Legislative Update

SACRAMENTO—June 4 was the final day for each house to pass bills that were introduced in house. Legislators now have until Sept. 10 to pass bills that crossed over. Here’s the latest update on some of the key bills the Log has been tracking this year.

AB 335 – Consumer Privacy: Vessel Owner’s Information

Introduced Jan. 27 by Assembly Member Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas), Assembly Bill 335 allows manufacturers of recreational boats and marine engines to receive and retain specific contact information for buyers of its products for the limited and exclusive use of conducting product safety recalls and warranty verification. The bill passed the Assembly on May 3 and is now on its way to clearing the Senate. The bill passed a first reading in the Senate on June 21, it will be read two more times and if passed both times, will be headed to the governor’s desk.

AB 591 – Water Craft Correctable Violations

Introduced Feb. 11, Assembly Bill 591 will allow certain boating law violations – such as an expired vessel registration, not having a serviceable fire extinguisher, not having proper personal flotation devices, or not having a boater card in the operator’s possession – to be deemed “correctable” to encourage operators to remedy issues for the benefit of boater and public safety. The bill passed the Assembly and was ordered to the Senate on April 22. This bill is also on its way to clearing the Senate, it passed a first reading on June 15 and a second reading on June 16.

 

FAILED TO PASS ASSEMBLY

AB 377 – The California Clean Water Act

Introduced Feb. 1 by Assembly Member Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), the California Clean Water Act included provisions to eliminate all “impaired waterways” and make all waters in California suitable for drinking, swimming, and fishing by 2050. The bill was amended in Assembly on April 13 to remove provisions requiring all California surface waters attain beneficials uses by January 1, 2050. The amended bill instead required the state board and regional boards to prioritize enforcement of all water quality standard violations that are causing or contributing to an exceedance of a water quality standard in surface waters of the state by January 1, 2023, and required the state board and regional boards to evaluate impaired state surface waters and report to the Legislature a plan to bring all water segments into attainment by January 1, 2050. The amended bill did not pass the Assembly by the June 4 deadline.

AB 534 – Whale Entanglement Prevention Act

Introduced Feb. 10 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), this bill would have required all trap and pot fisheries, recreational and commercial, in California to transition to ropeless gear by Nov. 1, 2025 in an effort to eliminate marine life entanglements. An April 26 Assembly hearing was canceled because Bonta, the bill’s author, was appointed the state’s attorney general. Bonta was sworn in as California’s attorney general on April 23, and no other assembly member chose to pick up the bill after his departure and therefore it did not pass the Assembly.

AB 564 – The Biodiversity Protection and Restoration Act

Introduced Feb. 11 by Assembly Members Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) and Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), AB 564 would ensure the goals of biodiversity protection, including 30 by 30, are not just aspirational, but are actually pursued by agencies as an official policy of the state. The bill did not pass the Assembly by the June 4 deadline.