Bill
AB 2321
Direct certain high-severity investigations to prosecuting authorities (if funded) and require written review policies, plus expanded legislative reporting and funding rules.
Proposed by Assembly Member Ortega, with coauthors Kalra and Lee
Effective date and status: Amended and amended in the Assembly; current version revisions noted as of April 9, 2026. The bill concerns the Bureau of Investigations within the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and related funding and reporting processes.
Purpose and intent
- To clarify and adjust the responsibilities, procedures, and oversight of the Bureau of Investigations (the Bureau) within Cal/OSHA.
- To establish written policies for case review and decision-making on whether to investigate or refer cases for prosecution.
- To reassign certain high-severity investigations (death or permanent total disability) to the appropriate prosecuting authority, subject to funding.
- To enhance reporting to the Legislature about Bureau activities, including workforce vacancies and job classifications.
Key provisions and changes
1) Bureau responsibilities and policy
- The bill maintains the Bureau’s core role in directing accident investigations involving violations of safety laws, standards, orders, or Health and Safety Code provisions, particularly when there is a serious injury, death, or a division request for prosecution.
- The Bureau must establish written policies and procedures for reviewing cases and deciding whether to investigate or refer for prosecution, including require documentation of rationale for not investigating or not referring each case.
2) High-severity investigations (death or permanent total disability)
- If sufficient funding is appropriated, the bill would shift investigation direction for accidents resulting in death or permanent total disability away from the Bureau and to the appropriate prosecuting authority. The Prosecuting Authority would direct such investigations and prepare cases for prosecution.
- The division (Cal/OSHA) would notify the prosecuting authority and provide the necessary information to assist in these investigations.
3) Funding and expenditures
- The bill allows the Occupational Safety and Health Fund or the Labor and Workforce Development Fund to be used by prosecuting authorities, upon appropriation, to support these investigatory activities.
- This creates a framework for funding and resource allocation to support the shifted responsibilities where applicable.
4) Reporting requirements and transparency
- In addition to existing annual reporting to the division, the Bureau would now report to the Legislature as well.
- The annual report must include:
- Totals of each type of report and case category (fatalities, serious injuries, and other investigations).
- Investigations initiated, completed, referred to prosecuting authorities, and cases in progress at year start/end.
- Dispositions of cases referred to prosecuting authorities, including violations cited, statutes, and referral/filing dates.
- Reasons for investigations not resulting in referrals.
- Bureau resources usage and vacancy data by job classification, including any additional positions needed.
5) Procedural mandating and reimbursements
- If the Commission on State Mandates determines costs are mandated by the state, reimbursements to local agencies and school districts would follow standard mandate reimbursement rules.
6) Operative provisions and timing
- Subdivision relating to transfer of high-severity investigations becomes operative upon appropriation of sufficient funding.
- The bill would require routine or automated data transmission from the division to the Bureau for nonfatal injury cases to support reviews.
Who would be affected
- California workers and employers subject to Cal/OSHA enforcement, through Bureau-led investigations and potential prosecutorial cases.
- Prosecuting authorities (district attorneys, city attorneys) who may take on direct investigations and prosecutions for high-severity incidents.
- Cal/OSHA and its divisions, Standards Board, and Appeals Board, via funding mechanisms and reporting obligations.
- State and local agencies, as applicable, due to potential mandated costs and reimbursements.
Procedural or timeline aspects
- Requires annual Bureau reporting by February 15 to the division, then to the Legislature, with detailed case-type and vacancy data.
- High-severity investigations would be redirected to prosecuting authorities upon appropriation of sufficient funding; implementation would occur after funding is enacted.
- Ongoing establishment of written policies and procedures by the Bureau for case review and referral decisions.
Notes
- The bill labels some elements as nonsubstantive changes to existing provisions while adding new procedural and funding-related obligations.
- It designates this as a state-mandated local program due to added responsibilities on prosecuting authorities.
- Fiscal impacts depend on enacted funding, and potential mandate reimbursements would follow standard procedures if costs are deemed mandated by the state.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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