AB 148, as introduced, V. Manuel Pérez. Renewable energy: Salton Sea.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to administer the Renewable Energy Resources Program to increase the amount of electricity generated by renewable electricity generation resources per year so that the amount equals at least 33% of total retail sales of electricity in California by December 31, 2020.
Existing law establishes the Salton Sea Restoration Fund that is administered by the Director of Fish and Game and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, used for the restoration of the Salton Sea.
This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea Authority, to establish a Salton Sea Renewable Energy and Biofuel Research and Development Program in the Salton Sea basin to meet high-priority economic and environmental goals by providing grants to facilitate research and the commercial development of renewable energy and biofuel resources. The bill would further authorize the secretary, in consultation and coordination with the authority, to provide grants to eligible research institutions and commercial enterprises for research and demonstration projects leading to the commercial development of the Salton Sea’s vast renewable energy and biofuel resources. To be eligible for a grant, the bill would require a commercial enterprise for a demonstration project to agree to a royalty or other revenue arrangement. The bill would require royalties and revenues received to be deposited into the Salton Sea Restoration Fund. The bill would require the secretary by July 1, 2014, to initiate the rulemaking process for the program and a process for the application, review, and issuance of grants.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Chapter 8.65 (commencing with Section 25752)
2is added to Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
3
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Salton
8Sea Renewable Energy and Biofuel Research and Development
9Program.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
11(a) The Salton Sea is California’s largest lake, covering 365
12square miles, and it serves as an important stop on the annual
13Pacific Flyway migratory route, supporting over 400 species of
14birds and representing over two-thirds of all birds in the continental
15United States.
16(b) Until recently, the amount of water entering the Salton Sea
17was roughly balanced by the amount of water evaporating from
18its broad surface.
19(c) In 2003, the Legislature enacted legislation implementing
20the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), a water transfer
21agreement between the Imperial Irrigation
District and the San
22Diego Metropolitan Water District, that represented the largest
23agriculture-to-urban water transfer in the history of the United
24States.
25(d) Under the QSA, the state agreed to cover the cost of
26mitigating the effects of the water transfer on the Salton Sea beyond
P3 1the first one hundred thirty-three million dollars ($133,000,000)
2in costs.
3(e) According to an analysis by the Pacific Institute, by 2018,
4reduced water inflows to the sea will reduce the sea’s depth by
5five feet, resulting in the exposure of 26.5 square miles of currently
6submerged lake bed. By 2037, the sea’s depth will drop by up to
727 feet, resulting in the exposure of 134 square miles of lake bed.
8(f) From 1913 to 1924, inclusive, a similar rural-to-urban water
9transfer occurred when the Los Angeles Department of Water and
10Power
(LADWP) began exporting water from Owens Lake to Los
11Angeles. After only 11 years, LADWP had successfully drained
12all but a fraction of Owens Lake, exposing over 100 square miles
13of lake bed.
14(g) For decades, the winds blowing across the exposed lake bed
15of Owens Lake eroded fine-grained sediments and salts, lofting
16them into the air, creating the single largest source of fugitive dust
17in the United States.
18(h) Since 1998, LADWP has spent one billion two hundred
19million dollars ($1,200,000,000) to stem dust pollution in Owens
20Valley mainly by flooding a 40-square-mile area of exposed lake
21bed at a cost of 30 billion gallons of water a year.
22(i) In 2012, the State Air Resources Board upheld an additional
23order by the Great Basin Air District that required LADWP to
24flood an additional three square miles of exposed lake
bed at an
25estimated cost of four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000).
26LADWP has appealed the state’s order in federal court.
27(j) Considering that LADWP will likely spend up to one billion
28six hundred million dollars ($1,600,000,000) to mitigate dust
29pollution resulting from its draining of Owens Lake, and the
30likelihood that mitigating dust pollution created by the Salton Sea
31will be substantially more expensive because up to 135 square
32miles of lake bed will be exposed as compared to only 100 square
33miles at Owens Lake. The creation of the Salton Sea Renewable
34Energy and Biofuel Research and Development Program will
35enable the creation of a dedicated and continuous funding stream
36to mitigate dust pollution resulting from the QSA.
37(k) The creation of the Salton Sea Renewable Energy and
38Biofuel Research and Development Program will also encourage
39the development of one of the
state’s largest sources of renewable
40energy and provide a significant source of future revenue for the
P4 1restoration of the Salton Sea in the form of royalties or other
2revenue sharing funds.
(a) For the purposes of this section, “Salton Sea
4Authority” means the joint powers authority comprised of the
5County of Imperial, the County of Riverside, the Imperial Irrigation
6District, the Coachella Valley Water District, and the Torres
7Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe.
8(b) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in
9consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea Authority, shall
10establish a Salton Sea Renewable Energy and Biofuel Research
11and Development Program to meet high-priority economic and
12environmental goals by providing grants to facilitate research and
13the commercial development of renewable energy and biofuel
14resources in the Salton Sea basin.
15(c) The secretary, in consultation and coordination with the
16Salton Sea Authority, may provide grants to eligible research
17institutions and commercial enterprises for research and
18development projects and demonstration projects intended to lead
19to the commercial development of the Salton Sea’s renewable
20energy and biofuel resources pursuant to this section. The projects
21shall be sited within the Salton Sea basin, as designated by the
22secretary. Demonstration projects by commercial enterprises and
23research institutions shall do all of the following:
24(1) Improve air quality by reducing criteria and toxic air
25pollutants, including fine particulates originating from the dry sea
26bed.
27(2) Improve water quality in the Salton Sea that will stabilize
28marine habitats for fish and migratory birds.
29(3) Present new
options for the state’s restoration plan of the
30Salton Sea.
31(4) Demonstrate the scalability of renewable energy and biofuel
32resources at the Salton Sea, including the following:
33(A) Agricultural algae cultivation and production.
34(B) Geothermal resource extraction and associated byproducts.
35(C) Desalination technologies.
36(D) Solar and wind development.
37(5) Demonstrate the proposed project will have economic and
38job creating benefits for the Salton Sea basin.
39(d) The secretary shall initiate the rulemaking process for the
40Salton Sea Renewable Energy and Biofuel
Research and
P5 1Development Program and a process for the application, review,
2and issuance of grants under subdivision (c) no later than July 1,
32014.
4(e) A commercial enterprise, to be eligible for a grant under
5subdivision (c) for a demonstration project, shall meet all of the
6following requirements:
7(1) Be incorporated as a business authorized to do business in
8the state.
9(2) Provide matching funds for the proposed project.
10(3) Certify use of state funds solely for the proposed project
11sited within the state.
12(4) Demonstrate the proposed project will have substantial
13environmental and economic benefits to the Salton Sea basin
14region.
15(5) Identify a customer or customers for the product to be
16developed.
17(6) Agree to a royalty or other revenue sharing arrangement
18ensuring the state’s ongoing financial participation in commercially
19viable operations authorized under the Salton Sea Renewable
20Energy and Biofuel Research and Development Program.
21(f) A research institution, to be eligible for a grant under
22subdivision (c) for a research and development project, shall meet
23all of the following requirements:
24(1) Be a nonprofit or educational research institution or
25consortium.
26(2) Provide matching funds for the proposed project.
27(3) Certify use of state funds solely for the proposed project
28sited within the
state.
29(4) Demonstrate how the proposed project will help lead to the
30commercial development of the Salton Sea’s vast renewable energy
31and biofuel resources.
32(5) Demonstrate the proposed project will have substantial
33environmental and economic benefits to the Salton Sea basin
34region.
35(g) Royalties and revenues collected by the state pursuant to
36paragraph (6) of subdivision (e) shall be deposited in the Salton
37Sea Restoration Fund.
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