BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 32
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  February 28, 2005

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                 Loni Hancock, Chair
                  AB 32 (Pavley) - As Introduced:  December 6, 2004
           
          SUBJECT  :  Greenhouse Gas Emissions: California Climate Action  
          Registry.

           SUMMARY  :  This bill expands the responsibilities of the  
          California Climate Action Registry (Registry) by specifying the  
          Registry work in coordination with the California Environmental  
          Protection Agency (Cal EPA) and the State Energy Resources  
          Conservation and Development Commission (CEC) to adopt  
          procedures and protocols on greenhouse gas emissions for  
          specified industrial sectors.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes the Registry as a nonprofit public benefit  
            corporation to voluntarily record and register greenhouse gas  
            emissions reductions made by California entities after 1990.

          2)Requires the Registry to provide referrals to approved  
            providers for advice on designing programs to establish  
            emissions baselines and to monitor and track greenhouse gas  
            emissions, establishing emissions reduction goals, and  
            designing and implementing organization-specific plans that  
            improve energy efficiency or utilize renewable energy, or  
            both, and that are capable of achieving emission reduction  
            targets.

          3)Requires the Registry to perform various functions, including  
            among other things, adopting standards for verifying emissions  
            reductions, adopting a list of approved auditors that verify  
            emission reductions, establishing emissions reduction targets,  
            designing and implementing efficiency improvement plans,  
            maintaining a record of all emission baselines and reductions,  
            and recognizing, publicizing, and promoting entities that  
            participate in the Registry.

          4)Requires the Registry adopt procedures and protocols for the  
            various offsets that a participant can use to mitigate  
            emissions.









                                                                  AB 32
                                                                  Page  2

          5)Requires the Registry adopt procedures and protocols for the  
            monitoring, estimating, calculating, reporting, and certifying  
            of carbon stores and carbon dioxide emissions resulting from  
            the conservation and conservation-based management of native  
            forest reservoirs in California, so that participants can  
            include those conservation activities in registered emissions  
            results.

           THIS BILL  :

          1)Requires the Registry, in coordination with Cal EPA and the  
            CEC, to adopt procedures and protocols for monitoring,  
            estimating, calculating, reporting and certifying greenhouse  
            gas emissions reduction projects that improve energy  
            efficiency, utilize renewable energy, and promote conservation  
            tillage.

          2)Requires the Registry adopt procedures and protocols for  
            monitoring, estimating, calculating, reporting and certifying  
            greenhouse gas emissions from the following sectors:

             a)   Oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, processing,  
               refining, transmission, and distribution.

             b)   Cement production.

             c)   Municipal solid waste and industrial waste hauling and  
               disposal.

          3)Strongly encourages Cal EPA and the CEC to partially fund the  
            development of the Registry's protocols for greenhouse gas  
            emissions reduction projects for the above projects and  
            protocols, including assistance in finding resources for the  
            development of industry specific protocols.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :

           Background  

          California established the Registry in 2000 to encourage  
          entities to start voluntarily reducing their greenhouse gas  
          emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, and to register the  
          savings under guidelines established by the Registry.  The  








                                                                  AB 32
                                                                  Page  3

          Registry establishes emissions baselines against which any  
          future federal or state greenhouse gas emission reduction  
          requirements may be applied.  It encourages voluntary actions by  
          Registry participants to increase energy efficiency and reduce  
          greenhouse gas emissions, and record voluntary greenhouse gas  
          emissions made after 1990. 

          According to the author's office, on two different occasions (SB  
          527 (Sher) Chapter 769, Statutes of 2001 and SB 812 (Sher)  
          Chapter 423, Statutes of 2002) the Legislature has passed laws  
          to expand and clarify activities of the Registry.  This bill is  
          the next iteration of legislative direction to expand the work  
          of the Registry to the oil and natural gas, cement production,  
          and municipal solid and industrial waste industries by  
          establishing additional procedures and protocols to support  
          California's efforts to measure and monitor emissions from  
          sources within its boundaries.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Natural Resources Defense Council

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :  Kyra Emanuels Ross / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092