2024 Legislative Session Comes to a Close
On the final deadline for signing or vetoing bills, Governor Gavin Newsom closed out the 2024 Legislative Session by addressing all pending bills on his desk. The second year of the two year 2023-24 Legislative Session concluded with significant developments across a range of policy areas. The year was marked by efforts to address some of the state’s most pressing issues, including housing, climate change, water resiliency, and renewable energy amongst the background of the state facing a challenging economic situation.

In anticipation of the upcoming 2025-26 Legislative Session, CASA will be hosting our State Legislative Committee Planning Meeting on December 6th. If you are interested in attending or have a bill proposal you would like presented to the SLC, please reach out to Jessica Gauger and Spencer Saks.

2024 Session: Final Bill Dispositions and Recap
SB 903 (Skinner) – Held in Appropriations 

CASA, in conjunction with a group of NGO partners co-sponsored  SB 903 this year, which would have prevented the sale of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) unless the use of the PFAS in the product is determined to be unavoidable. This bill was unfortunately held “on suspense” in the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this summer after it received a sizable fiscal analysis. The Appropriations committee cited $10 million annually and 44 positions at DTSC to implement the program as described in the bill, which was untenable given the state’s Budget shortfall. If you have any questions or would like more information, please reach out to Jessica Gauger and Spencer Saks.  

AB 2515 (Papan) – Signed

AB 2515 was signed by the Governor on September 30th. This bill will prohibit the manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any menstrual products that contain PFAS. The bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations on or before January 1st, 2029 and would create penalties for violations of AB 2515. This bill would additionally create and would require all moneys collected from penalties to be deposited in, the T.A.M.P.O.N. Act Fund. CASA had a support position on the bill, consistent with our ongoing efforts to promote source reductions of PFAS in commerce.   

AB 805 (Arambula) – Signed

AB 805 passed through the Legislature and was signed by Governor Newsom on September 24th. This bill provides a temporary interim authority to the State Water Resources Control Board to appoint an administrator to oversee a failing sewer system serving a disadvantaged community. This new authority requires The Board to undertake a process to designate a system as failing, and then allows the Board to require the failing system to contract with an administrator approved by the State Water Board. Through negotiations, CASA was able to advocate for substantial provisions that require due process for both the failing systems and the potential appointed administrators. This bill was passed with an urgency clause, which means that the bill takes effect immediately after the Governor’s signature. The authority provided in the bill is revoked on January 1st, 2029, and a permanent program will require further legislative approval. This will allow the ongoing Wastewater Needs Assessment project underway at the Board to proceed and inform any permanent program. CASA had a neutral position on the bill after negotiating language to address our concerns in the Senate. For more information or if you have any questions, please reach out to Jessica Gauger.

SB 937 (Weiner) – Signed

SB 937, which delays the collection of certain development fees, was signed by the Governor on September 19th. For most of the year CASA was only watching this bill, but we quickly moved to an oppose position during the last week of the Legislative Session, after the bill was amended problematically with provisions impacting an agency’s ability to collect connection and capacity fees for certain development projects. CASA is continuing to evaluate this bill’s impact and will engage on the implementation of this legislation with our Attorneys Committee.

AB 3073 (Haney) – Held in Appropriations 

AB 3073 was a bill which proposed to create a voluntary pilot program under the California Department of Public Health for local sanitation agencies to collect wastewater samples for testing for illicit substances to inform public health responses. CASA worked closely with the author’s office to amend the bill to become a voluntary pilot program rather than a state-mandated local program. The bill died on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense file with a cost estimate of $3 million in the first year and annual costs in the range of $1 million and $1.7 million (General Fund) in subsequent years until the program would have sunset in 2028. CASA ultimately moved to a support position on the final version of the bill after it was amended to be a pilot program that was voluntary in nature.