BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1327
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1327 (Bass) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the State Capitol Sustainability Task
Force, consisting of the California State Senate, the California
State Assembly, the Office of the Governor, and the Office of
the Lieutenant Governor. Specifically, this bill requires the
task force to:
a)Coordinate, develop, and complete a state capitol
sustainability initiative for the State Capitol Building, the
Legislative Office Building, and the State Capitol park
grounds.
b)Join the California Climate Action Registry to monitor and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
c)Perform benchmarking and monitoring of building operations,
improve energy and water efficiency, and incorporate renewable
energy.
d)Increase overall fuel economy and fuel diversity of the
vehicle fleet.
e)Improve waste diversion practices, promote environmentally
preferable purchasing, and integrate sustainable practices.
f)Develop public education materials on sustainability and
partner with utility companies, water districts, labor
organizations, environmental groups, federal and local
government, and private industry to develop green
demonstration projects.
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g)Seek a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or Energy
Star rating.
h)Finalize the Capitol Park Master Plan.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor absorbable costs to staff to administer the work of the
task force.
2)Cost pressures to the General Fund and various special funds
for energy efficiency and similar upgrades. These costs would
be wholly dependent upon the number of projects that result
from the work of the task force, the scale of those projects,
and resolution of the complexities inherent to renovation and
modification of historic structures. At the extreme, these
projects may entail costs in the hundreds of millions of
dollars and potentially include replacement of heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning systems; reinstallation of
window glazing, casings and insulation; reconfiguration or
replacement of irrigation and plumbing systems; and
installation of solar or other on-site renewable energy
generation systems.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author, this bill increases the
opportunities for implementing more sustainable practices by
involving all the tenants in the State Capitol building. The
author contends funding to implement this bill may be
available through the federally funded American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. In addition, the author believes that the
State Capitol presents an opportunity to demonstrate
sustainable practices and environmental leadership to the
hundreds of thousands of people who visit the building.
2)Background. The California State Capitol Building was
completed in 1874 and the East Annex in 1952. In January
1982, after six years of work, major restoration of the
Capitol was completed.
In 2001, the State and Consumer Services Agency, DGS, and SMUD
held the Greening of the State Capitol Project in Sacramento.
The Project identified numerous ways to "green" the Capitol,
including increasing energy efficiency, instituting
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environmentally preferable purchasing requirements, building
commissioning, use of electric vehicles, establishing on-site
power generation, installing water efficiency measures, and
improving recycling. The Project also completed a landscape
assessment, which identified irrigation problems and methods
to compost green waste and use the composted material in
Capitol Park. While some of these activities have been
undertaken, many improvements could still be made to improve
the overall environmental effect of the Capitol.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081