BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman

                                           1058 (Laird)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/20/07          Amended: 7/17/07
          Consultant:  Miriam Barcellona IngenitoPolicy Vote: EQ 5-2; T&H  
          7-4



































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          AB 1058 (Laird)
          Page 2

          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   AB 1058 would create the Green Building  
          Standards Law that would apply to residential units, as  
          specified.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2007-08      2008-09       2009-10     Fund
           Develop standards      $150       $300        $300      GF
          Adopt standards        -minor and absorbable            GF  
          Implement standards in -unknown increase in construction costsGF
            applicable state buildings      offset by unknown, potentially  
          savings
                                 in out years 
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS:  This bill may meet the criteria for referral to  
          the Suspense file.
          
          Staff notes that a green building, also known as a sustainable  
          building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated,  
          operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient  
          manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives,  
          such as the following: protecting occupant health; improving  
          employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources  
          more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the  
          environment.  A common green building standard often referenced  
          is the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in  
          Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which includes different  
          ratings including certified, silver, gold, and platinum.  

          AB 1058 would require the California Environmental Protection  
          Agency (CalEPA) to coordinate a working group of state agencies,  
          consulting with specified representatives form the public and  
          interest groups, to develop by July 1, 2009 a set of voluntary  
          best practices.  CalEPA would be required to submit the  
          voluntary best practices to the California Building Standards  
          Commission (BSC) for review to ensure that the proposed  
          practices do not fall below or conflict with existing building  
          standards, as specified. 









          AB 1058 (Laird)
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          AB 1058 would require CalEPA to develop an education program to  
          inform local entities of the benefits of green buildings, and  
          encourage the use of the best practices for residential  
          occupancies.  Beginning July 1, 2011, CalEPA would be required  
          to conduct a public review of the best practices developed  
          pursuant to this bill.  CalEPA would include representatives  
          from state entities, as specified, the residential construction  
          industry, and local government entities to determine the level  
          of use and effectiveness of the best practices in a  
          representative sampling of residential construction.  AB 1058  
          would require CalEPA to reconvene the working group that helped  
          establish the voluntary best practices in order to develop  
          proposed building standards for green buildings.  CalEPA would  
          be responsible for coordinating the proposed building standards  
          and submitting a comprehensive set of proposed building  
          standards to BSC by July 1, 2012.  BSC would be authorized to  
          revise the standards so long as those revisions do not reduce  
          the environmental benefits of efficiencies to be achieved by the  
          proposed standards submitted by the agency.  If BSC rejects the  
          proposed building standards, all residential occupancies for  
          which a project applicant is deemed complete on or after July 1,  
          2013 to comply with the building standards proposed by CalEPA  
          until the date that the proposed CalEPA building standards are  
          adopted by the BSC take effect.    

          CalEPA estimates it would require about one position and $10,000  
          for contract costs. Other state agencies required to participate  
          in the working group would experience minor and absorbable costs  
          (generally less than a quarter of an existing position).  Staff  
          notes that the workload involved in AB 1058 would be greater  
          than what is required of CalEPA in AB 888 (Lieu) but CalEPA  
          provided the same estimate.  Staff estimates costs to CalEPA  
          would be at least twice as high.  BSC indicates its costs to  
          comply with AB 1058 would be minor and absorbable.  However, BSC  
          has indicated to staff that it would like the development of the  
          standards to be charged to BSC.  Staff notes that this issue was  
          considered in the policy committee.  Under existing law, (Health  
          and Safety Code Section 18930) "any building standard adopted or  
          proposed by state agencies shall be submitted to, and approved  
          or adopted by, the California Building Standards Commission  
          prior to codification."  BSC does not have the authority to  
          develop those standards.  However, BSC has the authority under  









          AB 1058 (Laird)
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          existing law (Health and Safety Code Section 18934.5) to adopt  
          building standards applicable to state buildings.  

          Staff notes that AB 35 (Ruskin) would create the Sustainable  
          Buildings Act of 2007 that would require all state buildings to  
          be built to specified green standards, and AB 888 (Lieu) would  
          create Green Building Standards for Nonresidential Buildings  
          Law; both of these bills are also before the committee today.