BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1504
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 21, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                  AB 1504 (Skinner) - As Amended:  January 13, 2010

          Policy Committee:                              Natural  
          ResourcesVote:6-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Department of Forestry and Fire  
          Protection (Calfire), by March 1, 2011, to assess, subject to  
          public and peer review, the adequacy of its forestry regulations  
          and programs to meet the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction  
          goals.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Moderate one-time special-fund costs during 2009-10 and 2010-11,  
          in the range of $200,000 to $400,000, to the extent funding is  
          available.  (Air Pollution Control Fund or other special fund.)

          This measure is contingent upon Calfire's receipt of funds  
          sufficient to cover the costs of the assessment and reviews from  
          the Air Resources Board's (ARB) AB 32 fee revenue or from  
          another public or private source.


           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The ARB, in its "scoping plan" to achieve the  
            state's GHG reduction goals, credits the state's forests with  
            sequestering 5 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide  
            equivalents (CO2E), now and through 2020.  In May of 2006,  
            Calfire, as part of an inter-agency working group seeking to  
            ensure the achievement of the state's GHG reduction goals for  
            the forestry sector, committed to assess its forestry  
            regulations and policies to determine their adequacy to meet  
            California's GHG reduction goals.  The working group  
            established a completion date for Calfire's review of November  








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            2009.  
           
             By November 2009, Calfire had not completed an assessment of  
            its regulations and programs.  At that time, however, and in a  
            separate venue, Calfire declared the adequacy of its forestry  
            regulations and programs to meet the state's GHG reduction  
            goals.  Given Calfire's lack of progress in completing its  
            assessment and its inconsistent statements, the author  
            concludes it necessary to require Calfire to complete the  
            described assessment and to subject that assessment to public  
            and peer review.  

           2)Background.   

              a)   AB 32 scoping plan relies on carbon sequestration by  
               forestry sector  .  AB 32 requires California to limit its  
               emissions of GHGs so that, by 2020, those emissions are  
               equal to what they were in 1990. To that end, AB 32  
               requires ARB to quantify the state's 1990 GHG emissions and  
               to adopt, by January 1, 2009, a scoping plan that describes  
               the board's plan for achieving GHG emissions reductions by  
               2020.  

               In keeping with AB 32, ARB adopted its scoping plan in  
               December of 2008, which outlined, by economic sector, how  
               the state would reduce its GHG emissions by roughly 175  
               million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents  
               (MMTCO2E).   The plan identified the state's forests as  
               currently accounting for approximately 5 MMTCO2E,  
               representing the amount of GHGs held, or "sequestered" in  
               the state's existing forests.  The scoping plan assumes  
               that the state's forests will continue to sequester this 5  
               MMTCO2E through 2020, thereby reducing the amount by which  
               the state must reduce its GHG emissions.

               In addition, AB 32 provides ARB the authority to collect a  
               fee from GHG emissions sources to pay the costs of  
               implementing AB 32.

              b)   Calfire recognizes need to review forestry regulations  
               even as it declares their adequacy.  Consistent with AB 32,  
               the scoping plan was developed by ARB with the assistance  
               of other state agencies, including Calfire, most directly  
               responsible for regulating GHG emissions sources.   
               Calfire's existing regulations and policies have been  








                                                                  AB 1504
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               devised to protect the state's forest resources from fire,  
               infestation, over harvesting and other threats.  They were  
               not devised, however, specifically to ensure the continued  
               carbon sequestration capacity of the state's forests upon  
               which the scoping plan relies.  
             
                For this reason, Calfire and ARB, as part of an AB 32  
               working group, identified the need for Calfire to review  
               the effectiveness of existing forest and rangeland  
               regulations and related programs at meeting the state's GHG  
               reduction goals.  In May of 2009, the working group  
               published a draft work plan that would enable Calfire to  
               perform the review by November of 2009.  To date, Calfire  
               has not completed its review.  Nor is Calfire under any  
               legal obligation to do so.

               Also in November of 2009, and separate from the AB 32  
               working group, Calfire issued a memo on the relationship  
               between California's regulation of forestry and GHG  
               emissions.  In that memo, Calfire concludes that its  
               forestry and related regulations and programs are  
               sufficient to achieve the forestry sector GHG emission  
               targets identified in ARB's scoping plan.

           3)Support.   Proponents, including several environmental and  
            resource protection organizations, contend it is uncertain  
            whether the state's forestry and related regulations and  
            policies are adequate to achieve the GHG emissions reductions  
            identified in the AB 32 scoping plan.  This is because these  
            regulations and policies were not devised with the goal of  
            reducing GHG emissions.  These proponents fear that resource  
            constraints or other motivations may prevent Calfire from  
            completing its review of these regulations, or from completing  
            its review adequately, absent legislative direction, thereby  
            jeopardizing adequate reduction of the state's GHG emissions.  

          4)Opposition.   The only registered opposition to this bill is  
            the California Licensed Foresters Association, which contends  
            Calfire will complete its review absent legislative direction.  
             Opponents also may question the legality of using AB 32 fee  
            revenue to fund activities not required by AB 32.  
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081