BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 45|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 45
Author: Blakeslee (R)
Amended: 9/2/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 4-1, 6/17/09
AYES: Wiggins, Aanestad, Kehoe, Wolk
NOES: Cox
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 7/6/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal
NOES: Runner, Ashburn
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-3, 8/17/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk,
Wyland, Yee
NOES: Cox, Runner, Walters
NO VOTE RECOREDED: Denham
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Distributed generation: small wind energy
systems
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill allows a county that has not already
adopted an ordinance relating to the installation of small
wind energy systems in non-urbanized areas to do so, under
CONTINUED
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specified conditions. This bill will not apply to counties
that have adopted their own ordinance by January 2011.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/09 provide that the bill's
requirements apply in certain county areas, and make
clarifying amendments.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution allows cities and
counties to "make and enforce within (their) limits all
local police, sanitary and other ordinances and regulations
not in conflict with general laws." Zoning and use permits
are examples of hot local officials use their police powers
to regulate land uses.
In 2001, the Legislature specifically allowed cities and
counties to adopt ordinances for installing small wind
energy systems outside urbanized areas. If local officials
failed to adopt these ordinances, they had to approve small
wind energy systems under 11 conditions. That law sunsets
on July 1, 2005 (AB 1207 [Longville], Chapter 562, Statutes
of 2001).
This bill authorizes a county to adopt an ordinance that
provides for the installation of small wind energy systems
in non-urbanized areas under specified conditions.
I. Ministerial approval . This bill allows a county to
require a conditional use permit for a small wind energy
system, provided that the county:
A. Approves the system with ministerial permit for
an application submitted between January 1, 2011
and the adoption of a county ordinance that meets
the requirements and conditions for ordinances, as
specified.
B. Reviews applications under the deadlines in the
Permit Streamlining Act.
C. Charges processing fees under the standards in
the Mitigation Fee Act.
This bill allows a county that has not adopted an ordinance
for installing small wind energy systems outside an
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urbanized area by January 1, 2011 to adopt an ordinance at
a later date, but the ordinance must reflect the ordinance
described below.
This bill exempts ordinances adopted before January 1,
2011.
II. Local ordinances . This bill allows counties to adopt
ordinances that provide for the installation of small
wind energy systems outside "urbanized areas."
The ordinance may impose conditions on the installation,
including notice, tower height, setback, view
protection, aesthetics, aviation, and design safety.
However, the conditions on notice, tower height,
setback, noise level, visual effects, turbine approval,
tower drawings, and engineering analysis or line
drawings cannot be more restrictive than the following:
A. The parcel must be at least one acre and outside
an "urbanized area."
B. Tower heights up to 80 feet must be allowed on
parcels of one to five acres. Tower heights up to
100 feet must be allowed on parcels of larger than
five acres. Towers cannot exceed the Federal
Aviation Administration's applicable limits.
Towers cannot exceed the manufacturer or
distributor's recommended heights.
C. The tower's minimum setback from the parcel's
property line cannot be more than the system's
height. If the property is classified as a State
Responsibility Area, the system must also meet the
state's fire setback requirements.
D. Noise measured at the nearest property line
cannot exceed the lower of either 60 decibels, the
maximum noise level of the general plan's noise
element, or applicable noise regulations, except
during short-term events.
E. Notice of an application to install a system
must be provided to the property owners within 300
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feet of the property, as specified.
F. The system cannot substantially obstruct the
adjacent property owners' views. The system must
be placed below any major ridgeline when viewed
from a designated scenic highway corridor.
G. The system's wind turbine must either be
approved by the California Energy Commission as
qualifying under the Emerging Renewables Program or
certified by a national program approved by the
Energy Commission.
H. The application must include standard drawings
and an engineering analysis of the tower, showing
compliance with the current version of the
California Building Standards Code and certified by
a licensed professional engineer. However,
certification is not needed if the application
demonstrates that the system meets specific wind,
seismic, soil safety, or other normally relevant
local conditions.
I. The system must comply with the requirements of
the Federal Aviation Administration and the State
Aeronautics Act. A system that meets these
requirements must be deemed to meet the applicable
civil aviation health and safety requirements.
J. The application must include a line drawing of
the system's electrical components, showing that
the installation conforms to the National Electric
Code.
K. The city or county may require the applicant to
demonstrate that the system will be used primarily
to reduce the on-site consumption of electricity.
The city or county may also require the application
to show that the electricity provider knows that
the applicant intends to install an interconnected
electricity generator.
L. Counties must notify the military authority of
any applications for a small wind energy system
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within that area. Local officials must consider
the military authorities' written comments before
acting on the application.
M. If the application is within an agricultural
area where aircraft operate at low altitudes, the
county must take reasonable steps to notify
registered pest control aircraft pilots.
N. Tower lighting must be prohibited unless
required by law or required for pest control
aircraft.
O. Climbing apparatus must be prohibited less than
12 feet above the ground and the system's design
must prevent climbing within the first 12 feet.
P. Signs on the system (except for signs
identifying the manufacturer, installer, or owner,
and health and safety signs) cannot be visible from
public roads. Unless approved by the county, signs
cannot be more than four feet square and must be
within 10 feet of the ground.
Q. A small wind energy system cannot be allowed if
it's prohibited by the:
(1) Local coastal program.
(2) California Coastal Commission.
(3) Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
(4) San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission.
(5) Airport land use commission's comprehensive
land use plan.
(6) Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act.
(7) Local regulations that protect designated
scenic highway corridors.
(8) Terms of a conservation easement, open-space
easement, agricultural conservation easement, or
Williamson Act contract.
(9) Listing of the site on the National Register
of Historic Places or the California Register of
Historical Resources.
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The county may give public notice of a specific
installation by publishing a one-eighth page display
advertisement in a general circulation newspaper.
The county may condition its approval on a requirement that
the small wind energy system must be removed if it's
inoperable for 12 consecutive months. At that time, the
system will be subject to nuisance codes and code
enforcement.
III. Declarations and definitions . This bill contains
legislative findings and declarations to support its
substantive requirements. The bill defines its key
terms.
This bill requires the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission to submit, on or before January
1, 2016, to the Assembly and Senate Local Government
Committees and the Assembly Utilities and Commerce
Committee, a report containing specified information,
including the number of applications for small wind energy
systems received and approved by the counties that have
adopted wind energy system ordinances on or after January
1, 2011.
This bill will sunset January 1, 2017.
Comments
Rising utility rates and concerns about the environmental
effects of greenhouse gases make alternative energy sources
more attractive. Generating electricity from wind energy
avoids the use of finite fossil fuels, which is why the
state government provides deep subsidies for installing
small wind energy systems. This bill tells counties that
they must either approve permits for small wind energy
systems that meet the bill's criteria or adopt local
ordinances that meet the bill's criteria. The need to
expand alternative energy sources begs for new answers, not
local regulatory obstacles.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, because
the bill is permissive on local jurisdictions, there is no
reimbursable state mandate cost to the bill. Committee
staff estimates that the cost to the Energy Commission to
gather the information and develop the report required
under the bill will take about 25 percent of one personnel
year to collect information and 50 percent of one personnel
year to develop the report.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
California Small Wind Coalition
Union of Concerned Scientists
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Small wind turbines are an excellent customer-scale
renewable energy technology that can reduce greenhouse gas
and criteria pollutant emissions, reduce peak electricity
demand, and save customers money on their monthly utility
bills. As California continues to advance its renewable
energy goals, it is imperative that state policies not only
support the market penetration and viability of promising
technologies, but that they also support local agencies in
the permitting and installation of renewable energy
systems."
The author's office notes that AB 1207 (Longville) Chapter
562, Statutes of 2001, set requirements for local
government approval of small wind energy systems. AB 1207
became inoperative July 1, 2005, and sunset January 1,
2006. According to the author's office, "Since then,
counties have had to adopt their own permitting
regulations. Some counties have implemented ordinances
similar to AB 1207, some have adopted regulations that are
more restrictive and more expensive, while others no longer
have an ordinance for small wind systems."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
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Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Evans, Nestande
AGB:do 9/3/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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