Amended in Assembly January 4, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1470

Introduced by Assembly Member Alejo

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown, Daly, and Dodd)

February 27, 2015

An act to add begin delete Section 510.5 to the Labor Code, relating to end delete begin delete employment end delete begin insert 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 end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1470, as amended, Alejo. begin delete Working hours: overtime. end delete begin insert Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016. end insert

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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.

end insert begin insert

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.

end insert begin delete

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.

end delete begin delete

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.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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(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.

end insert begin insert

(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.

end insert begin insert

(c) The state’s waters are especially prone to harmful algal
blooms due to our warm climate, numerous water diversions, and
stressed waterways.

end insert begin insert

(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.

end insert begin insert

(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.

end insert begin insert

(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.

end insert begin insert

(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.

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(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.

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(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.

end insert begin insert

(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.

end insert begin insert

(k) The state needs a coordinated multiagency effort to develop
actions and projects that will prevent or mitigate toxic blooms and
associated cyanotoxin pollution.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 31420) is added
to Division 21 of the end insert begin insert Public Resources Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

 

Chapter   begin insert 10. end insert Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act
of 2016

 

begin insert 31420. end insert   

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.

begin insert 31421. end insert   

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.

begin insert 31422. end insert   

(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.

begin insert 31423. end insert   

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.

begin insert 31424. end insert   

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.

end insert

begin delete

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.

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