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 general plan for the physical development of the county or city and authorizes 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, 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 an application for 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.begin insert The bill would authorize the city, county, or city and county, in developing the ordinance, to refer to guidelines contained in a specified guidebook. The bill would also authorize the adoption of an ordinance that modifies the checklists and standards found in the guidebook due to unique conditions.end insert 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 65850.7 is added to the Government
2Code, to read:
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
4following:
5(1) The implementation of consistent statewide standards to
6achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle
7charging stations is not a municipal affair, as that term is used in
P3 1Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is instead
2a matter of statewide concern.
3(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies not adopt
4ordinances that create unreasonable barriers to the installation of
5electric vehicle charging stations and not unreasonably restrict the
6ability of homeowners and agricultural and
business concerns to
7install electric vehicle charging stations.
8(3) It is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the use
9of electric vehicle charging stations and to limit obstacles to their
10use.
11(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies comply
12not only with the language of this section, but also the legislative
13intent to encourage the installation of electric vehicle charging
14stations by removing obstacles to, and minimizing costs of,
15permitting forbegin delete suchend delete charging stations.
16(b) A city, county, or city and county shall administratively
17approve an application to install electric vehicle charging stations
18through the
issuance of a building permit or similar
19nondiscretionary permit. Review of the application to install an
20electric vehicle charging station shall be limited to the building
21official’s review of whether it meets all health and safety
22
requirements of local, state, and federal law. The requirements of
23local law shall be limited to those standards and regulations
24necessary to ensure that the electric vehicle charging station will
25not have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety.
26However, if the building official of the city, county, or city and
27county makes a finding, based on substantial evidence, that the
28electric vehicle charging station could have a specific, adverse
29impact upon the public health or safety, the city, county, or city
30and county may require the applicant to apply for a use permit.
31(c) A city, county, or city and county may not deny an
32application for a use permit to install an electric vehicle charging
33station unless it makes written findings based upon substantial
34evidence in the record that the proposed installation would
have
35a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and
36there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the
37specific, adverse impact. The findings shall include the basis for
38the rejection of potential feasible alternatives of preventing the
39adverse impact.
P4 1(d) The decision of the building official pursuant to subdivisions
2(b) and (c) may be appealed to the planning commission of the
3city, county, or city and county.
4(e) Any conditions imposed on an application to install an
5electric vehicle charging station shall be designed to mitigate the
6specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety at the
7lowest cost possible.
8(f) (1) An electric vehicle
charging station shall meet applicable
9health and safety standards and requirements imposed by state and
10local permitting authorities.
11(2) An electric vehicle charging station shall meet all applicable
12safety and performance standards established by the California
13Electrical Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
14Engineers, and accredited testing laboratories such as Underwriters
15Laboratories and, where applicable, rules of the Public Utilities
16Commission regarding safety and reliability.
17(g) (1) On or before September 30, 2016, every city, county,
18or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents,
19and, on or before September 30, 2017, every city, county, or city
20and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents, shall,
21in
consultation with the local fire department or district and the
22utility director, if the city, county, or city and county operates a
23utility, adopt an ordinance, consistent with the goals and intent of
24this section, that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting
25process for electric vehicle charging stations. In developing an
26expedited permitting process, the city, county, or city and county
27shall adopt a checklist of all requirements with which electric
28vehicle charging stations shall comply to be eligible for expedited
29review. An application that satisfies the information requirements
30in the checklist, as determined by the city, county, or city and
31county, shall be deemed complete. Upon confirmation by the city,
32county, or city and county of the application and supporting
33documents being complete and meeting the requirements of the
34checklist, and consistent with the ordinance, a city, county,
or city
35and county shall, consistent with subdivision (b), approve the
36application and issue all required permits or authorizations.
37However, the city, county, or city and county may establish a
38process to prioritize competing applications for expedited permits.
39Upon receipt of an incomplete application, a city, county, or city
40and county shall issue a written correction notice detailing all
P5 1deficiencies in the application and any additional information
2required to be eligible for expedited permit issuance.begin delete A city, begin insert An application submitted to a city,
3county, or city and county, that owns and operates electric utility
4services within its service territory shall comply with the electric
5utility interconnection policy.end delete
6county, or city and county that owns
and operates an electric utility
7shall demonstrate compliance with the utility’s interconnection
8policies prior to approval.end insert
9(2) The checklist and required permitting documentation shall
10be published on a publicly accessible Internet Web site, if the city,
11county, or city and county has an Internet Web site, and the city,
12county, or city and county shall allow for electronic submittal of
13a permit application and associated documentation, and shall
14authorize the electronic signature on all forms, applications, and
15other documentation in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant. In
16developing the ordinance, the city, county, or city and county
may
17begin delete reasonably conform its expedited, streamlined permitting process begin insert refer to the recommendationsend insert
18with the recommendations for expedited permitting, including the
19checklists and standard plansend delete
20 contained in the most current version of the “Plug-In Electric
21Vehicle Infrastructure Permitting Checklist” of the “Zero-Emission
22Vehicles in California: Community Readiness Guidebook”
23published by thebegin delete Governor’send delete Office of Planning and Research. A
24city, county, or city and county may adopt an ordinance that
25modifies the checklists and standards found in the guidebook due
26to unique climactic, geological, seismological, or topographical
27conditions.
If a city, county, or city and county determines that it
28is unable to authorize the acceptance of an electronic signature on
29all forms, applications, and other documents in lieu of a wet
30signature by an applicant, the city, county, or city and county shall
31state, in the ordinance required under this subdivision, the reasons
32for its inability to accept electronic signatures and acceptance of
33an electronic signature shall not be required.
34(h) A city, county, or city and county shall not condition
35approval for any electric vehicle charging station permit on the
36approval of an electric vehicle charging station by an association,
37as that term is defined in Section 4080 of the Civil Code.
38(i) The following definitions shall apply to this section:
39(1) “A feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the
40specific, adverse impact” includes, but is not limited to, any
P6 1cost-effective method, condition, or mitigation imposed by a city,
2county, or city and county on another similarly situated application
3in a prior successful application for a permit.
4(2) “Electronic submittal” means the utilization of one or more
5of the following:
6(A) Email.
7(B) The Internet.
8(C) Facsimile.
9(3) “Electric vehicle charging station” or “charging station”
10means any level of electric vehicle supply equipment station that
11is designed and
built in compliance with Article 625 of the
12California Electrical Code, as it reads on the effective date of this
13section, and delivers electricity from a source outside an electric
14vehicle into a plug-in electric vehicle.
15(4) “Specific, adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable,
16direct, and unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified, and
17written public health or safety standards, policies, or conditions
18as they existed on the date the application was deemed complete.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
20Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
21a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
22charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
23level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
2417556 of the Government Code.
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