BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 296 (Skinner)
Hearing Date: 07/11/2011 Amended: 06/21/2011
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T&H 6-3
_________________________________________________________________
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 296 would require the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to publish or post on its website a
Cool Pavements Handbook by January 1, 2014, conduct one or more
cool pavement pilot projects by January 1, 2015, and report to
the Legislature by January 1, 2018 on the results of the pilot
project and the costs and benefits associated with various
pavement options.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Handbook $500 $1000 $500 Special*
Pilot projects unknown costs to construct one or
moreSpecial*
cool pavement demonstration projects
Report moderate costs, likely several
hundredSpecial*
thousand, to contract out for analysis,
compile
information, and report to the
Legislature
BSC rulemaking one time costs of about $35 to
conductSpecial**
rulemaking to include handbook in Green
Building Standards Code
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*State Highway Account
** Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
AB 296 (Skinner)
Page 1
According to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the term "heat island" refers to warmer urban air and surface
temperatures that result when natural landscape is replaced with
hardscape surfaces such as pavement, buildings, and other
infrastructure. Studies performed by the EPA and others have
shown that the mean air temperature of urban areas can be
significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas and that these
warmer urban temperatures can result in increased summertime
peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution, and
greenhouse gas emissions.
This bill is intended to provide a collection of existing
specifications, testing protocols, and best practices for
hardscape alternatives that reduce the heat island effect in a
single state publication that may be incorporated into the
California Green Building Standards Code. The bill would
require Caltrans to identify "cool pavement" alternative
hardscapes or techniques that do one or more of the following:
reduce surface temperature relative to traditional unshaded
asphalt; have a light color or high albedo; reduce diurnal
thermal stress; remove greenhouse gases; or reduce stormwater
runoff by using porous pavement, open-grid systems, vegetative
surfaces, or bioswales. There is no current official standard
or labeling program to designate cool paving materials or
identify which materials perform best under given circumstances.
This bill would require Caltrans to develop and publish a Cool
Pavements Handbook, conduct one or more cool pavement pilot
projects, and report to the Legislature on the costs of using
various pavement surfaces and the results of the pilot project.
Specifically, this bill would:
Require Caltrans to publish or make available on its website
by January 1, 2014 a Cool Pavements Handbook that incorporates
existing specifications, testing protocols, and best practices
for cool pavement use in any surface designed for vehicular or
pedestrian use, as specified.
Encourage Caltrans to consult with specified state agencies to
develop the Cool Pavements Handbook.
Authorize Caltrans to enter into an agreement with the United
States Department of Transportation, United States EPA, the
United States Department of Energy, or other federal agencies
to develop the handbook or evaluate the pilot project.
Require Caltrans to include references to the Cool Pavements
AB 296 (Skinner)
Page 2
Handbook in its Construction Manual.
Require Caltrans to implement one or more cool pavement pilot
projects with a goal of completing construction by January 1,
2015.
Require Caltrans to submit a report to the Legislature by
January 1, 2018 that includes the environmental benefits,
energy savings, and durability of various pavement options, an
analysis of the upfront and life-cycle costs of pavement
surfaces, the results of the pilot projects.
Require the Building Standards Commission (BSC), for the next
triennial code adopted after January 1, 2015, to consider
incorporating the specifications in the Cool Pavements
Handbook into the California Green Building Standards Code.
Caltrans indicates that lacks the technical expertise to fully
evaluate the existing research related to the use of cool
pavements, and to conduct a meaningful analysis of environmental
benefits and energy savings related to the use of various
pavement options. The bill authorizes Caltrans to contract with
specified federal entities, such as the EPA, that may have the
capacity to perform this work. Caltrans indicates that
department staff and contracting costs would likely be in the
range of $2 million to complete the Cool Pavements Handbook.
Associated tasks include evaluating and compiling existing
specifications, testing protocols, and best practices, as well
as conducting research and analysis related to the use of
various pavement options.
Costs associated with conducting a cool pavements pilot project
are unknown and would depend upon the scope and scale of the
project or projects that Caltrans determines to be suitable for
an effective evaluation of the use of cool pavement. The bill
does not prescribe parameters of any pilot projects, instead
opting to leave the discretion to Caltrans. The department
would have to build these capital costs into its annual budget.
Staff notes that the one year time period between completion of
the Cool Pavement Handbook and the anticipated completion of
construction may be insufficient. In addition, the three-year
time period between projected project completion and the report
to the Legislature is likely insufficient to determine long-term
costs or benefits from using cool pavement.
The existing California Green Building Standards Code includes
voluntary standards for nonresidential provisions to address the
AB 296 (Skinner)
Page 3
impacts of the heat island effect. These standards provide for
hardscape alternatives for the reduction of nonroof head islands
on projects by either siting 50% of onsite parking underground
or by using one or a combination of three specified strategies
for use on 50% of site hardscape (providing shade, using light
colored or high albedo materials, or using an open-grid pavement
system). The bill would impose costs of around $35,000 on the
Building Standards Commission to conduct rulemaking procedures
related to the inclusion of specifications proposed in the Cool
Pavement Handbook into the California Green Building Standards
Code.