Bill Text: CA AB1470 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1470 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1470-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1470 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Alejo
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown, Daly, and Dodd)
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Section 510.5 to the Labor Code, relating
to employment Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 31420) to Division 21 of, and to repeal
Sections 31422 and 31423 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to
coastal wildlife protection .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1470, as amended, Alejo. Working hours: overtime.
Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.
Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy and
prescribes the membership and functions and duties of the conservancy
with respect to preservation of coastal resources in the state.
This bill would enact the Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act
of 2016, which would require the State Water Resources Control Board,
until January 1, 2020, to establish and coordinate the Harmful Algal
Bloom Task Force, comprised of specified representatives of state
agencies, including the conservancy, in consultation with the
Secretary for Environmental Protection, and would prescribe the
functions and duties of the task force. The bill would require the
task force to review the risks and negative impacts of harmful algal
blooms and microcystin pollution and to submit a summary of its
findings and recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature, the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency, and the secretary on or before January 1, 2019. The act
would require the task force, before providing funding
recommendations or submitting a summary of findings, to notify the
public about ongoing activities and provide opportunities for public
review and comment on applied research, projects, and programs. The
act would authorize the conservancy, the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the State Water
Resources Control Board to enter into contracts and provide grants,
upon appropriation, from specified bond funds available under the
Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014,
the California Sea Otter Fund, or from other appropriate funds for
applied research, projects, and programs, recommended by the task
force, aimed at preventing or sustainably mitigating harmful algal
blooms, including cyanotoxins and microcystin pollution in the waters
of the state.
Existing law, with certain exceptions, establishes 8 hours as a
day's work and a 40-hour workweek, and requires payment of prescribed
overtime compensation for additional hours worked. Existing law
establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the
Department of Industrial Relations for the enforcement of labor laws,
including overtime payment. Under existing law, a person who
violates the provisions regulating work hours is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
This bill would establish a rebuttable presumption that an
employee is exempt from overtime pay if the employee earns total
gross annual compensation of at least $100,000 and regularly performs
any of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an executive,
administrative, or professional employee as set forth in the
Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders. This bill, to rebut the
presumption, would require evidence that the employee did not earn
total gross annual compensation of at least $100,000, that the
employee did not earn at least $1,000 per week, as specified, or that
the employee did not regularly perform at least one exempt duty of
an executive, administrative, or professional employee. This bill
would only apply to an employee whose primary duty includes office or
nonmanual work, as described.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Harmful blooms of algae in the waters of the state, including,
but not limited to, coastal lakes, estuaries, rivers and streams,
wetlands, and inland lakes and reservoirs, represent a threat to
water supplies, human health, endangered wildlife, and recreational
activities.
(b) Degradation of watersheds, nutrient loading, increased water
diversions, and climate change have been linked to the global
expansion of harmful algal blooms, with high toxin production noted
regularly in lakes, rivers, and other waters of the state.
(c) The state's waters are especially prone to harmful algal
blooms due to our warm climate, numerous water diversions, and
stressed waterways.
(d) Harmful algae can produce potent hepatotoxins and neurotoxins,
collectively referred to as cyanotoxins. Microcystins are the most
commonly found cyanotoxin in the state's impacted waters. Other
cyanotoxins, such as the neurotoxins anatoxin-a and saxitoxin, are
also present in California's waters, but, at present, little is known
about them.
(e) Cyanotoxins are poisonous to humans, pets, livestock, birds,
and other wildlife via ingestion, inhalation, or skin exposure. A
single dose of microcystin can cause prolonged toxicity by cycling
repeatedly between the liver and intestines.
(f) Harmful algal blooms of microcystins are occurring in waters
throughout California, and are threatening our water supply and
health. Areas with recurrent and worsening cyanotoxin pollution
include the Klamath and Sacramento Rivers, the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Rivers (from the Sacramento Delta to San Francisco Bay), and
Clear Lake. Pinto Lake, Copco Lake, Iron Gate Reservoir, and three
segments of the Klamath River have been listed as impaired due to
cyanobacteria. Bird deaths attributed to microcystins have also been
reported from the Salton Sea.
(g) A harmful algal bloom in the Pacific Ocean is currently
threatening the harvest of Dungeness crabs, an important and
lucrative state industry. The algal bloom could affect the Dungeness
crab population in the ports of Crescent City, Trinity, Eureka, Fort
Bragg, Bodega Bay, San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, and Morro Bay.
(h) The Pinto Lake watershed is being evaluated for total maximum
daily load (TMDL) regulation for microcystin, and was considered for
remediation as an Environmental Protection Agency "superfund" site.
(i) California's southern sea otters, a state and federally listed
threatened species, have died from microcystin poisoning. The source
of sea otter exposure appears to be microcystin-contaminated
freshwater runoff and possibly contaminated prey species.
(j) Sea otters and humans eat some of the same marine foods that
can concentrate microcystin in body tissues; hence, food safety is a
public health concern. Freshwater and marine fish and shellfish have
not been routinely tested for cyanotoxins in California and limited
diagnostic testing is available.
(k) The state needs a coordinated multiagency effort to develop
actions and projects that will prevent or mitigate toxic blooms and
associated cyanotoxin pollution.
SEC. 2. Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 31420)
is added to Division 21 of the Public Resources Code
, to read:
CHAPTER 10. SAFE WATER AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT OF 2016
31420. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Safe
Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.
31421. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(b) "Task force" means the Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force created
pursuant to Section 31422.
(c) "Waters of the state" means any surface waters in the state,
including, but not limited to, coastal lakes, lagoons and estuaries,
rivers, streams, inland lakes and reservoirs, wetlands, and marine
waters.
31422. (a) The board shall establish and coordinate the Harmful
Algal Bloom Task Force, comprised of a representative of each of the
State Department of Public Health, the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the conservancy,
and other relevant agency representatives, to be determined by the
chairperson of the board, in consultation with the Secretary for
Environmental Protection. The board may augment an existing task
force or network to accomplish the requirements of this chapter.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.
31423. The functions and duties of the task force include all of
the following:
(a) Assess and prioritize the actions and research necessary to
develop measures that prevent or sustainably mitigate toxic algal
blooms in the waters of the state. The assessment shall consider the
linked impacts of toxic algal blooms and cyanotoxins on human and
animal health, as well as in the context of ecosystem health and
water quality.
(b) Solicit and review proposals from universities, local
governments, California Native American tribes, and nonprofit
organizations for applied research, projects, and programs that
accomplish both of the following:
(1) Contribute to development of strategies or implementation of
activities that prevent or sustainably mitigate harmful algal blooms,
including cyanotoxins and microcystin pollution in the waters of the
state.
(2) Establish harmful algal bloom monitoring programs or develop
laboratory capacity for analyzing water samples for harmful algal
bloom pollution.
(c) Provide funding recommendations to the chairperson of the
board and to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Wildlife
Conservation Board, the conservancy, other members of the task force,
and other relevant agency representatives for those proposals for
applied research, projects, and programs, described in subdivision
(b), that the task force determines will contribute to the
development of prevention strategies and sustainable mitigation
actions to address harmful algal blooms.
(d) Review the risks and negative impacts of harmful algal blooms
and microcystin pollution on humans, wildlife, fisheries, livestock,
pets, and aquatic ecosystems, and develop recommendations for
prevention and long-term mitigation. The task force shall submit a
summary of its findings based on the review, including its
recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of
the Legislature, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and the
Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency on or before January 1,
2019. The recommendations shall provide guidance on what type of
programs or state resources will be required to prevent harmful toxic
algal blooms and microcystin pollution in the waters of the state
over time.
(e) Organize meetings and workshops of experts and stakeholders as
needed to implement this section.
(f) Before providing funding recommendations pursuant to
subdivision (c), or submitting a summary of findings pursuant to
subdivision (d), the task force shall establish a notification
procedure and publish notices to inform the public about ongoing
activities, and provide opportunities for public review and comment
on applied research, projects, and programs solicited pursuant to
subdivision (b).
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.
31424. The conservancy, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the
Wildlife Conservation Board, and the board, or any of them, may enter
into contracts and provide grants, upon appropriation, from funds
available pursuant to Section 79730 of the Water Code, Section
18754.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or from other appropriate
funds accessible by any of these departments and agencies for applied
research, projects, and programs recommended by the task force
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 31423.
SECTION 1. Section 510.5 is added to the Labor
Code, to read:
510.5. (a) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that an
employee is exempt from Section 510 if the employee earns total gross
annual compensation of at least one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000) and also customarily and regularly performs any one or
more of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an executive,
administrative, or professional employee as set forth in the
Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders.
(b) (1) "Total gross annual compensation" shall include at least
one thousand dollars ($1,000) per week paid on a salary or fee basis.
Total gross annual compensation may also include commissions,
nondiscretionary bonuses, and other nondiscretionary compensation
earned during a 52-week period. Total gross annual compensation does
not include board, lodging, and other facilities, and does not
include payments for medical insurance, payments for life insurance,
contributions to retirement plans, and the cost of other fringe
benefits.
(2) If an employee's total gross annual compensation does not meet
the minimum amount established in subdivision (a) by the last pay
period of the 52-week period, the employer may, during the last pay
period or within one month after the end of the 52-week period, make
one final payment sufficient to achieve the required total. If an
employer fails to make that payment, this section shall not apply.
(3) An employee who does not work a full year for the employer,
either because the employee is newly hired after the beginning of the
year or ends the employment before the end of the year, is exempt
from Section 510 pursuant to this section if the employee receives a
pro rata portion of the minimum amount established in subdivision
(a), based upon the number of weeks that the employee will be or has
been employed. An employer may make one final payment as described in
paragraph (2) within one month after the end of employment, or this
section shall not apply.
(4) The employer may utilize any 52-week period as the year, such
as a calendar year, a fiscal year, or an anniversary of hire year. If
the employer does not identify some other year period in advance,
the calendar year will apply.
(c) The presumption created under subdivision (a) shall be
rebutted only by evidence of one or more of the following:
(1) The employee did not earn total gross annual compensation of
at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(2) The employee did not earn at least one thousand dollars
($1,000) per week paid on a salary or fee basis.
(3) The employee did not customarily and regularly perform at
least one exempt duty or responsibility of an executive,
administrative, or professional employee as set forth in the
Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders.
(d) This section applies only to employees whose primary duty
includes performing office or nonmanual work.
(e) (1) This section does not apply to nonmanagement
production-line workers and nonmanagement employees in maintenance,
construction, and similar occupations, such as carpenters,
electricians, mechanics, plumbers, iron workers, craftsmen, operating
engineers, longshoremen, construction workers, laborers, and other
employees who perform work involving repetitive operations with their
hands, physical skill, and energy, regardless of the amount of their
compensation.
(2) This section does not apply to an employee covered under a
valid collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for the
wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees, including
premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked.
