Amended in Senate May 6, 2015

Amended in Senate April 14, 2015

Senate Bill No. 48

Introduced by Senator Hill

December 18, 2014

An act to amend Sections 305, 306, 307, 308, begin delete 309.6, end delete 321.6, 1701, begin delete 1701.1, 1701.4, end delete and 1759 of, and to add Sections begin delete 1701.6 end delete begin insert 309.8 end insert and 1711 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 48, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission.

(1) The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities. Existing law requires the Governor to designate the president of the commission from among its members and requires the president to direct the executive director, the attorney, and other staff of the commission, except for the Office of Ratepayer Advocates. Existing law authorizes the executive director and the attorney to undertake certain actions if directed or authorized by the president, except as otherwise directed or authorized by vote of the commission.

This bill would repeal the requirement that the president direct the executive director, the attorney, and other commission staff. The bill would delete the authority of the president to direct or authorize the executive director and attorney to undertake certain actions, thereby requiring that they be directed or authorized to undertake those actions by the commission. begin delete The bill would require the commission to develop performance criteria for the commission and the executive director and to annually evaluate the performance of the executive director based on the criteria established in the previous year. end delete

(2) The Public Utilities Act provides that the office of the commission be in the City and County of San Francisco, that the office always be open, legal holidays and nonjudicial days excepted, that the commission hold its sessions at least once in each calendar month in the City and County of San Francisco, and authorizes the commission to also meet at those other times and places as may be expedient and necessary for the proper performance of its duties.

This bill would require that the commission hold its sessions at least once in each calendar month in the City and County of San Francisco or the City of Sacramento and would require that the commission hold no less than 6 sessions each year in the City of Sacramento.

(3) The California Constitution authorizes the commission to establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. Existing law requires the commission to determine whether a proceeding requires a hearing and, if so, to determine whether the matter requires a quasi-legislative, an adjudication, or a ratesetting hearing. For these purposes, quasi-legislative cases are cases that establish policy rulemakings and investigations which may establish rules affecting an entire industry, adjudication cases are enforcement cases and complaints except those challenging the reasonableness of any rates or charges, and ratesetting cases are cases in which rates are established for a specific company, including general rate cases, performance-based ratemaking, and other ratesetting mechanisms.

This bill would make the Administrative Adjudication Code of Ethics applicable to adjudication hearings of the commission. Except for in adjudication cases, the bill would require the commission, before instituting an investigation or proceeding on its own motion, where feasible and appropriate, to seek the views of those who are likely to be affected by a decision in the investigation or proceeding, including those who are likely to benefit from, and those who are potentially subject to, a decision in that investigation or proceeding. begin insert This bill would require the commission to post all prepared written testimony submitted in its formal proceedings on its Internet Web site. end insert

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(4) Existing law requires the commission, upon initiating a hearing, to assign one or more commissioners to oversee the case and an administrative law judge, where appropriate. Existing law requires the assigned commissioner to prepare and issue, by order or ruling, a scoping memo that describes the issues to be considered and the applicable timetable for resolution. Existing law requires the commission, to adopt procedures on the disqualification of administrative law judges due to bias or prejudice similar to those of other state agencies and superior courts.

end delete begin delete

This bill would require the commission to additionally adopt procedures on the disqualification of commissioners due to bias or prejudice similar to those of other state agencies and superior courts.

end delete begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to develop, publish, and annually update an annual workplan that does all begin insert of end insert the following: begin delete (a) end delete begin insert (A) end insert describes in clear detail the scheduled ratemaking proceedings and other decisions that may be considered by the commission during the calendar year, begin delete (b) end delete begin insert (B) end insert include information on how members of the public and ratepayers can gain access to the commission’s ratemaking process and information regarding the specific matters to be decided, begin delete (c) end delete begin insert (C) end insert include information on the operation of the office of the public adviser and identify the names and telephone numbers of those contact persons responsible for specific cases and matters to be decided, and begin delete (d) end delete begin insert (D) end insert include a statement that specifies activities that the commission proposes to reduce the costs of, and rates for, energy, including electricity, and for improving the competitive opportunities for state agriculture and other rural energy consumers. The act requires the commission to submit the workplan to the Governor and Legislature by February 1 of each year.

This bill would expand the requirement that the workplan describe in clear detail the scheduled proceedings that may be considered by the commission during the calendar year to include all proceedings and not just ratemaking proceedings. The bill would additionally require that the workplan include performance criteria for the commission and executive director and evaluate the performance of the executive director during the previous year based on the criteria established in the prior year’s workplan.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert  The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to create, and annually submit to the Governor and Legislature by February 1, a report on the number of cases where resolution exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos and the days that commissioners presided in hearings.

This bill would delete the requirement that the report include the number of cases where resolution exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos and instead would require the report to describe the commission’s timeliness in resolving cases and include information on the disposition of applications for rehearings. The bill would require that the report include the number of scoping memos issued in each proceeding and to include the number of orders issued extending the statutory deadlines for all adjudication, ratesetting, and quasi-legislative cases.

begin delete

(7) Existing law regulates communications in hearings before the commission and defines “ex parte communication” to mean any oral or written communication between a decisionmaker and a person with an interest in a matter before the commission concerning substantive, but not procedural, issues that does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other public proceeding, or on the official record of the proceeding on the matter. Existing law requires the commission, by regulation, to adopt and publish a definition of the terms “decisionmaker” and “persons” for those purposes, along with any requirements for written reporting of ex parte communications and appropriate sanctions for noncompliance with any rule proscribing ex parte communications. Existing law requires the commission to permit ex parte communications in quasi-legislative cases without restriction.

end delete begin delete

This bill would revise the definition of an “ex parte communication” to include communication between a decisionmaker and a representative of the financial industry, even if the representative does not have an interest in the matter. The bill would require that the commission’s definition of who is a “decisionmaker” include commissioners, the executive director of the commission, and the attorney of the commission. The bill would delete the provision that an ex parte communication concerns a substantive, but not a procedural matter, and instead would provide that an ex parte communication concerns any matter that the commission has not specified as being a procedural matter that is an appropriate subject for ex parte communication. The bill would require the commission to specify those procedural matter that are appropriate subjects for ex parte communications in its Rules of Practice and Procedure. The bill would permit ex parte communications in quasi-legislative proceedings only in the following circumstances: (A) for oral ex parte communications if all interested parties are invited and given not less than 3 days’ notice, (B) for written ex parte communications if copies of the communication are transmitted to all parties on the same day, and (C) if an ex parte communication meeting is granted to any party, all other parties are required to be granted individual ex parte meetings of a substantially equal period of time and not less than 3 days’ notice would be required to be sent of this right at the time that the request is granted. The bill would require that any decisionmaker who makes or receives a prohibited ex parte communication, or who learns that a permissible ex parte communication was not reported, to disclose the content of the communication and give all parties an opportunity to address the communication. The bill would make a knowing and willful violation of the ex parte communications requirements punishable by a fine of not more than $50,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year in the county jail, or by both fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the commission to post all prepared written testimony submitted in its formal proceedings on the commission’s Internet Web site.

end delete begin delete

(8)

end delete

begin insert (6) end insert  The California Constitution provides that the Legislature has plenary power to establish the manner and scope of review of commission action in a court of record. Existing law provides that only the Supreme Court and the court of appeal have jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution or operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the commission in the performance of its official duties.

This bill would authorize an action to enforce the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act or the California Public Records Act to be brought against the commission in the superior court.

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(9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end delete begin delete

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert .

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

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) On June 3, 2014, California’s Fourth District Court of
Appeal, in Disenhouse v. Peevey (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 1096,
held that an interested person desiring to enforce the Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act begin insert (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120)
of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code) end insert against the Public Utilities Commission must do so by filing
a petition for writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court or the begin delete Court
of Appeal end delete begin insert court of appeal end insert and may not do so by filing an action
for injunctive relief in the superior court.

(2) The intent of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act is that
actions of state agencies be taken openly and that their deliberation
be conducted openly.

(3) The people’s right to remain informed so that they may
retain control over the instruments of government that they have
created is not less of a right for some agencies than for other
agencies, nor shall the people’s ability to enforce the Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act be more hampered for some agencies than for
other agencies.

(4) The duties, responsibilities, and actions of the Public Utilities
Commission affect the well-being of current and future generations
and the public interest and principles of fundamental fairness and
due process of law require that the commission conduct its affairs
in an open, objective, and impartial manner, free of undue influence
and the abuse of power and authority.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Public Utilities
Commission should be subject to the judicial review provisions
of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.

SEC. 2.  

Section 305 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

305.  

The Governor shall designate a president of the
commission from among the members of the commission. The
president shall preside at all meetings and sessions of the
commission.

SEC. 3.  

Section 306 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

306.  

(a) The office of the commission shall be in the City and
County of San Francisco. The office shall always be open, legal
holidays and nonjudicial days excepted. The commission shall
hold its sessions at least once in each calendar month in the City
and County of San Francisco or the City of Sacramento. The
commission may also meet at such other times and in such other
places as may be expedient and necessary for the proper
performance of its duties, and for that purpose may rent quarters
or offices. The commission shall hold no less than six sessions
each year in the City of Sacramento.

(b) The meetings of the commission shall be open and public
in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 (commencing with
Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.

In addition to the requirements of Section 11125 of the
Government Code, the commission shall include in its notice of
meetings the agenda of business to be transacted, and no item of
business shall be added to the agenda subsequent to the notice in
the absence of an unforeseen emergency situation. A rate increase
shall not constitute an unforeseen emergency situation. As used
in this subdivision, “meeting” shall include all investigations,
proceedings, and showings required by law to be open and public.

(c) The commission shall have a seal, bearing the inscription
“Public Utilities Commission State of California.” The seal shall
be affixed to all writs and authentications of copies of records and
to such other instruments as the commission shall direct.

(d) The commission may procure all necessary books, maps,
charts, stationery, instruments, office furniture, apparatus, and
appliances.

SEC. 4.  

Section 307 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

307.  

(a) The commission may appoint as attorney to the
commission an attorney at law of this state, who shall hold office
during the pleasure of the commission.

(b) The attorney shall represent and appear for the people of the
State of California and the commission in all actions and
proceedings involving any question under this part or under any
order or act of the commission. If directed to do so by the
commission, the attorney shall intervene, if possible, in any action
or proceeding in which any such question is involved.

(c) The attorney shall commence, prosecute, and expedite the
final determination of all actions and proceedings directed or
authorized by the commission, advise the commission and each
commissioner, when so requested, in regard to all matters in
connection with the powers and duties of the commission and the
members thereof, and generally perform all duties and services as
attorney to the commission that the commission may require of
him or her.

SEC. 5.  

Section 308 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

308.  

(a) The commission shall appoint an executive director,
who shall hold office during its pleasure. The executive director
shall be responsible for the commission’s executive and
administrative duties and shall organize, coordinate, supervise,
and direct the operations and affairs of the commission and
expedite all matters within the commission’s jurisdiction.

(b) The executive director shall keep a full and true record of
all proceedings of the commission, issue all necessary process,
writs, warrants, and notices, and perform any other duties the
commission prescribes. The commission may authorize the
executive director to dismiss complaints or applications when all
parties are in agreement thereto, in accordance with rules that the
commission may prescribe.

(c) The commission may appoint assistant executive directors
who may serve warrants and other process in any county or city
and county of this state.

begin delete

(d) The commission shall develop performance criteria for the
commission and the executive director and shall annually evaluate
the performance of the executive director based on the criteria
established in the previous year.

end delete

begin delete

SEC. 6.  

Section 309.6 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

309.6.  

(a) The commission shall adopt procedures on the
disqualification of commissioners and administrative law judges
due to bias or prejudice similar to those of other state agencies and
superior courts.

(b) The commission shall develop the procedures with the
opportunity for public review and comment.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 6. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 309.8 is added to the end insert begin insert Public Utilities Code end insert begin insert , to
read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 309.8. end insert   

The commission shall post all prepared written testimony
submitted in its formal proceedings on its Internet Web site.

end insert

SEC. 7.  

Section 321.6 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

321.6.  

(a) The commission shall do all of the following:

(1) Develop, publish, and annually update an annual workplan
that describes in clear detail the scheduled proceedings and other
decisions that may be considered by the commission during the
calendar year. The plan shall include, but is not limited to,
information on how members of the public and ratepayers can gain
access to the commission’s ratemaking process and information
regarding the specific matters to be decided. The plan shall also
include information on the operation of the office of the public
begin delete adviser end delete begin insert advisor end insert and identify the names and telephone numbers of
those contact persons responsible for specific cases and matters
to be decided. The plan shall also include a statement that specifies
activities that the commission proposes to reduce the costs of, and
rates for, energy, including electricity, and for improving the
competitive opportunities for state agriculture and other rural
energy consumers. The plan shall also include performance criteria
for the commission and executive director and shall evaluate the
performance of the executive director during the previous year
based on the criteria established in the prior year’s workplan. The
commission shall post the plan under the Official Documents area
of its Internet Web site and shall develop a program to disseminate
the information in the plan utilizing computer mailing lists to
provide regular updates on the information to those members of
the public and organizations which request that information.

(2) Produce a complete accounting of its transactions and
proceedings for the preceding year, together with other facts,
suggestions, and recommendations that it deems of value to the
people of the state and a statement that specifies the activities and
achievements of the commission in reducing the costs of, and rates
for, energy, including electricity, for state agriculture and other
rural energy consumers.

(3) Create a report describing the commission’s timeliness in
resolving cases, information on the disposition of applications for
rehearings, and the days that commissioners presided in hearings.
The report shall include the number of scoping memos issued in
each proceeding and the number of orders issued extending the
statutory deadlines pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1701.2,
for all adjudication cases, and pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
1701.5, for all ratesetting or quasi-legislative cases.

(4) Submit annually the plan, accounting, and report required
by paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) to the Governor and Legislature no
later than February 1 of each year.

(b) The president of the commission shall annually appear before
the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly to
report on the annual workplan access guide of the commission
required pursuant to this section.

(c) The president of the commission shall annually appear before
the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly to
report on the annual report of the commission on the commission’s
timeliness in resolving cases and the days that commissioners
presided in hearings.

SEC. 8.  

Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

1701.  

(a) All hearings, investigations, and proceedings shall
be governed by this part and by rules of practice and procedure
adopted by the commission, and in the conduct thereof the technical
rules of evidence need not be applied. No informality in any
hearing, investigation, or proceeding or in the manner of taking
testimony shall invalidate any order, decision or rule made,
approved, or confirmed by the commission.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 11425.10 of the Government Code,
Articles 1 through 15, inclusive, of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 11400) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code do not apply to a hearing by the commission under this code.
The Administrative Adjudication Code of Ethics (Article 16
(commencing with Section 11475) of Chapter begin delete 4.5) end delete begin insert 4.5 of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) end insert shall apply to
adjudication proceedings of the commission.

begin delete

SEC. 9.  

Section 1701.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

1701.1.  

(a) The commission, consistent with due process,
public policy, and statutory requirements, shall determine whether
a proceeding requires a hearing. The commission shall determine
whether the matter requires a quasi-legislative, an adjudication,
or a ratesetting hearing. The commission’s decision as to the nature
of the proceeding shall be subject to a request for rehearing within
10 days of the date of that decision. If that decision is not appealed
to the commission within that time period it shall not be
subsequently subject to judicial review. Only those parties who
have requested a rehearing within that time period shall
subsequently have standing for judicial review and that review
shall only be available at the conclusion of the proceeding. The
commission shall render its decision regarding the rehearing within
30 days. The commission shall establish regulations regarding ex
parte communication on case categorization issues.

(b) The commission upon initiating a hearing shall assign one
or more commissioners to oversee the case and an administrative
law judge where appropriate. The assigned commissioner shall
schedule a prehearing conference. The assigned commissioner
shall prepare and issue by order or ruling a scoping memo that
describes the issues to be considered and the applicable timetable
for resolution.

(c) (1) Quasi-legislative cases, for purposes of this article, are
cases that establish policy, including, but not limited to,
rulemakings and investigations which may establish rules affecting
an entire industry.

(2) Adjudication cases, for purposes of this article, are
enforcement cases and complaints except those challenging the
reasonableness of any rates or charges as specified in Section 1702.

(3) Ratesetting cases, for purposes of this article, are cases in
which rates are established for a specific company, including, but
not limited to, general rate cases, performance-based ratemaking,
and other ratesetting mechanisms.

(d) (1) “Ex parte communication,” for purposes of this article,
means any oral or written communication between a decisionmaker
and a person with an interest in a matter before the commission
or a representative of the financial industry concerning any matter
that the commission has not specified as being a procedural matter
that is an appropriate subject for ex parte communication, that does
not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other public proceeding,
or on the official record of the proceeding on the matter. The
commission shall specify those procedural matter that are
appropriate subjects for ex parte communications in its Rules of
Practice and Procedure. “Person with an interest,” for purposes of
this article, means any of the following:

(A) Any applicant, an agent or an employee of the applicant,
or a person receiving consideration for representing the applicant,
or a participant in the proceeding on any matter before the
commission.

(B) Any person with a financial interest, as described in Article
1 (commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7 of Title 9 of the
Government Code, in a matter before the commission, or an agent
or employee of the person with a financial interest, or a person
receiving consideration for representing the person with a financial
interest.

(C) A representative acting on behalf of any civic,
environmental, neighborhood, business, labor, trade, or similar
organization who intends to influence the decision of a commission
member on a matter before the commission.

(2) The commission shall by regulation adopt and publish a
definition of decisionmakers and persons for purposes of this
section, which shall include commissioners, the executive director,
and the attorney to the commission, along with any requirements
for written reporting of ex parte communications and appropriate
sanctions, in addition to those described in Section 1701.6, for
noncompliance with any rule proscribing ex parte communications.
The regulation shall provide that reportable communications shall
be reported by the party and the decisionmaker pursuant to
paragraphs (3) and (4), whether the communication was initiated
by the party or the decisionmaker.

(3) The communication shall be reported by the party within
three working days of the communication by filing a “Notice of
Ex Parte Communication” with the commission in accordance
with the procedures established by the commission for the service
of that notice. The notice shall include the following information:

(A) The date, time, and location of the communication, and
whether it was oral, written, or a combination.

(B) The identity of the recipient and the person initiating the
communication, as well as the identity of any persons present
during the communication.

(C) A description of the party’s, but not the decisionmaker’s,
communication and its content, to which shall be attached a copy
of any written material or text used during the communication.

(4) Any decisionmaker who makes or receives a prohibited ex
parte communication, or who learns that a permissible ex parte
communication was not reported pursuant to paragraph (3), shall
disclose the content of the communication and give all parties an
opportunity to address the communication.

(e) The commission shall post all prepared written testimony
submitted in its formal proceedings on its Internet Web site.

SEC. 10.  

Section 1701.4 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:

1701.4.  

(a) If the commission pursuant to Section 1701.1 has
determined that a quasi-legislative case requires a hearing, the
procedures prescribed by this section shall be applicable. The
assigned administrative law judge shall act as an assistant to the
assigned commissioner in quasi-legislative cases. The assigned
commissioner shall be present for formal hearings. The assigned
commissioner shall prepare the proposed rule or order with the
assistance of the administrative law judge. The assigned
commissioner shall present the proposed rule or order to the full
commission in a public meeting. The report shall include the
number of days of hearing and the number of days that the
commissioner was present.

(b) Ex parte communications shall be permitted in
quasi-legislative cases, subject to the following:

(1) Oral ex parte communications may be permitted if all
interested parties are invited and given not less than three days’
notice.

(2) Written ex parte communications may be permitted if copies
of the communication are transmitted to all parties on the same
day.

(3) If an ex parte communication meeting is granted to any
party, all other parties shall also be granted individual ex parte
meetings of a substantially equal period of time and shall be sent
a notice of this right at the time that the request is granted. In no
event shall that notice be less than three days.

(c) Any party has the right to present a final oral argument of
its case before the commission. Those requests shall be scheduled
in a timely manner. A quorum of the commission shall be present
for the final oral arguments.

(d) The commission may, in issuing its rule or order, adopt,
modify, or set aside the proposed decision or any part of the rule
or order. The final rule or order of the commission shall be issued
not later than 60 days after the issuance of the proposed rule or
order. Under extraordinary circumstances the commission may
extend this date for a reasonable period. The 60-day period shall
be extended for 30 days if any alternate rule or order is proposed
pursuant to Section 311.

SEC. 11.  

Section 1701.6 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:

1701.6.  

A knowing and willful violation of the ex parte
communications requirements of this article by any person is
punishable by a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) or by imprisonment for not more than one year in a
county jail, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 12. end delete
begin insert SEC. 9. end insert   

Section 1711 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:

1711.  

Where feasible and appropriate, except for adjudication
cases, before instituting an investigation or proceeding on its own
motion, the commission shall seek the views of those who are
likely to be affected, including those who are likely to benefit from,
and those who are potentially subject to, a decision in that
investigation or proceeding. The commission shall demonstrate
its efforts to comply with this section in the text of the order
instituting the investigation or proceeding.

begin delete SEC. 13. end delete
begin insert SEC. 10. end insert   

Section 1759 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

1759.  

(a) No court of this state, except the Supreme Court and
the court of appeal, to the extent specified in this article, shall have
jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or
decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution
or operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the
commission in the performance of its official duties, as provided
by law and the rules of court.

(b) The writ of mandamus shall lie from the Supreme Court and
from the court of appeal to the commission in all proper cases as
prescribed in Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(c) This section does not apply to an action brought against the
commission to enforce the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code) or the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code), which action may be brought in the superior
court.

begin delete

SEC. 14.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

end delete