BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 454 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 454 (Pavley) As Amended September 2, 2011 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :24-15 NATURAL RESOURCES 6-3 UTILITIES & COMMERCE 9-4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |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 | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- APPROPRIATIONS 12-5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | | | |Bradford, Charles | | | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, | | | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Solorio | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 SB 454 Page 2 process for violations of its appliance efficiency standards, 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 SB 454 Page 3 wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption 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. SB 454 Page 4 These standards are key to minimizing California's energy needs and this bill will allow the CEC to ensure compliance. Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0002649