(a) An apprenticeship program may be administered by a joint apprenticeship committee, unilateral management or labor apprenticeship committee, or an individual employer. Programs may be approved by the chief in any trade in the state or in a city or trade area, whenever the apprentice training needs justify the establishment. Where a collective bargaining agreement exists, a program shall be jointly sponsored unless either party to the agreement waives its right to representation in writing. Joint apprenticeship committees shall be composed of an equal number of employer and employee representatives.

(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), the apprentice training needs in the building and construction trades and firefighter programs shall be deemed to justify the approval of a new apprenticeship program only if any of the following conditions are met:

(1) There is no existing apprenticeship program approved under this chapter serving the same craft or trade and geographic area.

(2) Existing apprenticeship programs approved under this chapter that serve the same craft or trade and geographic area do not have the capacity, or neglect or refuse, to dispatch sufficient apprentices to qualified employers at a public works site who have requested apprentices and are willing to abide by the applicable apprenticeship standards, as shown by a sustained pattern of unfilled requests.

(3) Existing apprenticeship programs approved under this chapter that serve the same trade and geographic area have been identified by the California Apprenticeship Council as deficient in meeting their obligations under this chapter.

(c) For purposes of subdivision (b), an existing apprenticeship program serves the “same craft or trade” as a proposed apprenticeship program when there would be substantial overlap in the work processes covered by the programs or when graduates of the existing program would be qualified to perform a substantial portion of the work that would be performed by graduates of the new program.

(d) The chief’s decisions regarding applications for new apprenticeship programs in the building and construction trades and firefighters may be appealed by any interested party to the California Apprenticeship Council. For purposes of this section, an application for expansion of an existing program to include an additional occupation shall be considered an application for a “new apprenticeship program.”

(e) The chief’s decisions regarding applications for new apprenticeship programs outside the building and construction trades and firefighters are final and not subject to administrative appeal, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(f) The chief’s decisions regarding applications for new apprenticeship programs shall be posted to the division’s Internet Web site, which shall constitute the only form of notice and service. Appeals to the California Apprenticeship Council under this section must be filed within 30 days after notice of the chief’s decision.

(g) The chief shall not approve a new apprenticeship program that includes a substantial number of work processes covered by a program in the building and construction trades or firefighters, or approve the amendment of apprenticeship standards to include those work processes, unless either of the following applies:

(1) The program is in the building and construction trades or a firefighter program and subject to the rules and regulations of the California Apprenticeship Council.

(2) The California Apprenticeship Council has granted consent to the approval of the program or the amendment to the apprenticeship standards. If no party files an objection with the chief to the approval of the proposed program or amendment alleging overlap of work processes under this subdivision, the chief shall not be required to seek the consent of the California Apprenticeship Council prior to approving the program or amendment.

(h) At least 30 days before approval of a new apprenticeship program, or of an amendment to the apprenticeship standards to include new work processes, the division shall post on its Internet Web site a copy of the proposed apprenticeship standards, which shall constitute the only form of notice and service that an application on the proposed program or amendment is pending. Notwithstanding subdivision (e), the chief’s decision regarding any new apprenticeship program or amendment of the apprenticeship standards to include new work processes may be appealed to the California Apprenticeship Council if notice under this subdivision is not provided.

(i) The division shall create a method on its Internet Web site for members of the public to subscribe to receive email updates when new decisions or proposed apprenticeship standards are posted pursuant to this section.

(j) Only the following programs may dispatch apprentices to projects subject to prevailing wage or skilled and trained workforce requirements:

(1) Programs in the building and construction trades approved before July 1, 2018.

(2) Programs in the building and construction trades approved under the standard in subdivision (b).

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 704, Sec. 32. (AB 235) Effective September 22, 2018.)