BILL NUMBER: AB 296 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
FEBRUARY 9, 2011
An act relating to global warming. An act
to add Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 14457) to Part 5 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and to add Section
17929 to the Health and Safety Code, relating t o building
standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 296, as amended, Skinner. Global warming: urban heat
island effects pavement. B
uilding standards : cool pavement .
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to
adopt a balanced, multimodal research and development program,
including the research and development of new technologies.
This bill would establish the Cool Pavements Research and
Implementation Act and would require the department, in consultation
with specified state agencies, to implement the act. The bill would
require the department to adopt a strategy, through a public process,
to implement the act and, by January 1, 2015, to adopt by regulation
a Cool Pavements Handbook to detail testing protocols, standards,
and best practices.
The bill would require the department to implement one or more
cool pavement pilot projects, with the goal of completion of the
pilot projects no later than January 1, 2018, and to submit a report
to the Legislature with an analysis of the various costs of pavement
surfaces and the results of the cool pavement pilot projects.
The bill would direct the department, on and after January 1,
2018, to require a state paving project, as defined, to include a
cool pavement surface that complies with the Cool Pavements Handbook
for not less than 75% of the total project pavement surface area.
(2) The California Building Standards Law requires any building
standard adopted or proposed by a state agency to be submitted to,
and approved or adopted by, the California Building Standards
Commission prior to codification.
The State Housing Law requires the Department of Housing and
Community Development to submit to the commission proposed building
standards for hotels, motels, lodging houses, apartment houses, and
dwellings.
This bill would require the department, in the next triennial
adoption process of the California Green Building Code that begins on
or after January 1, 2012, to propose building standards that
authorize the use of cool pavements in the construction of any
exterior paved surface in, or related to the construction of, a
structure such as a patio, sidewalk, or driveway, or all or a portion
of a dwelling unit, hotel, motel, or lodging house.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the
State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to address global
warming caused by the emission of greenhouse gases by reducing the
emission of those gases to certain specified levels.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would regulate the reflectivity (albedo) of pavement
to reduce the urban heat island effect.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) The intent of this act is to create a comprehensive "cool
pavements" program to address heat island effect (HIE), a phenomenon
characterized by the temperature differential between developed and
rural areas.
(b) The cause of the HIE is land modification in urban and
suburban areas, principally with impervious hardscape materials that
retain more heat energy from the sun than do soil or vegetative
surfaces. When this trapped heat reradiates to the surroundings,
surface and air temperatures become artificially elevated.
(c) Impervious cover is also a major contributor to stormwater
runoff, leading to pollution and elevated water temperatures, which
can pose problems for some aquatic life.
(d) This act aims to mitigate the HIE from paved hardscape
surfaces, which may be done by switching to so-called cool pavements.
The use of cool pavements reduces the localized HIE, providing some
or all of the following benefits:
(1) Reduced ambient temperatures.
(2) Reduced formation of ground-level ozone or smog.
(3) Reduced stormwater runoff.
(4) Reduced wear from diurnal thermal stress.
(5) Indirectly reduced demand for electricity, and hence reduced
emissions.
(e) Examples of cool pavements include, but are not limited to,
high albedo pavements and coatings, vegetative surfaces, porous or
pervious pavements that allow water infiltration, and shaded
pavements.
(f) The program established by this act should complement the
nonresidential voluntary provision in the California Green Building
Standards Code on HIE-reducing pavements (Section A5.106.11.1 of
Appendix 5 of Part 11 (commencing with Section 101.1) of Title 24 of
the California Code of Regulations), while expanding the allowable
ways to meet the goals of that provision.
(g) This act provides for the development of a Cool Pavements
Handbook by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in
consultation with other relevant state agencies and departments, to
establish metrics, tests, benchmarks, and best practices for
alternatives that mitigate the HIE of all traditional hardscape
surfaces.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5 (comm encing with
Section 14457) is added to Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code , to read:
CHAPTER 5. COOL PAVEMENTS RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION ACT
14457. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Cool pavement project" means a project that uses a qualified
cool pavement for the purposes of mitigating the heat island effect,
and that meets the performance and use standards for HIE-mitigation
specified in the Cool Pavements Handbook adopted pursuant to Section
14460.
(b) "Heat island effect" or "HIE" means the temperature
differential between developed and rural areas caused by impervious
hardscape materials.
(c) "Rural area" means a nonurban area identified by the
department based on the loan eligibility criteria of the Rural
Housing Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural
Development Administration, or its successor agency. Those criteria
include, but are not limited to, places, open country, cities, towns,
or census designated places with populations that are less than
10,000 persons.
(d) "State paving project" means a project carried out by a state
agency or department, or funded by state funds, to construct a
sidewalk, road, plaza, highway, parking lot, schoolyard, or any
surface designed for vehicular or pedestrian use.
14458. (a) The department shall implement this chapter in
consultation with the Department of General Services, the State
Building Standards Commission, the State Water Resources Control
Board, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the State Water Quality
Control Board, and any other relevant state department or agencies.
(b) The department may enter into an agreement with the United
States Department of Transportation to coordinate implementation of
Sections 14460 and 14461, including exploring the goals and various
costs of paving materials and techniques.
(c) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Cool
Pavements Research and Implementation Act.
14459. The department shall adopt a strategy, through a public
process, to implement this chapter. This strategy shall identify the
HIE-mitigating options for traditionally hardscape surfaces,
including, but not limited to, sidewalks, roads, plazas, highways,
parking lots, schoolyards, and any surface designed for vehicular or
pedestrian use.
14460. (a) On or before January 1, 2015, the department shall
adopt, by regulation, a Cool Pavements Handbook, that details the
testing protocols, standards, and best practices for cool pavement
projects. The department shall consult and incorporate existing
specifications, testing protocols, and best management practices in
developing this handbook, when possible. The department shall
assemble a team of stakeholders for determining specific tests and
benchmarks to be used as qualifying metrics for cool pavement
materials and surfaces.
(b) The Cool Pavements Handbook shall require a cool pavement
project to do one or more of the following to mitigate the HIE:
(1) Reduce pavement from diurnal thermal stress.
(2) Increase the albedo of the pavement to 0.5 or higher.
(3) Reduce surface or air temperatures relative to traditional
asphalt concrete.
(4) Remove greenhouse gases through photocatalytic processes.
(5) Abate stormwater runoff via increased water infiltration to
the underlying surface, including, but not limited to, using porous,
open grid, and vegetative surfaces.
(c) The department may include, in the Cool Pavements Handbook,
any other material or technique found by the departments to mitigate
the HIE.
(d) The Cool Pavements Handbook shall be referenced in the
relevant sections of the department's Construction Manual and be made
available to the public.
14461. (a) The department shall implement one or more cool
pavement pilot projects, with the goal of completion of the pilot
projects no later than January 1, 2018.
(b) On or before January 1, 2018, the department shall submit a
report, in compliance with Section 9795, to the Legislature with an
analysis of the various costs of pavement surfaces and the results of
the cool pavement pilot projects. The report shall focus on the life
cycle and durability of various pavement options.
(c) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (b) is inoperative on January 1, 2022, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
14462. (a) On and after January 1, 2018, the department shall
require that a state paving project, including, but not limited to,
newly paved surfaces and repaved surfaces, to include a cool pavement
surface that complies with the Cool Pavements Handbook adopted
pursuant to Section 14460 for not less than 75 percent of the total
project pavement surface area.
(b) The 75-percent requirement of subdivision (a) may be met using
any combination of different qualifying cool pavement methods that
meet the requirements of the Cool Pavements Handbook.
(c) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) A state paving project in an area that is substantially shaded
by trees, manmade structures, or tall buildings.
(2) A state paving project in a rural area.
SEC. 3. Section 17929 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
17929. (a) For the purposes of this section, a "cool pavement"
means an engineered pavement that meets the qualifications and use
standards set out in the Cool Pavements Handbook, adopted pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 14457) of Part 5 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b) In the next triennial adoption process of the California
Building Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) that
begins on or after January 1, 2012, the department shall propose
building standards that authorize the use of cool pavements in the
construction of any exterior paved surface in, or related to the
construction of, a structure such as a patio, sidewalk, or driveway,
or all or a portion of a dwelling unit, hotel, motel, or lodging
house.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would regulate the reflectivity, otherwise
known as albedo, of pavement to reduce the urban heat island effect.