BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1846
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1846 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: April 14, 2010
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands current law to allow use of a "focused"
environmental impact report (EIR) for installation of pollution
control equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)
to comply with AB 32. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires any specified public agency to perform an
environmental analysis of reasonably foreseeable compliance
methods whenever it adopts, pursuant to AB 32, a rule or
regulation requiring installation of pollution control
equipment or a performance standard or treatment requirement.
2)Specifies the following agencies as those that must perform
the analysis described above: the Air Resources Board, the
State Water Resources Control Board and the regional boards,
the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery, the California Energy
Commission (CEC) and the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC).
3)Amends the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to
expand the authorized use of a focused EIR to include
installation of pollution control equipment that reduces GHGs
to comply with AB 32.
FISCAL EFFECT
Absorbable costs.
COMMENTS
AB 1846
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1)Rationale . Proponents contend that projects undertaken to
comply with AB 32's GHG reduction requirements should benefit
from the same focused EIR process available to projects to
comply with other pollution control requirements. The author
indicates the intent of the bill is to conform and clarify
existing law, not to supersede it.
1) Background .
a) Environmental Impact Reports . CEQA obligates public
officials to consider the environmental effects of their
decisions. The public agency that proposes to approve a
project-known as the "lead agency"-must conduct an initial
study of the project to determine if it may have
significant, adverse environmental effects.
As a result of this initial study, the lead agency may
issue (i) a "negative declaration," meaning the project
will have no negative environmental effects; (ii) a
"mitigated negative declaration," meaning the project will
have environmental effects that are easily remedied; or
(iii) an EIR, a document that show public officials how to
avoid or mitigate the serious environmental effects of a
project.
CEQA allows specified lead agencies to issue less extensive
EIRs, known as focused EIRs, when a project is to install
pollution control equipment required by those agencies. In
such cases, the lead agency completed a generic EIR
contemplating all possible environmental effects of
installation of the pollution control equipment prior to
requiring its installation. The lead agencies authorized
to issue focused EIRs are Air Resources Board (ARB), local
air districts, state and regional water boards, Department
of Toxic Substances Control, and the Integrated Waste
Management Board.
b) AB 32 (N??ez, Chapter 455, Statutes of 2006) 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 the
maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
reductions of GHG emissions reductions by 2020. In keeping
AB 1846
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with AB 32, ARB adopted its AB 32 scoping plan in December
of 2008. Numerous state agencies soon will issue rules and
regulations limiting GHG emissions, consistent with AB 32.
1)Support . This bill is supported by business organizations,
such as the California Council for the Environment and
Economic Balance (the bill's sponsor) and the California
Chamber of Commerce, the members of which regularly undertake
projects that would be affected by this bill.
2)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081