Amended in Senate May 2, 2013

Amended in Senate April 23, 2013

Amended in Senate April 4, 2013

Senate Bill No. 123

Introduced by Senator Corbett

January 18, 2013

An act to add Article 2 (commencing with Section 69540) to Chapter 5 of Title 8 of the Government Code, begin insert to amend Section 21191 of the Public Resources Code, and to amend Section 5106 of the Vehicle Code, end insert relating to courts.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 123, as amended, Corbett. Environmental and land use court.

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Existing

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begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Existing end insert law establishes a statewide system of courts with a superior court of one or more judges in each county. Existing law requires the presiding judge of each superior court to distribute the business of the court among the judges, and to prescribe the order of business, subject to the rules of the Judicial Council.

This bill would, commencing July 1, 2014, require the Judicial Council to direct the creation of an environmental and land use division within 2 or more superior courts within each of the appellate districts of the state to process civil proceedings brought pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act or in specified subject areas, including air quality, biological resources, climate change, hazards and hazardous materials, land use planning, and water quality. The bill would require the Judicial Council, by rule of court, to identify statutes in those specified areas that would be within the jurisdiction of the environmental and land use court division. The bill would require the Judicial Council, by rule of court, to establish appropriate standards and protocols for the environmental and land use court division to accomplish the objectives of consistency, expediency, and expertise, including educational requirements and other qualifications for specialized judges assigned to the division.

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(2) Existing law authorizes the issuance of environmental license plates, as defined, for vehicles, upon application and upon payment of certain fees. Existing law requires all revenue derived from the fees for issuance, renewal, retention, duplication, and transfer of the plates to be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund in the State Treasury.

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Existing law requires the Legislature to make an annual appropriation to the Judicial Council for the general operations of the trial courts based on the request of the Judicial Council, which is submitted to the Governor and the Legislature.

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This bill would increase the fees for the issuance, renewal, retention, duplication, and transfer of environmental license plates by $10. The bill would create the Environmental and Land Use Court Support Account within the California Environmental License Plate Fund. The bill would, notwithstanding the above-described provisions pertaining to the annual appropriation to the Judicial Council or any other law, authorize the Controller to transfer $10 of each fee collected for an environmental license plate on or after January 1, 2014, to the Environmental and Land Use Court Support Account for the exclusive use, upon appropriation by the Legislature, of the Judicial Council to supplement funding for the operation of the environmental and land use court division. The bill would also make conforming changes.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Article 2 (commencing with Section 69540) is
added to Chapter 5 of Title 8 of the Government Code, to read:

 

Article 2.  Environmental and Land Use Court

 

69540.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) According to the World Resources Institute report entitled,
“Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts
and Tribunals” (2009), the number of courts and tribunals
specializing in environmental issues doubled during the past
decade, prompted by increasingly complex regulations and growing
concerns about natural resources.

(2) Environmental issues are often complex and fragmented,
and conflicting aspects of environmental management and
protection have made it difficult for governments, developers,
communities, and advocacy groups to achieve consistent and
long-range sustainable development. This has resulted in pressures
to streamline and rationalize the adjudication and enforcement
process and increase access to justice around the world.

(3) California’s environmental and land use court cases should
be decided by specialized judges trained in environmental and land
use law, and whose decisions would be documented and published.

(4) It is important to continue California’s commitment to
ensuring an unbiased judicial selection process.

(5) The creation of an environmental and land use court can
maximize both judicial competence and the speed of
decisionmaking, allowing litigants to have their cases heard and
an effective remedy delivered quickly.

(b) Accordingly, it is the intent of the Legislature to establish
an environmental and land use division within the superior courts
selected by the Judicial Council to expedite civil proceedings
within the jurisdiction of the division, with more consistent rulings
and better outcomes for all parties of interest.

69542.  

(a) The Judicial Council shall direct the creation of an
environmental and land use division within two or more superior
courts within each of the appellate districts of the state to process
all civil proceedings subject to this article.

(b) A civil proceeding subject to this article may be filed at a
superior court within the county in which the claim arises, but the
civil proceeding shall be transferred to the nearest superior court
within the same appellate district that has established an
environmental and land use division pursuant to this article.

(c) Both of the following shall be subject to this article:

(1) A civil proceeding brought pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code).

(2) A civil proceeding brought in any of the following subject
areas:

(A) Air quality.

(B) Biological resources.

(C) Climate change.

(D) Hazards and hazardous materials.

(E) Land use planning.

(F) Water quality.

(d) The Judicial Council shall, by rule of court, identify those
statutes within the subject areas identified in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c) that are within the jurisdiction of the environmental
and land use court division.

69544.  

The Judicial Council shall, by rule of court, establish
appropriate standards and protocols for the environmental and land
use court division to accomplish the objectives of consistency,
expediency, and expertise identified in Section 69540, including
educational requirements and other qualifications for specialized
judges assigned to the division.

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begin insert 69546. end insert   

Notwithstanding Section 77202, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, the Judicial Council may use funds from the
Environmental and Land Use Court Support Account within the
California Environmental License Plate Fund exclusively to
supplement funding for the operation of the environmental and
land use court division established in this article, including funding
for judges, staff attorneys, and other court support staff, an annual
training program covering the legal issues within the jurisdiction
of the division, and general operating costs of the division.

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begin delete 69545. end delete
begin insert 69548. end insert   

This article shall become operative on July 1, 2014.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 21191 of the end insert begin insert Public Resources Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

21191.  

(a) The California Environmental License Plate Fund,
which supersedes the California Environmental Protection Program
Fund, is continued in existence in the State Treasury, and consists
of the moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to any provision of
law. The Legislature shall establish the amount of fees for
environmental license plates, which shall be not less than
forty-eight dollars ($48) for the issuance or thirty-eight dollars
($38) for the renewal of an environmental license plate.

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(b) Notwithstanding Section 77202 of the Government Code or
any other law, in addition to, and in furtherance of, the purposes
specified in subdivisions (a), (b), (d), and (e) of Section 21190, the
Controller shall transfer ten dollars ($10) of each fee collected
pursuant to Section 5106 of the Vehicle Code on or after January
1, 2014, to the Environmental and Land Use Court Support
Account, which is hereby created within the California
Environmental License Plate Fund, for use, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, by the Judicial Council to supplement funding
for the operation of the environmental and land use court division
established in Article 2 (commencing with Section 69540) of
Chapter 5 of Title 8 of the Government Code, as specified in
Section 69546 of the Government Code. The amount transferred
pursuant to this section shall be subject to a proportionate
reduction for the reimbursement of costs of the Department of
Motor Vehicles pursuant to subdivision (c).

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(b)

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begin insert (c) end insert  The Controller shall transfer from the California
Environmental License Plate Fund to the Motor Vehicle Account
in the State Transportation Fund the amount appropriated by the
Legislature for the reimbursement of costs incurred by the
Department of Motor Vehicles in performing its duties pursuant
to Sections 5004, 5004.5, and 5022 and Article 8.5 (commencing
with Section 5100) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of the Vehicle Code.
The reimbursement from the California Environmental License
Plate Fund shall only include those additional costs which are
directly attributable to any additional duties or special handling
necessary for the issuance, renewal, or retention of the
environmental license plates.

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(c)

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begin insert (d) end insert  The Controller shall transfer to the post fund of the Veterans’
Home of California, established pursuant to Section 1047 of the
Military and Veterans Code, all revenue derived from the issuance
of prisoner of war special license plates pursuant to Section 5101.5
of the Vehicle Code less the administrative costs of the Department
of Motor Vehicles in that regard.

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(d)

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begin insert (e) end insert  The Director of Motor Vehicles shall certify the amounts of
the administrative costs of the Department of Motor Vehicles in
subdivision (c) to the Controller.

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(e)

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begin insert (f) end insert  The balance of the moneys in the California Environmental
License Plate Fund shall be available for expenditure only for the
exclusive trust purposes specified in Section 21190, upon
appropriation by the Legislature. However, all moneys derived
from the issuance of commemorative 1984 Olympic reflectorized
license plates in the California Environmental License Plate Fund
shall be used only for capital outlay purposes.

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(f)

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begin insert (g) end insert  All proposed appropriations for the program shall be
summarized in a section in the Governor’s Budget for each fiscal
year and shall bear the caption “California Environmental
Protection Program.” The section shall contain a separate
description of each project for which an appropriation is made.
All of these appropriations shall be made to the department
performing the project and accounted for separately.

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(g)

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begin insert (h) end insert  The budget the Governor presents to the Legislature pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 12 of Article IV of the California
Constitution shall include, as proposed appropriations for the
California Environmental Protection Program, only projects and
programs recommended for funding by the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21193.
The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall consult with
the Secretary for Environmental Protection before making any
recommendations to fund projects pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 21190.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 5106 of the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

5106.  

(a) Except as provided in Section 5101.7, in addition to
the regular registration fee or a permanent trailer identification
fee, the applicant shall be charged a fee of begin delete forty-eight dollars ($48) end delete
begin insert fifty-eight dollars ($58) end insert for issuance of environmental license
plates.

(b) In addition to the regular renewal fee or a permanent trailer
identification fee for the vehicle to which the plates are assigned,
the applicant for a renewal of environmental license plates shall
be charged an additional fee of begin delete thirty-eight dollars ($38) end delete begin insert forty-eight
dollars ($48) end insert . An applicant with a permanent trailer identification
plate shall be charged an annual fee of begin delete thirty-eight dollars ($38) end delete
begin insert forty-eight dollars ($48) end insert for renewal of environmental license
plates. However, applicants for renewal of prisoner-of-war special
license plates issued under Section 5101.5 shall not be charged
the additional renewal fee under this subdivision.

(c) When payment of renewal fees is not required as specified
in Section 4000, the holder of any environmental license plate may
retain the plate upon payment of an annual fee of begin delete thirty-eight
dollars ($38) end delete begin insert forty-eight dollars ($48) end insert . The fee shall be due at the
expiration of the registration year of the vehicle to which the
environmental license plate was last assigned. However, applicants
for retention of prisoner-of-war special license plates issued under
Section 5101.5 shall not be charged the additional retention fee
under this subdivision.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 9265, the applicant for a duplicate
environmental license plate or a duplicate, replacement
commemorative 1984 Olympic reflectorized license plate shall be
charged a fee of begin delete thirty-eight dollars ($38) end delete begin insert forty-eight dollars ($48) end insert .