65850.71. (a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(1) An electric vehicle charging station has a significant economic impact in California and is not a municipal affair, as the term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is instead a matter of statewide concern. Therefore, this section applies to all cities, including charter cities.
(2) Table 3 of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permitting Guidebook, published July 2019, recommends best practices for electric vehicle supply equipment permitting that would establish a 15-day timeline and satisfy the intent of Assembly Bill 1236 (Chapter 598 of the Statutes of 2015).
(b) (1) An application to install an electric vehicle charging station submitted to the building official of a city, county, or city and county shall be deemed complete if, after the applicable time period described in paragraph (2) has elapsed, both of the following are true:
(A) The building official of the city, county, or city and county has not deemed the application complete, consistent with the checklist created by the city, county, or city and county pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 65850.7.
(B) The building official of the city, county, or city and county has not issued a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the application and identifying any additional information explicitly necessary for the building official to complete a review limited to whether the electric vehicle charging station meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and federal law, consistent with subdivisions (b) and (g) of Section 65850.7.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), “applicable time period means” either of the following:
(A) Five business days after submission of the application to the city, county, or city and county, if the application is for at least 1, but not more than 25 electric vehicle charging stations at a single site.
(B) Ten business days after submission of the application to the city, county, or city and county, if the application is for more than 25 electric vehicle charging stations at a single site.
(c) (1) An application to install an electric vehicle charging station shall be deemed approved if the applicable time period described in paragraph (2) has elapsed and all of the following are true:
(A) The building official of the city, county, or city and county has not administratively approved the application pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 65850.7.
(B) The building official of the city, county, or city and county has not made a finding, based on substantial evidence, that the electric vehicle charging station could have a specific adverse impact upon the public health or safety or required the applicant to apply for a use permit pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 65850.7.
(C) The building official of the city, county, or city and county has not denied the permit pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65850.7.
(D) An appeal has not been made to the planning commission of the city, county, or city and county, pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 65850.7.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), “applicable time period means” either of the following:
(A) Twenty business days after the application was deemed complete, if the application is for at least 1, but not more than 25 electric vehicle charging stations at a single site.
(B) Forty business days after the application was deemed complete, if the application is for more than 25 electric vehicle charging stations at a single site.
(d) If an electric vehicle charging station and any associated equipment interfere with, reduce, eliminate, or in any way impact the required parking spaces for existing uses, the city, county, or city and county shall reduce the number of required parking spaces for the existing uses by the amount necessary to accommodate the electric vehicle charging station and any associated equipment.
(e) If the electric vehicle charging station is being installed in an area that receives electrical service from a local publicly owned electric utility, this section does not expand or restrict the local publicly owned electric utility’s role and responsibility in providing new electric service to the electric vehicle charging station in a manner consistent with safety, reliability, and engineering requirements.
(f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2022, but for every city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents, this section shall apply beginning on January 1, 2023.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 710, Sec. 2. (AB 970) Effective January 1, 2022.)