BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2329
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           REPLACE  - 06/02/2010 Technical change (Member name)
          
          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 2329 (Ruskin and Chesbro)
          As Amended  April 26, 2010
          Majority vote 

           NATURAL RESOURCES   6-3         APPROPRIATIONS      12-5        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Chesbro, Brownley, De     |Ayes:|Fuentes, Ammiano,         |
          |     |Leon, Hill, Huffman,      |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |Skinner                   |     |Charles Calderon, Coto,   |
          |     |                          |     |Davis,                    |
          |     |                          |     |Monning, Ruskin, Skinner, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio,                  |
          |     |                          |     |Torlakson, Torrico        |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Gilmore, Knight, Logue    |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller,   |
          |     |                          |     |Nielsen, Norby            |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Codifies the Climate Action Team (CAT), which would be  
          responsible for coordinating the state's climate change policy  
          under the direction of the Secretary for Environmental  
          Protection (Secretary).  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Creates the CAT consisting of the:

             a)   Secretary, who serves as chair and is required to  
               coordinated oversight of the efforts to meet the AB 32 GHG  
               targets.

             b)   Secretary of Natural Resources Agency;

             c)   Chairperson of the Air Resources Board (ARB);

             d)   Chair of the California Energy Commission;

             e)   President of the Public Utilities Commission;

             f)   Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing;









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             g)   Secretary of Food and Agriculture;

             h)   Secretary of State and Consumer Services;

             i)   Secretary of Health and Human Services;

             j)   Director of the Office of Planning and Research;

             aa)Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development; and,

             bb)Ex-officio representatives of other departments as  
               necessary.

          2)Provides that multi-agency staff may be formed by the CAT to  
            provide technical support in the following sectors:  
            agriculture, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, energy, land  
            use, coastal and delta resources, regional and international  
            policy development, state operations, water, and climate  
            research.

          3)Requires the CAT to coordinate state climate policy to achieve  
            the following goals:

             a)   The maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of  
               GHGs through implementation of AB 32;

             b)   The promotion of economic and job growth;

             c)   The identification of unavoidable climate change  
               impacts;

             d)   The development and implementation of mitigation and  
               adaptation plans to protect state natural resources,  
               natural resources, and economy;

             e)   The coordination of climate change policies with other  
               states, the federal government, and other nations to  
               identify the most effective climate change strategies and  
               research efforts that can be done at the regional,  
               national, and international levels; and,

             f)   The coordination and efficient use of existing state  
               resources, programs, and funds.









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          4)Requires the CAT to identify and review activities, funding  
            programs, recommend policies, investment strategies, and  
            provide information to local government to achieve the above  
            goals.

          5)Authorizes each member of the CAT to appoint a designee and  
            requires each designee to act as the member in his or her  
            place and stead.

          6)Authorizes the CAT to hold duly noticed public meetings to  
            solicit comments from the public and requires that those  
            meetings be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act.

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Requires, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions  
            Act (AB 32), ARB to adopt a statewide GHG emissions limit  
            equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and to adopt rules and  
            regulations to achieve maximum technologically feasible and  
            cost-effective greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions

          2)Creates, under Executive Orders (EO) S-3-05 and S-20-06, the  
            CAT to engage in AB 32-related activities and overall climate  
            policy; directs the California Environmental Protection Agency  
            (CalEPA) to coordinate multi-agency efforts to meet GHG  
            emission reduction targets; and requires each agency to  
            annually prepare and submit GHG-related information to CalEPA.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, Cal EPA indicates that existing staff currently  
          supports CAT activity.  Because this bill does not require CAT  
          to do anything it does not currently do, Cal EPA contends it has  
          no costs.  However, the CAT currently operates consistent with  
          EO, not statute.  Should this bill become law, the cost for CAT  
          administration, while not new, would be attributable to this  
          bill.  Therefore, this bill would result in annual cost of an  
          unknown amount but, based on passed budget requests, likely  
          around $1 million a year (mainly special funds).

           COMMENTS  :  Effective coordination of existing programs and  
          funding by the state is required to help the state meet its  
          robust greenhouse gas emission targets.  In the absence of AB  
          2329, there is nothing in law that requires the state's climate  
          change policy activities to be coordinated across state  








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          agencies.  AB 2329 ensures that the state has multi-sector  
          climate policy coordination and a plan to address climate change  
          impacts.

          State agencies are currently required to report on their GHG  
          emissions and actions taken to reduce emissions through an  
          annual CAT report.  So far the CAT has been responsible for  
          coordinating overall climate policy for state agencies, as well  
          as to consider and implement strategies to reduce their GHG  
          emissions.  According to the authors, more effective  
          coordination of existing programs and funding resources in  
          California can improve the achievement of California GHG  
          emission reductions while protecting the state's infrastructure,  
          communities, and natural resources from climate change impacts.   
          The authors also add that more effective coordination of these  
          factors may provide economic growth.  Since the CAT was created  
          by an executive order, it may be terminated at the end of the  
          Schwarzenegger administration unless it becomes codified.   
          According to the authors, "effective coordination of existing  
          programs and funding by the state is required to help the state  
          meet its robust greenhouse gas emission targets.  In the absence  
          of AB 2329, there is nothing in law that requires the state's  
          climate change policy activities to be coordinated across state  
          agencies."

          Codification of the CAT has been attempted previously.  Most  
          recently in 2009, SB 721 (Steinberg) attempted to codify the CAT  
          under the CalEPA Secretary.  However, SB 721 did not include  
          representatives of some state departments that were currently  
          included within the CAT and was held in the Senate  
          Appropriations Committee.  SB 1760 (Perata) formalized the  
          structure and duties of the CAT to coordinate climate policy and  
          expenditure of state funds.  SB 1760 passed the Legislature in  
          2008, but was vetoed by the Governor.  SB 721 also differed from  
          SB 1760 in that in included deployment and adaptation actions as  
          a part of the CAT's responsibilities.  While this bill (AB 2329)  
          does not explicitly mention "deployment," it does mention that  
          the CAT must work to coordinate the "development and  
          implementation of mitigation and adaptation plans to protect the  
          natural resources, public health and welfare, and economy of  
          California."  Similarly, in 2008, SB 660 (Perata) attempted to  
          establish the Strategic Research Investment Council which would  
          be required to prepare a research, development and demonstration  
          (RD&D) plan for state agency expenditures for clean technology,  








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          environmental protection, and public interest energy research  
          and present the plan to the Legislature.  SB 660 was vetoed by  
          the governor with the rationale that creating yet another  
          substantial layer of administration would hinder the current  
          Administration coordination (the CAT) on climate change RD&D,  
          and would remove the necessary flexibility needed to continue to  
          react to topical issues and rapidly changing technologies.  
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :  Jessica Westbrook / NAT. RES. / (916)  
          319-2092 


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