BILL NUMBER: AB 1236 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
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 amended, 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 city,
county, or city and 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 city,
county, or city and 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 city, county, or
city and 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 city, county, or city and 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 or safety, the
city city, county, or city and
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
or 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 California 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 county,
or 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 submittal 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)
(h) 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)
(i) 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" submittal
" 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.