BILL NUMBER: SB 143 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Rubio
JANUARY 31, 2011
An act to add the heading to of
Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 38570) to, and to add Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 38575) to, Part 5 of Division 25.5 of the
Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 143, as amended, Rubio. California Global Warming Solutions Act
of 2006: greenhouse gas emission reduction offsets: programs and
incentives.
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. The state board is authorized to adopt market-based
compliance mechanisms, as defined, meeting specified requirements to
be used for compliance with those regulations.
This bill would require the state board, on or before July 1,
2012, to adopt methodologies for determining the quantity of
greenhouse gas emissions reduced through specified greenhouse gas
emission reduction programs. The bill would require the state board
to adopt regulations governing the creation of greenhouse gas
emission reduction offsets based on investments in those programs for
purposes of banking, trading, and using the offsets to comply with
the market-based compliance mechanism adopted by the state
board. The bill would also authorize the state board to use
revenues from an auction or other sale of greenhouse gas allowances,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish and provide
incentives for private investment in specified greenhouse gas
emission reduction programs, in accordance with requirements
prescribed by the bill. The bill would require the
state board to credit persons who invest in those programs with
greenhouse gas emission offsets, based on a
cost-effectiveness calculation determined by the state board, with
specified exceptions.
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 heading of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
38570) is added to Part 5 of Division 25.5 of the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 2. Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 38575) is added to Part
5 of Division 25.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 2. INCENTIVES FOR CALIFORNIA GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION
OFFSETS
38575. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) This division provides for the adoption of rules and
regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and
cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions to achieve the
state's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and authorizes the
state board to provide for the use of market-based compliance
mechanisms to meet the requirements of this division.
(b) This division directs the state board to ensure that the
greenhouse gas emission reduction rules, regulations, programs,
mechanisms, and incentives under its jurisdiction, to the extent
feasible, direct public and private investment toward the most
disadvantaged communities in California.
(c) The state board has adopted a regulation to establish a
cap-and-trade market-based mechanism designed to achieve the
statewide greenhouse gas emission reductions required by this
division.
(d) The creation, banking, trading, and use of greenhouse gas
emission offsets can help regulated entities further reduce the cost
to comply with their cap-and-trade compliance obligations.
(e) The establishment of incentives for the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions in California in order to create greenhouse
gas emission offsets can improve the cost-effectiveness of compliance
with this division, while helping support the state's economy,
providing green jobs, encouraging investment in local communities,
and reducing the state's energy consumption.
38576. (a) On or before July 1, 2012, and in accordance with
Section 38571, the state board shall adopt methodologies for
determining the quantity of greenhouse gas emission reductions
resulting from implementation of all of the following programs:
(1) Voluntary energy efficiency programs.
(2) Distributed electricity generation programs, including the
California Solar Initiative.
(3) Programs adopted and implemented by the Public Utilities
Commission and the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission that may reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
the state.
(b) Each methodology adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
include a determination of the cost-effectiveness of the program for
which the methodology is adopted, specified in dollars per ton of
greenhouse gas emissions reduced. The state board shall update the
cost-effectiveness determinations from time to time, upon determining
that an update is needed.
38577. (a) (1) Commencing on July 1, 2012, for purposes of
complying with the market-based compliance mechanism adopted by the
state board pursuant to Section 38570, a person may invest in a
program for which an emission reduction methodology has been adopted
by the state board pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 38576.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, the state board shall adopt
regulations creating greenhouse gas emission reduction offsets that
may be banked, traded, or used for compliance with the market-based
compliance mechanism adopted by the state board pursuant to Section
38570.
(b) A person who invests in a program pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be credited by the state board with a quantity of greenhouse
gas emission offsets that shall be determined by multiplying
dividing the dollar amount of the investment by
the current cost-effectiveness of that program, as determined by the
state board pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 38576.
(c) (1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, and after
consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the state
board may use revenues from any auction or other sale of greenhouse
gas allowances to establish and provide an incentive for private
investment in any program for which a methodology is adopted pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 38576.
(2) For any program specified in subdivision (a) of Section 38576,
the state board may specify that an incentive will be provided in
accordance with paragraph (1) for each private investment in that
program pursuant to subdivision (a), not to exceed 40 percent of the
amount of the investment. The quantity of greenhouse gas emission
offsets attributable to the incentive shall be calculated in
accordance with subdivision (b), and shall be credited to the person
investing in the program pursuant to subdivision (a).
(3) The state board, after public hearing, may determine that
incentives made under this subdivision shall be available only for
private investments to be used in implementing programs in specific
communities or geographic areas as may be determined by the state
board.
(d) The state board shall adopt regulations for the implementation
of this section by July 1, 2012.
38578. The state board shall adopt methodologies pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 38576 and regulations pursuant to Section
38577 as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a person or entity shall not
be credited with a greenhouse gas emission offset pursuant to
subdivision (b) for undertaking a project that is required by law or
regulation, or for which the person or entity has received another
greenhouse gas emission offset.