AB 248, as amended, Gorell. Energy: powerplants: Ventura County.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards regulate water quality in accordance with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (act) and the federal Clean Water Act. Under the act, the state board is required to adopt specified state policies with respect to water quality as it relates to the coastal marine environment, including a policy requiring new or expanded coastal powerplants and other industrial installations using seawater for cooling, heating, or industrial processing to use the best available site, design, technology, and mitigation measures feasible to minimize the intake and mortality of all forms of marine life.
This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission and the Independent System Operator, in consultation with specified entities, to submit to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2015, a report on policies, recommended legislative actions, and incentives necessary to accomplish specified objectives related to once-through cooling powerplants in Ventura County while preserving and enhancing electric system reliability in the Counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Ventura.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) Ventura County possesses unique environmental resources
4including miles of coast lines, working agricultural lands, valleys,
5coastal mountains, and the distant Channel Islands. These resources
6create six distinct microclimates and provide unique habitat, flora,
7fauna, and marine resources for the various species that share the
8county. Additionally, they provide a wide variety of recreational
9opportunities and the base for a superior quality of life in the
10communities beyond Ventura County.
11(b) California should promote
public policies that create jobs
12and foster economic growth while maintaining quality of life.
13Ventura County needs policies that preserve its global
14competitiveness and allow businesses to grow, invest, and create
15jobs. These policies should encourage innovation while promoting
16economic prosperity. Ventura County has a unique blend of
17industries to protect and promote. The employment base is secured
18by agriculture, tourism, international trade, and
manufacturing
19industries, with growth occurring in the high-tech, medical, science,
20and service sectors. All of these industries need affordable, reliable
21electricity to prosper.
22(c) In 2010, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
23adopted its Statewide Water Quality Control Policy on the Use of
24Coastal and Estuaries Waters for Power Plant Cooling, commonly
25referred to as the “Once-Through Cooling Policy.” Two generation
26facilities in Ventura County are subject to the Once-Through
27Cooling Policy.
28(d) To comply with the Once-Through Cooling Policy, an owner
29or operator of an existing powerplant must reduce intake flowrate
30at each unit, at a minimum, to a level commensurate with that
31which can be attained by a closed-cycle wet cooling system, by
P3 1facility-specific
deadlines prescribed in the policy. Alternatively,
2if an owner or operator demonstrates that compliance with this
3standard is not feasible, that owner or operator must reduce
4impingement mortality and entrainment of marine life for the
5facility to a comparable level to that which would be achieved
6under the first standard, using operational or structural controls,
7or both.
8(e) Pursuant to the Once-Through Cooling Policy, the SWRCB
9impaneled a Statewide Advisory Committee on Cooling Water
10Intake Structures (SACCWIS), including representatives from the
11Public Utilities Commission, the State Energy Resources
12Conservation and Development Commission, the Independent
13
System Operator, the California Coastal Commission, the State
14Lands Commission, the State Air Resources Board, and SWRCB
15staff, to advise the SWRCB on the implementation of the policy
16to ensure that the implementation schedule takes into account local
17area and grid reliability.
18(f) Electricity reliability is critical to California’s economy,
19security, and stability of modern life. It is the top priority for
20California’s electrical energy policy to preserve electric reliability
21and maintain regional system integrity. Ventura County and Santa
22Barbara County rely on transmission imports across a narrow
23corridor that is at risk of outages caused by natural disasters,
24including earthquakes and fires. During these events, electric
25reliability in this area depends on service from existing flexible
26generation units that are subject to the
Once-Through Cooling
27Policy. Generation and transmission operation in California must
28be monitored and controlled in real time to ensure a consistent and
29ample flow of electricity. It is designed with system redundancies
30to prevent outages during emergencies, such as fires, grid failure,
31or maintenance.
Section 321.9 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
33read:
(a) On or before January 1, 2015, the Public Utilities
35Commission and the Independent System Operator, in consultation
36with the State Water Resources Control Board, the State Energy
37Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the
38California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, the
39State Air Resources Board,begin insert end insertbegin insertthe California Ocean Protection
40Council,end insert and other relevant local and federal authorities, shall
P4 1submit a report to the Legislature, pursuant to Section 9795 of the
2Government Code, on a study and evaluation of
the policies,
3legislative actions, and other federal, state, and local incentives
4that are necessary to accomplish, while preserving and enhancing
5electric system reliability in the Counties of Santa Barbara and
6Ventura, all of the following objectives:
7(1) To ensure the preservation of the County of Ventura’s
8environmental resources, tourism, and economic development by
9decommissioning the existing once-through cooling powerplants
10or by facilitating the replacement of existing once-through cooling
11powerplants in the County of Ventura with more modern
12powerplants while reducing visual impacts and ensuring that
13sufficient reserve capacity is available in the local capacity
14reliability area.
15(2) To review the potential of acquisition of the properties on
16which the once-through cooling
powerplants are located by the
17City of Oxnard, the County of Ventura, the state, or other
18responsible entities for the preservation of natural resources in the
19California coastal zone.
20(3) To uphold contractual obligations and economic interests
21of the current owners and operators of the once-through cooling
22powerplants in the Big Creek/Ventura local capacity reliability
23area.
24(4) To modify the cooling technologies at the once-through
25cooling powerplants in the County of Ventura to mitigate impacts
26on marine environments, consistent with thebegin delete once-through cooling begin insert Once-Through Cooling Policyend insert and
other existing policies.
27policyend delete
28(5) To identify potential sites in the County of Ventura
29appropriate for once-through cooling powerplants that would not
30impose greater environmental, agricultural, or economic impacts,
31or greater costs to the electricity ratepayer, as compared to the
32redevelopment or replacement of the existing powerplants.
33(b) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
34section is repealed on January 1, 2019.
The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
36is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
37within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
P5 1Constitution because of the unique environmental resources that
2exist in the County of Ventura.
O
97