(a) (1) The commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board shall require that all electric vehicle charging infrastructure and equipment located on the customer side of the electrical meter that is funded or authorized, in whole or in part, by those state entities shall be installed by a contractor with the appropriate license classification, as determined by the Contractors’ State License Board, and at least one electrician on each crew, at any given time, who holds an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certification.
(2) The commission, the Energy Commission, and the State Air Resources Board shall require that projects funded or authorized, in whole or in part, by those state entities, that install a charging port supplying 25 kilowatts or more to a vehicle have at least 25 percent of the total electricians working on the crew for the project, at any given time, who hold Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certification.
(3) One member of each crew may be both the contractor and an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certified electrician.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Electric vehicle charging infrastructure installed by employees of an electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility.
(2) Electric vehicle charging infrastructure funded by moneys derived from credits generated from the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program (Subarticle 7 (commencing with Section 95480) of Article 4 of Subchapter 10 of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations).
(3) Single-family home residential electric vehicle chargers that can use an existing 208/240-volt outlet.
(c) An electrician apprenticeship program approved by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards or a continuing education provider approved by the Department of Industrial Relations to provide training to electricians may provide apprentices with Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program training with their own Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certified instructors. The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certification exam shall be administered by the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program.
(d) The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program shall provide copies of its Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program curriculum and any updates or revisions to any Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certified instructor within 30 days of a request or when the curriculum is updated.
(e) (1) No later than May 1, 2021, and periodically thereafter, the Energy Commission, in consultation with the commission, shall conduct joint public workshops to determine if the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program curriculum and testing should be supplemented to include updated or additional topics necessary to ensure safe installation of charging infrastructure. In conducting the workshops, the Energy Commission shall seek public input from entities, including from labor groups, electrical contractors, electric vehicle service providers, and the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program. The Energy Commission’s determination shall consider cost, cost effectiveness, consensus in the industry, market penetration of new technologies, and the availability of supplemental training from other sources. The Energy Commission’s determination shall be reasonable, supplemental, and shall maintain the existing scope and rigor of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program curriculum and testing. The Energy Commission shall not require the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program to provide product-specific training. If the Energy Commission determines that the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program should be supplemented, the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program shall incorporate this supplemental curriculum and testing within six months of final action by the Energy Commission, unless additional time is reasonably required. The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program may incorporate supplemental curriculum and testing either as a California-specific supplement to the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certification or as part of the standard Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program certification.
(2) As part of the first workshop pursuant to paragraph (1), the Energy Commission, in consultation with the commission, shall evaluate whether additional training and testing is needed to safely install direct current fast charging infrastructure, high voltage charging infrastructure, or charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
(f) Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program training shall qualify as part of the 32 hours of further electrical education that a California certified electrician is required to complete every three years pursuant to Section 291.5 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.
(g) Except as provided in subdivision (h), subdivision (a) applies to all work performed on or after January 1, 2022, pursuant to any decision made on or after January 1, 2021, by the commission, the Energy Commission, or the State Air Resources Board.
(h) (1) Subdivision (a) applies to any work performed after January 1, 2021, pursuant to decisions described in subdivision (a) of Section 740.18.
(2) Subdivision (a) does not apply to electric vehicle charging infrastructure and equipment that is subject to any agreements or contracts with any public agency entered into prior to January 1, 2021, even if it is funded or authorized after January 1, 2021.
(i) Not later than March 1, 2021, the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program shall offer Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program courses in an online format. The online format shall remain available through December 31, 2024.
(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 372, Sec. 4. (AB 841) Effective January 1, 2021.)