BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 527
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 527 (Beth Gaines)
As Amended May 7, 2013
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 8-0 JUDICIARY 10-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Grove, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, |
| |Garcia, Muratsuchi, | |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, |
| |Patterson, Stone, | |Garcia, Gorell, |
| |Williams | |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, |
| | | |Stone |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | |
| |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Repeals the exemption from the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act (Bagley-Keene) enacted in 2012 for the Western
Climate Initiative (WCI, Inc.) and provides that a contract
between the state and WCI, Inc. shall be subject to audit by the
State Auditor.
EXISTING LAW :
1)SB 1018, Chapter 39, Statutes of 2012 (Resources Budget
Trailer Bill) imposes conditions on the non-governmental
entity WCI, Inc., created to assist the Air Resources Board
(ARB) in the implementation of the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32 (N��ez), Chapter 488, Statutes of
2006).
a) Finds and declares that the establishment of WCI, Inc.
should be done transparently and should be independently
reviewed by the Attorney General for consistency with all
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applicable laws.
b) Establishes the California membership of the board of
directors of WCI, Inc. as follows:
i) One appointee or his or her designee who shall serve
as an ex officio nonvoting member shall be appointed by
the Senate Rules Committee.
ii) One appointee or his or her designee who shall serve
as an ex officio nonvoting member shall be appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly.
iii) The Chairperson of the ARB or her or his designee.
iv) The Secretary for Environmental Protection or his or
her designee.
c) Requires ARB to provide notice to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee of any funds over $150,000 provided to
WCI, Inc. or its derivatives or subcontractors no later
than 30 days prior to transfer or expenditure of these
funds.
d) Exempts WCI, Inc. and its ARB and California
Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) appointees from
Bagley-Keene when performing their duties.
2)Bagley-Keene generally requires that all meetings of a state
body be open and public. Defines a "state body" to include a
board, commission, committee, or similar multimember body on
which a member of a body that is a state body serves in his or
her official capacity as a representative of that state body
and that is supported, in whole or in part, by funds provided
by the state body, whether the multimember body is organized
and operated by the state body or by a private corporation.
3)Provides pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA)
that all records maintained by local and state governmental
agencies are open to public inspection unless specifically
exempt. Defines "public records" to include any writing
containing information relating to the conduct of the public's
business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or
local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown additional special fund costs per audit for
both WCI, Inc. and ARB in the $40,000 to $200,000 range
depending on the scope of the audit (one audit per year is
likely), potential redirection of funds in the office of the
State Auditor.
COMMENTS : According to the author, currently, actions taken by
WCI, Inc. are not subject to Open Meeting or Public Records
Acts. Requests for information from interest groups have been
met with delays and more often refusals. The board of WCI, Inc.
includes four California civil servants acting within their
official job capacity. Additionally, the majority of funding
for WCI, Inc. consists of tax dollars expended by ARB. WCI,
Inc. is clearly acting under the advisement of California
officeholders and is funded largely by state funds.
In November 2011, the Western Climate Initiative formed WCI,
Inc., a non-profit corporation formed to provide administrative
and technical services to support the implementation of state
and provincial greenhouse gas emissions trading programs.
According to their Web site, WCI, Inc. will develop a compliance
tracking system that tracks both allowances and offsets;
administer allowance auctions; and conduct market monitoring of
allowance auctions and offset certificate trading.
The Board of Directors includes officials from the provinces of
Quebec and British Columbia, and public officials from the State
of California. The public officials from the State of
California include:
1)Matt Rodriguez, Secretary for Environmental Protection;
2)Mary Nichols, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board;
3)Kip Lipper, staff to California State Senate President Pro
Tempore;
4)Nancy Skinner, Member of the California State Assembly.
The Western Climate Initiative, not to be confused with WCI,
Inc., is a collaboration of independent jurisdictions working
together to identify, evaluate, and implement emissions trading
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policies to tackle climate change at a regional level. It began
in February 2007 when the Governors of Arizona, California, New
Mexico, Oregon, and Washington signed an agreement directing
their respective states to develop a regional target for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, participate in a multi-state
registry to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions in the
region, and develop a market-based program to reach the target.
In the following years, the Governors of Montana and Utah along
with the Premiers of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and
Quebec joined the original five states in committing to tackle
climate change at a regional level.
In July 2010, all 11 jurisdictions collaborated in the
development of the design for the WCI Regional Program, which
provides a roadmap to inform WCI partner jurisdictions as they
implement the cap-and-trade program in their jurisdictions. All
states except for California, withdrew as partners from WCI in
2011. California, along with British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec
and Manitoba are continuing to work together, as partners in
WCI, to develop and harmonize their emissions trading program
policies.
When the Legislature enacted the Bagley-Keene in 1967, it
essentially said that when a body sits down to develop its
consensus, there needs to be a seat at the table reserved for
the public. In doing so, the Legislature has provided the
public with the ability to monitor and be part of the
decision-making process. The act explicitly mandates open
meetings for California State agencies, boards, and commissions.
The act facilitates transparency of government activities and
protects the rights of citizens to participate in state
government deliberations. Therefore, absent a specific reason
to keep the public out of meetings, the public should be allowed
to monitor and participate in the decision-making process.
Similarly, California's Ralph M. Brown Act of 1953 protects
citizen's rights to open meetings at the local and county
government levels.
The WCI, Inc. was given an exemption from Bagley-Keene because
of the unique composition of the board and the vast distance
between its members, which would make it impractical for WCI,
Inc. to follow the very specific provisions of the Act. For
instance, the participating jurisdictions are geographically
dispersed throughout North America, and their budgets do not
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allow for frequent travel; leading to WCI, Inc. meetings being
held by telephone conference calls. Though Bagley-Keene allows
for teleconference meetings, it requires each site from which a
member of the body participates to be accessible to the public.
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0000970