Conservation Program, to be administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board, to provide for coordinated and strategic investment in the California desert region and to protect, preserve, and restore desert region natural and cultural resources, as specified. This bill also establishes the California Desert Conservation Program Fund Account to support the program.

AB 1291 (Frazier) State bodies: open meetings.

Status: Chapter 63, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill clarifies that individuals utilizing a translator or translation technology, during an open meeting subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, are allowed twice the amount of time for public comment as those not utilizing translation services, as specified.

AB 1476 (Gray) Park property: City of Modesto: Beard Brook Park.

Status: Chapter 718, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill authorizes, until June 30, 2023, the City of Modesto (City) to dispose of the existing Beard Brook Park property, acquire replacement park property of equal of greater value, to be used for park purposes in perpetuity, and requires compliance with all statutory and programmatic requirements, as approved by the Department.

SB 1 (Atkins) Coastal resources: sea level rise.

Status: Chapter 236, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill establishes the California Sea Level Rise Mitigation and Adaptation Act of 2021, to create new planning, assessment, funding, and mitigation tools to address and respond to sea level rise, as specified. This bill requires state agencies to identify, assess, and, to the extent feasible, avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of sea level rise. The bill creates the California Sea Level Rise State and Regional Support Collaborative, within the Ocean Protection Council, to administer, upon appropriation, $100 million in grant funds to local jurisdictions to implement plans to mitigate sea level rise, as defined. This bill also increases funding to the California EPA by $500,000, to address and mitigate the effects of sea level rise in disadvantaged communities.

SB 2 (Bradford) Peace officers: certification: civil rights.

Status: Chapter 409, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill expands the authority of the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), to include a decertification process, as specified. This bill establishes a Peace Officer Standards and Accountability Division within POST, with primary responsibilities for reviewing peace officer investigations and making recommendations for certificate suspension or revocation, as specified. This bill requires the Governor to establish a Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board, as specified. This bill also eliminates specified immunity provisions, within the Bane Civil Rights Act, provided to law enforcement agencies.

SB 16 (Skinner) Peace officers: release of records.

Status: Chapter 402, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill expands the types of peace officer records accessible through Public Records Act requests to include sustained allegations of unreasonable/excessive use of force, unlawful searches or arrests, and online statements or writings involving prejudice or discrimination, as specified. The bill requires pre-employment background records review of peace officers by potential employers and requires 15-year records retention for complaints against peace officers, replacing the existing 5-year retention requirement. The bill also prohibits the use of attorney-client privilege as it pertains to the release of records through Public Records Act requests, as specified.

SB 63 (Stern) Fire prevention: vegetation management: public education: grants: defensible space: fire hazard severity zones.

Status: Chapter 382, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill modifies defensible space requirements in very high fire hazard severity zones, relaxing provisions authorizing fuel modification projects on adjacent properties, as specified. The bill requires CalFire to identify moderate fire hazard severity zones throughout the state and develop a statewide program to augment its defensible space assessments, within state responsibility areas, as well as establish a pilot program to utilize volunteers to assist in those efforts.

SB 266 (Newman) State park system: Chino Hills State Park: expansion.

Status: Chapter 760, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill requires the Department to provide all necessary assistance to acquire three specified properties adjacent to Chino Hills State Park, and to manage those parcels as part of Chino Hills State Park, as defined. The bill additionally requires the Department to utilize settlement agreement funds to manage 131 acres of these properties as mitigation lands, pursuant to the settlement agreement.

SB 456 (Laird) Fire prevention: wildfire and forest resilience: action plan: reports.

Status: Chapter 387, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill renames and codifies the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force (Task Force) and requires the Task Force, on January 1, 2022, with the Natural Resources Agency, CalEPA, the Office of Planning and Research, CalFire, and lead federal, state, local, and tribal agencies, to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy for the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan issued by the Task Force, in January 2021, to increase the pace and scale of wildfire forest resilience activities, as specified. This bill requires the Action Plan to be updated every five years. The bill requires the Department to update the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, to expand outdoor recreation on forestland. This bill also includes an annual Legislative reporting requirement for the Task Force, with a 2048 sunset.

SB 796 (Bradford) State parks: state beaches: County of Los Angeles: Manhattan State Beach: deed restrictions: taxation.

Status: Chapter 435, Statutes of 2021.

Summary: This bill requires the Director of Parks and Recreation, by December 31, 2021, to execute a deed amendment to exclude Bruce’s Beach, a portion of Manhattan State Beach, from the restrictions which require the property to be used for public recreation purposes in perpetuity. This bill also authorizes Los Angeles County to sell, transfer, or encumber Bruce’s Beach, upon terms and conditions determined by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to be in the best interest of the county and the general public.