BILL NUMBER: AB 2390	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 1, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chesbro
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Huffman   and Ma   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to add Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 25990) to
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, relating to electricity.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2390, as amended, Chesbro. Electricity: biomass: incentive
programs.
   Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in
consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission), to authorize electrical
corporations to collect moneys for the self-generation incentive
program (SGIP) at 2008 calendar year levels through December 31,
2014. Existing law requires the PUC to require electrical
corporations to administer the SGIP, until January 1, 2016. Existing
law limits eligibility for SGIP incentives to distributed energy
resources that the PUC, in consultation with the State Air Resources
Board, determines will achieve reductions in emissions of greenhouse
gases pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006.
    This bill would state legislative findings and declarations
regarding the use of waste products from forest thinning and fire
prevention activities to generate electricity at biomass facilities.
The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to establish an
incentive program to compensate producers and collectors of biomass
material associated with forest fuel reduction and fire prevention
activities that are delivered to eligible biomass facilities, as
defined, for use as a fuel source.
   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.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Prudent forest thinning and fire prevention activities are
important for protecting public safety.
   (b) The utility of fire prevention activities can be supplemented
by harnessing the energy potential of waste products in the form of
woody biomass material from forest fuels reduction activities and
generating renewable electricity at biomass generation facilities.
   (c) Several large fires have resulted in significant costs to
California  investor owned   investor-owned
 utilities that affect electric rates. These costs include
actual cost settlements with homeowners, fire suppression cost
reimbursement to the state and federal emergency service agencies,
transmission and distribution equipment replacement, and ever
increasing costs of insuring utility infrastructure.
   (d) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection estimates that
almost 25 million acres of forest are considered high- and
medium-priority landscapes at risk to wildfire.
   (e) Ratepayers will benefit by reducing the risk and associated
costs of fire related to the electric infrastructure.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 25990) is added to
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 13.  BIOMASS INCENTIVE PROGRAM


   25990.  For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
   (a) "Community scale biomass facilities" means an electric
generation facility that uses biomass that has a generation capacity
of under three megawatts and meets both of the following criteria:
   (1) The facility is located in an area identified by the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as high- and
medium-priority landscapes at risk to wildfire.
   (2) The facility uses as a fuel source only forest biomass
materials, such as shrubs, limbs, and small trees, collected from a
high- or medium-priority landscape considered at risk to 
wildlife   wild fire  , as determined by the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, pursuant to a project
consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) or the federal National
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.), as
applicable. 
   (b) "Eligible biomass facility" means an electric generation
facility that uses as a fuel source forest biomass materials, such as
shrubs, limbs, and small trees, collected from a high- or
medium-priority landscape considered at risk to wildlife, as
determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
 
   (b) "Eligible biomass facility" means an electric generation
facility that meets both of the following:  
   (1) Uses as a fuel source forest biomass materials, such as
shrubs, limbs, and small trees, collected from a high- or
medium-priority landscape considered at risk to wild fire, as
determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

   (2) Uses best management standards to ensure that biomass fuel use
does not adversely impact water quality, soil productivity,
biodiversity, and wildlife. 
   25991.  The commission shall, in consultation with the Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection, establish an incentive program to
compensate producers and collectors of biomass material associated
with forest fuel reduction and fire prevention activities that are
delivered to eligible biomass facilities for use as a fuel source.
   25992.  In implementing the program, the commission shall
encourage the maximum amount of hazardous forest fuels removal.