Bill Text: CA SB115 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public Utilities Commission: Bagley-Keene Open Meeting

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-22 - Read third time and amended. (Page 6341.) Ordered to third reading. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Assembly Rule 97. [SB115 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB115-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 115	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 9, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 8, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 13, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill

                        JANUARY 16, 2013

   An act to amend Section  7630 of the Family  
25711.5 of the Public R   esources  Code, relating to
 parent and child relationship   energy  .



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 115, as amended, Hill.  Parent and child relationship.
  Electric Program Investment Charge Fund.  
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations,
as defined. The Reliable Electric Service Investments Act required
the commission to require the state's 3 largest electrical
corporations, until January 1, 2012, to identify a separate
electrical rate component, commonly referred to as the public goods
charge, to collect specified amounts to fund energy efficiency,
renewable energy, and research, development, and demonstration
programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state
benefits. Existing decisions of the commission institute an Electric
Program Investment Charge, referred to as EPIC, to fund research,
development, and demonstration programs.  
   Existing law creates in the State Treasury the Electric Program
Investment Charge Fund to be administered by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission and requires moneys
received by the Public Utilities Commission for those programs the
Public Utilities Commission has determined should be administered by
the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to
be forwarded by the Public Utilities Commission to the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission at least quarterly
for deposit in the fund. Existing law requires the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in administering
moneys in the fund for research, development, and demonstration
programs, to develop and administer the EPIC program for the purpose
of awarding funds to projects that will benefit ratepayers and lead
to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome the
barriers that prevent the achievement of the state's statutory energy
goals and that result in a portfolio of projects that is
strategically focused and sufficiently narrow to make advancement on
the most significant technological challenges, including: (1) energy
storage, (2) renewable energy resources and their integration into
the grid, (3) energy efficiency, (4) integration of electric vehicles
into the electrical grid, and (5) accurately forecasting the
availability of renewable energy resources for integration into the
electrical grid. Existing law provides that the chapter creating the
fund does not authorize the levy of a charge or any increase in the
amount collected pursuant to any existing charge, nor add to or
detract from, any existing authority of the Public Utilities
Commission to levy or increase charges.  
   This bill would require the portfolio of projects funded through
the EPIC program to additionally include projects pertaining to
safety of the electrical grid.  
   Existing law, the Uniform Parentage Act, sets forth the
circumstances under which a man may be presumed to be the natural
father of a child. Under existing law, those circumstances include if
he receives the child into his home and openly holds out the child
as his natural child and if the child is in utero after the father's
death and specified conditions applicable with respect to determining
rights to the property to be distributed upon the death of the
decedent are satisfied. Existing law authorizes any interested party
to bring an action at any time for the purpose of determining the
existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship that
is presumed under those circumstances. The Uniform Parentage Act also
provides that the donor of semen provided to a licensed physician
and surgeon or to a licensed sperm bank for use in artificial
insemination or in vitro fertilization of a woman other than the
donor's wife is treated in law as if he were not the natural father
of a child thereby conceived, unless otherwise agreed to in a writing
signed by the donor and the woman prior to the conception of the
child.  
   This bill would instead provide that notwithstanding the treatment
in law of the sperm donor under those circumstances, any interested
party may bring an action at any time for the purpose of determining
the parentage of a man presumed to be the father because he receives
the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his natural
child. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 25711.5 of the  
Public Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   25711.5.  In administering moneys in the fund for research,
development, and demonstration programs under this chapter, the
commission shall develop and implement the Electric Program
Investment Charge (EPIC) program to do all of the following:
   (a) Award funds for projects that will benefit electricity
ratepayers and lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to
overcome the barriers that prevent the achievement of the state's
statutory energy goals and that result in a portfolio of projects
that is strategically focused and sufficiently narrow to make
advancement on the most significant technological challenges that
shall include, but not be limited to,  safety of the electrical
grid,  energy storage, renewable energy and its integration into
the electrical grid, energy efficiency, integration of electric
vehicles into the electrical grid, and accurately forecasting the
availability of renewable energy for integration into the grid.
   (b) In consultation with the Treasurer, establish terms that shall
be imposed as a condition to receipt of funding for the state to
accrue any intellectual property interest or royalties that may
derive from projects funded by the EPIC program. The commission, when
determining if imposition of the proposed terms is appropriate,
shall balance the potential benefit to the state from those terms and
the effect those terms may have on the state achieving its statutory
energy goals. The commission shall require each reward recipient, as
a condition of receiving moneys pursuant to this chapter, to agree
to any terms the commission determines are appropriate for the state
to accrue any intellectual property interest or royalties that may
derive from projects funded by the EPIC program.
   (c) Require each applicant to report how the proposed project may
lead to technological advancement and potential breakthroughs to
overcome barriers to achieving the state's statutory energy goals.
   (d) Establish a process for tracking the progress and outcomes of
each funded project, including an accounting of the amount of funds
spent by program administrators and individual grant recipients on
administrative and overhead costs and whether the project resulted in
any technological advancement or breakthrough to overcome barriers
to achieving the state's statutory energy goals.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code,
prepare and submit to the Legislature no later than April 30 of each
year an annual report in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code that shall include all of the following:
   (1) A brief description of each project for which funding was
awarded in the immediately prior calendar year, including the name of
the recipient and the amount of the award, a description of how the
project is thought to lead to technological advancement or
breakthroughs to overcome barriers to achieving the state's statutory
energy goals, and a description of why the project was selected.
   (2) A brief description of each project funded by the EPIC program
that was completed in the immediately prior calendar year, including
the name of the recipient, the amount of the award, and the outcomes
of the funded project.
   (3) A brief description of each project funded by the EPIC program
for which an award was made in the previous years but that is not
completed, including the name of the recipient and the amount of the
award, and a description of how the project will lead to
technological advancement or breakthroughs to overcome barriers to
achieving the state's statutory energy goals.
   (4) Identification of the award recipients that are
California-based entities, small businesses, or businesses owned by
women, minorities, or disabled veterans.
   (5) Identification of which awards were made through a competitive
bid, interagency agreement, or sole source method, and the action of
the Joint Legislative Budget Committee pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (g) for each award made through an interagency agreement
or sole source method.
   (6) Identification of the total amount of administrative and
overhead costs incurred for each project.
   (f) Establish requirements to minimize program administration and
overhead costs, including costs incurred by program administrators
and individual grant recipients. Each program administrator and grant
recipient, including a public entity, shall be required to justify
actual administration and overhead costs incurred, even if the total
costs incurred do not exceed a cap on those costs that the commission
may adopt.
   (g) (1) The commission shall use a sealed competitive bid as the
preferred method to solicit project applications and award funds
pursuant to the EPIC program.
   (2) (A) The commission may use a sole source or interagency
agreement method if the project cannot be described with sufficient
specificity so that bids can be evaluated against specifications and
criteria set forth in a solicitation for bid and if both of the
following conditions are met:
   (i) The commission, at least 60 days prior to making an award
pursuant to this subdivision, notifies the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee and the relevant policy committees in both houses of the
Legislature, in writing, of its intent to take the proposed action.
   (ii) The Joint Legislative Budget Committee either approves or
does not disapprove the proposed action within 60 days from the date
of notification required by clause (i).
   (B) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact this paragraph to
ensure legislative oversight for awards made on a sole source basis,
or through an interagency agreement.
   (3) Notwithstanding any other law, standard terms and conditions
that generally apply to contracts between the commission and any
entities, including state entities, do not automatically preclude the
award of moneys from the fund through the sealed competitive bid
method. 
  SECTION 1.    Section 7630 of the Family Code is
amended to read:
   7630.  (a) A child, the child's natural mother, a man presumed to
be the child's father under subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section
7611, an adoption agency to whom the child has been relinquished, or
a prospective adoptive parent of the child may bring an action as
follows:
   (1) At any time for the purpose of declaring the existence of the
father and child relationship presumed under subdivision (a), (b), or
(c) of Section 7611.
   (2) For the purpose of declaring the nonexistence of the father
and child relationship presumed under subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of
Section 7611 only if the action is brought within a reasonable time
after obtaining knowledge of relevant facts. After the presumption
has been rebutted, paternity of the child by another man may be
determined in the same action, if he has been made a party.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 7613, any
interested party may bring an action at any time for the purpose of
determining the existence or nonexistence of the father and child
relationship presumed under subdivision (d) of Section 7611.
   (2) Any interested party may bring an action at any time for the
purpose of determining the existence or nonexistence of the father
and child relationship presumed under subdivision (f) of Section
7611.
   (c) Except as to cases coming within Chapter 1 (commencing with
Section 7540) of Part 2, an action to determine the existence of the
father and child relationship may be brought by the child or personal
representative of the child, the Department of Child Support
Services, the mother or the personal representative or a parent of
the mother if the mother has died or is a minor, a man alleged or
alleging himself to be the father, or the personal representative or
a parent of the alleged father if the alleged father has died or is a
minor.
   (d) (1) If a proceeding has been filed under Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 7820) of Part 4, an action under subdivision (a) or (b)
shall be consolidated with that proceeding. The parental rights of
the presumed father shall be determined as set forth in Sections 7820
to 7829, inclusive.
   (2) If a proceeding pursuant to Section 7662 has been filed under
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 7660), an action under subdivision
(c) shall be consolidated with that proceeding. The parental rights
of the alleged natural father shall be determined as set forth in
Section 7664.
   (3) The consolidated action under paragraph (1) or (2) shall be
heard in the court in which the proceeding under Section 7662 or
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7820) of Part 4 is filed, unless
the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that transferring
the action to the other court poses a substantial hardship to the
petitioner. Mere inconvenience does not constitute a sufficient basis
for a finding of substantial hardship. If the court determines there
is a substantial hardship, the consolidated action shall be heard in
the court in which the paternity action is filed.
   (e) (1) If any prospective adoptive parent who has physical
custody of the child, or any licensed California adoption agency that
has legal custody of the child, has not been joined as a party to an
action to determine the existence of a father and child relationship
under subdivision (a), (b), or (c), or an action for custody by the
alleged natural father, the court shall join the prospective adoptive
parent or licensed California adoption agency as a party upon
application or on its own motion, without the necessity of a motion
for joinder. A joined party shall not be required to pay a fee in
connection with this action.
   (2) If a man brings an action to determine paternity and custody
of a child who he has reason to believe is in the physical or legal
custody of an adoption agency, or of one or more persons other than
the child's mother who are prospective adoptive parents, he shall
serve his entire pleading on, and give notice of all proceedings to,
the adoption agency or the prospective adoptive parents, or both.
   (f) A party to an assisted reproduction agreement may bring an
action at any time to establish a parent and child relationship
consistent with the intent expressed in that assisted reproduction
agreement.
   (g) (1) In an action to determine the existence of the father and
child relationship brought pursuant to subdivision (b), if the child'
s other parent has died and there are no existing court orders or
pending court actions involving custody or guardianship of the child,
then the persons having physical custody of the child shall be
served with notice of the proceeding at least 15 days prior to the
hearing, either by mail or in any manner authorized by the court. If
any person identified as having physical custody of the child cannot
be located, the court shall prescribe the manner of giving notice.
   (2) If known to the person bringing the parentage action,
relatives within the second degree of the child shall be given notice
of the proceeding at least 15 days prior to the hearing, either by
mail or in any manner authorized by the court. If a person identified
as a relative of the second degree of the child cannot be located,
or his or her whereabouts are unknown or cannot be ascertained, the
court shall prescribe the manner of giving notice, or shall dispense
with giving notice to that person.
   (3) Proof of notice pursuant to this subdivision shall be filed
with the court before the proceeding to determine the existence of
the father and child relationship is heard.