BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 454
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 454 (Pavley)
As Amended August 26, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :24-15
NATURAL RESOURCES 6-3 UTILITIES & COMMERCE
9-4
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Brownley, |Ayes:|Bradford, Fletcher, |
| |Dickinson, Hill, Monning, | |Buchanan, Fong, Fuentes, |
| |Skinner | |Furutani, Roger |
| | | |Hernández, Huffman, |
| | | |Skinner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight, Grove, Halderman |Nays:|Beth Gaines, Knight, |
| | | |Nestande, Valadao |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | |
| |Bradford, Charles | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, Davis, | | |
| |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Solorio | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | |
| |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to
adopt an administrative enforcement process, including civil
penalties, for violations of its appliance efficiency standards.
Requires utility energy efficiency rebates to be provided only
if work complies with applicable permitting and contractor
licensing requirements. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the CEC to establish an administrative enforcement
process for violations of its appliance efficiency standards,
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including administrative civil penalties up to $2,500 for each
violation, in compliance with existing law governing
administrative hearings and adjudication.
2)Authorizes the CEC to refer violations to the Attorney General
to petition a court to enjoin the violation, and authorizes a
court to grant injunctive relief and assess a civil penalty up
to $2,500 for each violation.
3)Requires penalties to be deposited into the Appliance
Efficiency Enforcement Subaccount, which is established by the
bill, to be expended by the CEC, upon appropriation, for
appliance efficiency enforcement and public education.
4)Provides that a CEC-imposed civil penalty shall be subject to
judicial review by petition for writ of mandate in the
superior court.
5)Provides that a person subject to a CEC-imposed civil penalty
shall not be liable for a court-imposed civil penalty.
6)Prohibits the CEC from assessing a penalty against a party
that has submitted certification of a product's compliance on
which CEC has yet to make a determination.
7)Prohibits the CEC from taking an enforcement action until 60
days after its regulations are published in the California
Register and an alleged violator has had 30 days after written
notice to comply with any regulatory requirements.
8)Requires the court, upon granting relief to the CEC for an
action brought to enforce its appliance efficiency standards,
to award the CEC its reasonable costs in investigating and
prosecuting the action.
9)Requires that any energy efficiency rebate or incentive
offered by a public utility (i.e., investor-owned electrical
and gas corporations regulated by the Public Utilities
Commission) be provided only if work complies with applicable
permitting and contractor licensing requirements.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CEC to take specified actions to reduce the
wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption
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of energy, including adopting energy and water efficiency
standards for appliances that the CEC determines use a
significant amount of energy or water on a statewide basis.
2)Prohibits the sale of any new appliance unless it is certified
by the manufacturer to be in compliance with the CEC
standards.
3)Requires the standards to be drawn so that they do not result
in any added total costs for consumers over the designed life
of the appliance.
4)Provides that, if the CEC finds any actual or imminent
violation of the provisions of law relating to CEC's authority
or operations, the Attorney General is required to petition a
court to enjoin the violation.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor special fund costs in the tens of thousands of
dollars to the CEC for regulations and enforcement.
COMMENTS : Among its regulatory powers, the CEC has authority to
adopt regulations describing the standards for minimum levels of
efficiency for appliances that use a significant amount of
energy or water. These regulations include standards for both
federally-regulated appliances and non-federally-regulated
residential and commercial appliances including water heaters,
clothes washers, dishwashers, traffic signals, lighting, and
heat and air conditioning systems to be sold in California. The
CEC's appliance regulations are designed to achieve significant
energy savings state-wide that are feasible, attainable, and do
not result in added costs to the consumer for the estimated
lifetime of the regulated appliance. With one exception (power
plant certification), the CEC doesn't have administrative civil
penalty authority and must refer enforcement matters to the
Attorney General to petition a court to grant injunctive relief
and/or impose civil penalties.
According to the author, a recent survey suggests half of
appliances sold in California have not properly certified to
meet California's energy efficiency standards. The high number
of manufacturers that fail to certify appliances means that
Californians cannot be sure they are avoiding energy-hog
appliances and puts compliant manufacturers at a disadvantage.
These standards are key to minimizing California's energy needs
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and this bill will allow the CEC to ensure compliance.
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0002329