California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1236

Introduced by Assembly Members Chiu and Low

February 27, 2015

An act to add Section 65850.7 to the Government Code, relating to local ordinances.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1236, as introduced, Chiu. Local ordinances: electric vehicle charging stations.

The Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city and of any land outside its boundaries that relates to its planning, and provides for the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations by counties and cities. Existing law, the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act, prohibits the charging of a subscription fee on persons desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station, as defined, that requires payment of a fee and prohibits a requirement for persons to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station, except as specified.

The bill would require a city or county to approve the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, as defined, through the issuance of specified permits unless the city or county makes specified written findings based upon substantial evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. The bill would provide for appeal of that decision to the planning commission, as specified. The bill would provide that the implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle charging stations is a matter of statewide concern. The bill would require electric vehicle charging stations to meet specified standards. The bill would require a city or county to adopt an ordinance, by September 30, 2016, that creates an expedited and streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations, as specified. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 65850.7 is added to the Government
Code, to read:

65850.7.  

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

(1) The implementation of consistent statewide standards to
achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle
charging stations is not a municipal affair, as that term is used in
Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is instead
a matter of statewide concern.

(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies not adopt
ordinances that create unreasonable barriers to the installation of
electric vehicle charging stations, including, but not limited to,
design review for aesthetic purposes, and not unreasonably restrict
the ability of homeowners and agricultural and business concerns
to install electric vehicle charging stations.

(3) It is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the use
of electric vehicle charging stations and to limit obstacles to their
use.

(4)  It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies comply
not only with the language of this section, but also the legislative
intent to encourage the installation of electric vehicle charging
stations by removing obstacles to, and minimizing costs of,
permitting for such charging stations.

(b) A city or county shall administratively approve an
application to install electric vehicle charging stations through the
issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit.
Review of the application to install an electric vehicle charging
station shall be limited to the building official’s review of whether
it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and
federal law. The requirements of local law shall be limited to those
standards and regulations necessary to ensure that the electric
vehicle charging station will not have a specific, adverse impact
upon the public health or safety. However, if the building official
of the city or county makes a finding, based on substantial
evidence, that the electric vehicle charging station could have a
specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety, the city
or county may require the applicant to apply for a use permit.

(c) A city, county, or city and county may not deny an
application for a use permit to install an electric vehicle charging
station unless it makes written findings based upon substantial
evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have
a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and
there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the
specific, adverse impact. The findings shall include the basis for
the rejection of potential feasible alternatives of preventing the
adverse impact.

(d) The decision of the building official pursuant to subdivisions
(b) and (c) may be appealed to the planning commission of the
city, county, or city and county.

(e) Any conditions imposed on an application to install an
electric vehicle charging station shall be designed to mitigate the
specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety at the
lowest cost possible.

(f) (1) An electric vehicle charging station shall meet applicable
health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and
local permitting authorities.

(2) An electric vehicle charging station shall meet all applicable
safety and performance standards established by the National
Electrical Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, and accredited testing laboratories such as Underwriters
Laboratories and, where applicable, rules of the Public Utilities
Commission regarding safety and reliability.

(g) (1) On or before September 30, 2016, every city, county,
or city and county, in consultation with the local fire department
or district and the utility director, if the city, county, or city and
county operates a utility, shall adopt an ordinance, consistent with
the goals and intent of this section, that creates an expedited,
streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging
stations. In developing an expedited permitting process, the city,
county, or city and county shall adopt a checklist of all
requirements with which electric vehicle charging station shall
comply to be eligible for expedited review. An application that
satisfies the information requirements in the checklist, as
determined by the city, county, and city and county, shall be
deemed complete. Upon confirmation by the city, county, or city
and county of the application and supporting documents being
complete and meeting the requirements of the checklist, and
consistent with the ordinance, a city, county, or city and county
shall, consistent with subdivision (b), approve the application and
issue all required permits or authorizations. Upon receipt of an
incomplete application, a city, county, or city and county shall
issue a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the
application and any additional information required to be eligible
for expedited permit issuance.

(2) The checklist and required permitting documentation shall
be published on a publically accessible Internet Web site, if the
city, county, or city and county has an Internet Web site, and the
city, county, or city and county shall allow for electronic submital
of a permit application and associated documentation, and shall
authorize the electronic signature on all forms, applications, and
other documentation in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant. In
developing the ordinance, the city, county, or city and county shall
substantially conform its expedited, streamlined permitting process
with the recommendations for expedited permitting, including the
checklists and standard plans contained in the most current version
of the “Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Permitting
Checklist” of the “Zero-Emission Vehicles in California:
Community Readiness Guidebook” published by the Governor’s
Office of Planning and Research. A city, county, or city and county
may adopt an ordinance that modifies the checklists and standards
found in the guidebook due to unique climactic, geological,
seismological, or topographical conditions. If a city, county, or
city and county determines that it is unable to authorize the
acceptance of an electronic signature on all forms, applications,
and other documents in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant, the
city, county, or city and county shall state, in the ordinance required
under this subdivision, the reasons for its inability to accept
electronic signatures and acceptance of an electronic signature
shall not be required.

(h) For an electric vehicle charging station to be eligible for
expedited review, only one inspection shall be required, which
shall be done in a timely manner and may include a consolidated
inspection, except that a separate fire safety inspection may be
performed in a city, county, or city and county that does not have
an agreement with a local fire authority to conduct a fire safety
inspection on behalf of the fire authority. If an electric vehicle
charging station fails inspection, a subsequent inspection is
authorized, however the subsequent inspection shall not be required
to conform to the requirements of this subdivision.

(i) A city, county, or city and county shall not condition approval
for any electric vehicle charging station permit on the approval of
an electric vehicle charging station by an association, as that term
is defined in Section 4080 of the Civil Code.

(j) The following definitions shall apply to this section:

(1) “A feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the
specific, adverse impact” includes, but is not limited to, any
cost-effective method, condition, or mitigation imposed by a city,
county, or city and county on another similarly situated application
in a prior successful application for a permit.

(2) “Electronic submital” means the utilization of one or more
of the following:

(A) Email.

(B) The Internet.

(C) Facsimile.

(3) “Electric vehicle charging station” or “charging station”
means any level of electric vehicle supply equipment station that
is designed and built in compliance with Article 625 of the
California Electrical Code, as it reads on the effective date of this
section, and delivers electricity from a source outside an electric
vehicle into a plug-in electric vehicle.

(4) “Specific, adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable,
direct, and unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified, and
written public health or safety standards, policies, or conditions
as they existed on the date the application was deemed complete.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.