(a) Except as provided in Section 18930, the Department of Housing and Community Development may promulgate rules and regulations to interpret and make specific this part. When adopted, those rules and regulations shall apply to all parts of the state.

(b) Upon written notice to the Department of Housing and Community Development, any city, county, or city and county may assume the responsibility for the enforcement of this part, for the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code relating to employee housing, and for the other regulations adopted pursuant to this part following approval by the department for that assumption.

(c) The Department of Housing and Community Development shall adopt regulations which shall set forth the conditions for assumption and may include required qualifications of local enforcement agencies. When assumption is approved, the department shall transfer the responsibility for enforcement to the city, county, or city and county, together with all records of active and inactive employee housing within its jurisdiction.

(d) A city, county, or city and county may, by ordinance, establish a schedule of fees for the operation of employee housing not to exceed that which is established by the department. In no event may fees be charged to residents of employee housing.

(e) (1) In the event of nonenforcement of this part, of the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code relating to employee housing, or of the other rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this part, the department shall enforce this part, the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code relating to employee housing, and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this part in any city, county, or city and county after the department has given written notice to the governing body of the city, county, or city and county, setting forth in what respects the city, county, or city and county has failed to discharge its responsibility, and has failed to initiate corrective measures to carry out its responsibility within 30 days of the date of the notice.

(2) On or after January 1, 1987, in the event the local enforcement agency has failed to initiate adequate and reasonable corrective measures to carry out its responsibility, as determined by the department, within 30 days of the date of notice of one or more specific examples of nonenforcement, the department, at its option, may undertake investigation and enforcement of the alleged violations of this part within the local enforcement agency’s jurisdiction, and the local enforcement agency shall be liable to the department and the Attorney General for the actual costs of the investigation and enforcement by these state agencies.

(f) (1) The department shall conduct an annual evaluation of the enforcement of this part, of the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code relating to employee housing, and of the other regulations adopted pursuant to this part by each city, county, or city and county which has assumed responsibility for enforcement. The department shall submit a written summary of the evaluation conducted pursuant to this subdivision with the report required by Section 50408.

(2) The department, in consultation with interested persons, including housing advocates and farming organizations, shall conduct an evaluation of the definition of “rural” as used in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 17008 and submit a written summary of the evaluation with the report required in calendar year 1996 by Section 17031.8.

(g)  Except as provided in Section 18945, the department shall be sole judge as to whether the local enforcement agency is properly enforcing the provisions. Except as provided in Section 18945, the local enforcement agency shall have the right to appeal the decision to the department.

(h) (1) Any city, county, or city and county may cancel its assumption of responsibility for the enforcement of these provisions by providing written notice of cancellation to the department. The department shall assume the responsibility within 90 days after receipt of the notice.

(2) A local enforcement agency that has been approved by the department to enforce the provisions of this chapter and cancels its assumption of responsibility and returns enforcement to the department under paragraph (1) shall remit to the department the fees established and collected under Section 17036 and subdivision (d) that have not been expended pursuant to this chapter and the regulations adopted thereunder. For the purpose of this paragraph, the local enforcement agency shall either identify the actual expenditures and pay to the department the balance of fees collected, or shall pay the department a sum equal to the percentage of the years remaining before outstanding permits to operate expire.

(i) The enforcement agency may:

(1) Enter public or private properties to determine whether there exists any employee housing to which this part applies.

(2) Enter and inspect all employee housing wheresoever situated, and inspect all accommodations, equipment, or paraphernalia connected therewith.

(3) Enter and inspect the land adjacent to the employee housing to determine whether the sanitary and other requirements of this part, the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code relating to employee housing, and the other rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this part have been or are being complied with.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 138, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)