BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 796
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 796 (Muratsuchi) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
SUBJECT : Energy: thermal powerplants: certification: sea
level rise
SUMMARY : Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to
consider the effects of sea level rise on a proposed thermal
power plant during the certification process.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the CEC to issue permits for "thermal powerplants,"
meaning any stationary or floating electrical generating
facility using any source of thermal energy, with a generating
capacity of 50 megawatts or more, and any related facilities.
A thermal powerplant does not include any wind, hydroelectric,
or solar photovoltaic electrical generating facility.
2)Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to develop
preliminary maps for the 100- and 200-year flood plains
protected by project levees to provide cities and counties
with best available flood risk data to support future flood
planning needs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement. "This bill is an important step towards
preparing our coastal cities against the possible, negative
effects of climate change. Sea level rise has the dangerous
potential of wreaking havoc upon our cities' infrastructures,
and we must ensure we prepare adequately to respond to
possible future crises."
2)Background. According to "The Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on
the California Coast," a 2009 report by the California Climate
Change Center, funded through the CEC's Public Interest Energy
Research Program (PIER):
"We estimate that a 1.4 meter sealevel rise [projected by
AB 796
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the year 2100] will put 480,000 people at risk of a 100year
flood event, given todays population. Among those affected
are large numbers of lowincome people and communities of
color, which are especially vulnerable. Critical
infrastructure, such as roads, hospitals, schools,
emergency facilities, wastewater treatment plants, power
plants, and more will also be at increased risk of
inundation, as are vast areas of wetlands and other natural
ecosystems."
"Sea levels are expected to continue to rise, and the rate
of increase will likely accelerate. In order to evaluate
climate change impacts, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) developed future emission scenarios
that differ based on assumptions about economic
development, population, regulation, and technology (see
Box 1 for a description of the scenarios). Based on these
scenarios, mean sea level was projected to rise by 0.2 m to
0.6 m by 2100, relative to a baseline of 19801999, in
response to changes in oceanic temperature and the exchange
of water between oceans and landbased reservoirs, such as
glaciers and ice sheets."
3)CEC regulations currently require power plant permit
applicants to provide a detailed description of the hydrologic
setting of the project, including a map and narrative
description that includes ground water bodies and related
geologic structures, water inundation zones, such as 100-year
flood plain and tsunami run-up zones, flood control
facilities, groundwater wells within mile of project that
include pumping. 4) Give the threat of sea level rise on the
state's infrastructure, environment, and economy, it seems
reasonable and good public policy that CEC be required to
consider sea level rise during the permitting process for a
power plant.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Coast Environmental Rights Foundation
Sierra Club California
Opposition
AB 796
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092