BILL NUMBER: AB 278 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 17, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Quirk )
FEBRUARY 11, 2013
An act to add Section 38566 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to greenhouse gases.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 278, as amended, Gatto. California Global Warming Solutions Act
of 2006: Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, establishes
the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for
monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act
requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit, as defined, to be achieved by 2020, equivalent to
the statewide greenhouse gas emissions levels in 1990. The state
board is additionally required to adopt rules and regulations in an
open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible
and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. Pursuant to
the act, the state board has adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard
regulations.
This bill would require the state board, in determining
the carbon intensity of fuels under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard
regulations or another scoring system promulgating
regulations or other policies for purposes of the carbon intensity of
fuels , to consider specified matters
food-supply sustainability factors . The bill would require the
state board to identify, to the extent feasible,
environmental laws and practices of the jurisdiction from which the
fuel originates that may affect greenhouse gas emissions from the
production and transportation of fuel. The bill would require the
state board to solicit comments and consider and respond to evidence
regarding specified significant effects caused by the Low Carbon Fuel
Standard regulations , no later than December 2014,
include mechanisms and policies that favor fuels with the
lowest possible negative effect on the food supply sustainability
factors, as specified, and to give preference to fuels produced
without food stock or displacement of food crops .
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. Section 38566 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
38566. (a) When promulgating regulations or other policies on the
carbon intensity of fuels, the state board shall do all of the
following:
(1) Consider all of the following food supply sustainability
factors:
(A) The full life-cycle carbon emissions from the production of a
fuel.
(B) The effect of a fuel source on the global food supply,
including, but not limited to, crop displacement, food prices, food
shipping, and market conditions.
(C) The direct and indirect land use changes resulting from food
production.
(2) Consider the state of the fuel market and technologies.
(b) No later than December 2014, the state board shall include
mechanisms and policies that favor fuels with the lowest possible
negative effect on the food supply sustainability factors listed in
subdivision (a) and shall give preference to fuels produced without
food stock or displacement of food crops.
SECTION 1. Section 38566 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
38566. (a) For purposes of this section, "Low Carbon Fuel
Standard regulations" means those regulations adopted by the state
board in Subarticle 7 (commencing with Section 95480) of Article 4 of
Subchapter 10 of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 17 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(b) In determining the carbon intensity of fuels under the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard regulations or another scoring system, the state
board shall consider greenhouse gas emissions associated with land
use or other significant indirect effects identified by the state
board, including, but not limited to, the impacts of potential or
actual deforestation and the impacts of increased food shipping
caused by food crop displacement.
(c) The state board shall identify, to the extent feasible,
environmental laws and practices of the jurisdiction from which the
fuel originates that may affect greenhouse gas emissions from the
production and transportation of fuel.
(d) The state board shall solicit comments and consider and
respond to evidence regarding both of the following:
(1) Significant effects upon food supply, food costs, and food
shipping caused by the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations.
(2) Significant effects upon the local economy, including job loss
or worker displacement caused by the Low Carbon Fuel Standard
regulations.