BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 16
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 16 (Rubio) - As Amended: June 30, 2011
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 10-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Fish and Game to provide
expedited review of applications for certain renewable energy
projects. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires DFG, at an applicant's request, to identify and
clarify information needed in an application to DFG for a
renewable energy project-meaning a project eligible under the
state's Renewable Portfolio Standard.
2)Requires DFG to meet specified timeframes to:
a) Determine the completeness of an application for an
eligible renewable energy project.
b) Notify an applicant of the application's completeness
and, if applicable, specify additional needed information.
c) Approve or reject the application.
3)Directs DFG to offer to meet with an applicant if DFG deems an
application incomplete or fails to determine the completeness
of an application within specified timeframes.
4)Requires DFG, by January 1, 2012, to report to the Legislature
on the extent the department arranges with other entities for
all or part of the environmental review of eligible renewable
energy projects and, by January 1, 2014, to provide
information to the Legislature on incidental take permitting
activity.
5)Conditions implementation of this bill upon passage of AB X1
13 (V.M. Perez), which authorizes DFG to collect enhanced fees
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from applicants for eligible renewable energy projects to
expedite the permitting process.
FISCAL EFFECT
Ongoing costs to DFG of an unknown but presumably substantial
amount, possibly in the millions of dollars, resulting from
compressing DFG's permitting workload into a truncated timeline.
(Fish and Game Preservation Fund.) These costs should be fully
covered by DFG fees. Given current restrictions on state
hiring, it is not clear DFG would be able to add personnel
should it need to do so to complete the workload within
specified timeframes.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author, citing, among other things, recent
passage of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard statute,
expects DFG to experience a significant increase in the number
of applications to permit renewable energy projects. The
author, anticipating the economic activity associated with
such projects, contends it is important that DFG quickly and
efficiently process and, if warranted, approve the projects,
which the author intends this bill to ensure.
2)Citing and Permitting Powerplants in California. Current law
requires any thermal power plant with a capacity of 50
megawatts or greater to receive a license from CEC. CEC's
licensing process generally takes 12 months and conforms to
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In addition to CEC's licensing requirements, powerplant
developers must comply with the California Endangered Species
Act (CESA). CESA prohibits the "take" (generally meaning
death or serious harm) of endangered or threatened species.
Under CESA, such harm to endangered or threatened species may
be allowed if DFG issues an "incidental take permit," which,
among other things, requires a permit applicant to minimize
harm and mitigate for damage.
3)Special Fee Pays for CESA Permitting of Certain Solar
Powerplants in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
(DRECP). Generally, DFG funds review of applications for
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incidental take permits from its existing appropriations.
However, statute authorizes DFG to charge a developer of an
ARRA-eligible solar powerplant in the DRECP a one-time "CESA
fee" to cover DFG's cost to process the incidental take
permit. The CESA fee is a one-time $75,000 charge, plus an
optional one-time $75,000 fee maximum, as needed, to cover
additional permit processing costs. The fee is to help
expedite review and issuance of CESA permits.
4)Related Legislation.
a) AB X1 13 (V.M. Perez) would, among other things,
authorize DFG to collect from developers of large renewable
energy projects a permit application fee of $50,000, plus
additional permit fees of up to $200,000, if DFG determines
the initial fee is insufficient to cover DFG's permitting
costs. AB X1 13 passed the Assembly 58-15 and is pending
action on the Senate floor.
b) Chapter 9, Statutes of 2010 (SB 34 X8, Padilla)
established, for only ARRA-eligible solar powerplant in the
DRECP area, special siting and permitting provisions,
including use of in lieu mitigation, DFG's enhanced CESA
fees and a voluntary fee to fund third-party permitting
analysis.
5)Support. This bill is supported by Kern County (sponsor),
which anticipates economic activity resulting from increased
development of renewable energy projects in the Central Valley
and elsewhere.
6)There is no formal opposition registered to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081