BILL NUMBER: AB 1285 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuentes
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Part 10 (commencing with Section 38800) to Division
25.5 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1285, as amended, Fuentes. Regional greenhouse gas emission
reduction program.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the
State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions
level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and
regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum
technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission
reductions.
This bill would require the state board to establish a program to
maximize regional greenhouse gas emission reduction and sequestration
projects. The state board would be required to create a system by
which emission reductions achieved by projects under the program
result in the creation of qualified units of exchange that may be
transferred to entities subject to an emissions cap adopted pursuant
to the act for compliance towards that cap, as determined by the
state board. The state board would be required to establish a
Regional Emission Reduction Exchange to provide oversight and
facilitate the transfer of qualified units of exchange. The bill
would create within the Air Pollution Control Fund the Regional
Emission Reduction System Account, and would provide that moneys from
federal, state, regional, and private sources may be deposited in
the Regional Emission Reduction System Account, and moneys within the
account may be used for the purposes of the program that would be
created by the bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The
provisions of the bill would be implemented only if the state board
adopts a market-based compliance mechanism that includes
authorization to use compliance offsets created from greenhouse gas
emission reduction or sequestration projects in a sector that
is not subject to an emissions cap as part of the
market-based compliance mechanism regulation.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 10 (commencing with Section 38800) is added to
Division 25.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
PART 10. Regional Emission Reduction System
38800. This part shall be implemented only if the state board
adopts a market-based compliance mechanism pursuant to Section 38570
that includes authorization to use compliance offsets created from
greenhouse gas emission reduction or sequestration projects in a
sector that is not subject to an emissions cap as part of the
market-based compliance mechanism regulation.
38800. 38801. (a) The state board
shall establish a program to maximize regional greenhouse gas
emission reduction and sequestration projects. The program
shall may include participation by federal,
state, regional, local, and nonprofit entities , and
Native American tribes, who shall to
develop and implement greenhouse gas emission reduction and
sequestration projects.
(b) (1) An eligible project shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(A) Provide greenhouse gas emission reductions from a sector that
is not subject to an emissions cap as part of a market-based
compliance mechanism regulation.
(B) Be developed pursuant to a protocol approved by the state
board.
(C) Meet the requirements of this division for greenhouse gas
emission reductions, including the requirements of subdivision (d) of
Section 38562.
(b)
(2) Eligible projects may include, but are
not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Energy efficiency.
(2) Localized clean energy generation.
(3)
(A) Increased urban greening.
(4)
(B) Natural resource protection and conservation.
(5)
(C) Increased recycling and composting.
(6)
(D) Other interventions that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and copollutant emissions.
(c) The program created pursuant to this section shall meet all of
the following requirements:
(1) Promote the aggregation of projects.
(2) Provide incentives to entities subject to an emissions cap
adopted pursuant to this division to invest in projects.
(3) Contain design elements that maximize the ability of federal,
state, regional, local, and nonprofit entities , and
Native American tribes to participate in the program.
(4) Promote emission reduction projects that provide multiple
benefits, including, but not limited to, the following benefits:
(A) A decrease in air or water pollution.
(B) A reduction in the consumption of natural resources or energy.
(C) An increase in the reliability of local water supplies.
(D) A reduction in vehicle miles traveled.
(E) Increased adaptability to climate change.
(5) Provide for state board review and oversight of the
program.
(6) Create incentives that take into account future state or
federal climate change programs.
(7) Maximize interagency cooperation and integration, investments
in existing agency and nonprofit programs, and the use of existing
public lands and public resources.
(8) Include standardized auditing of projects.
38801. (a) The state board shall create a system by which
emission reductions achieved by projects under this part result in
the creation of qualified units of exchange that may be transferred
to entities subject to an emissions cap adopted pursuant to this
division for compliance towards that cap, as determined by the state
board.
(b) (1) The state board shall establish a Regional Emission
Reduction Exchange to provide oversight and facilitate the transfer
of qualified units of exchange.
(2) The Regional Emission Reduction Exchange shall meet all of the
following requirements:
(A) Ensure that only real, verifiable, and additional
projects permanent, quantifiable, and additional
projects that are enforceable by the state board result in the
creation of qualified units of exchange.
(B) Ensure the proper accounting of emission reductions
represented by qualified units of exchange.
(C) Promote the financing of projects, especially those projects
located in a disadvantaged community.
38805. There is created within the Air Pollution Control Fund the
Regional Emission Reduction System Account. Moneys from federal,
state, regional, and private sources may be deposited in the Regional
Emission Reduction System Account. Moneys in the Regional Emission
Reduction System Account may be used for the purposes of this part,
upon appropriation by the Legislature.