Amended in Senate August 18, 2015

Amended in Senate July 9, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 20, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1236

Introduced by Assembly Members Chiu and Low

begin insert

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Linder)

end insert

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 begin delete comprehensive, long-term end delete general plan for the physical development of the county or city begin delete and of any land outside its boundaries that relates to its planning, end delete and begin delete provides for end delete begin insert authorizes end insert 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, begin delete that requires payment of a fee end delete 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, county, or city and county to approve begin insert an application for end insert 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, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents to adopt an ordinance, by September 30, 2016, that creates an expedited and streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations, as specified. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents to adopt this ordinance by September 30, 2017. 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 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, 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, 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 or safety, the 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 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 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 with a population of 200,000 or more residents,
and, on or before September 30, 2017, every city, county, or city
and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents, shall,
in consultation with the local fire department or district and the
utility director, if the city, county, or city and county operates a
utility, 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 begin delete station end delete begin insert stations end insert shall comply to be eligible for
expedited review. An application that satisfies the information
requirements in the checklist, as determined by the city, 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. However, the city, county, or city and county may
establish a process to prioritize competing applications for
expedited permits. 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. begin insert A city, county, or city and county, that owns and operates
electric utility services within its service territory shall comply
with the electric utility interconnection policy. end insert

(2) The checklist and required permitting documentation shall
be published on a publicly 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 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 begin delete shall end delete
begin insert may end insert reasonably 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) 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.

(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 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.