BILL NUMBER: AB 1051 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bocanegra
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) to
Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing
, and making an appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1051, as amended, Bocanegra. Housing.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 authorizes the
State Air Resources Board to adopt a program pursuant to the act to
cap greenhouse gas emissions and provide for market-based compliance
mechanisms, including the auction of allowances (cap-and-trade
program). Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and
penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of
allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be
deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Existing law provides that, to the extent that funds are
available, the Department of Housing and Community Development shall
make loans for the development and construction of a housing
development project within close proximity to a transit station, as
specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to appropriate
funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the Department of
Housing and Community Development to be expended for loans for the
development and construction of housing development projects within
close proximity to transit stations.
This bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature
relating to transportation and residential housing development, as
specified. The bill would create the Sustainable Communities for All
program, which shall begin operations on January 1, 2015, to fund
transit-related projects through competitive grants and loans, as
specified.
This bill would appropriate an unspecified sum from the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund to be allocated to the Department of Housing and
Community Development to provide loans for the development and
construction of housing development projects within close proximity
to transit stations, and to other projects and programs that show
greenhouse gas reductions, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: no yes .
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Chapter 728 of the Statutes of 2008 created a regional
transportation and land use planning framework to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions attributable to driving. Two approaches that allow
Californians to drive less, and that and have a myriad of other
benefits for communities and individuals, are building homes
affordable to everyone near frequently used public transit and
improving public and active transportation choices.
(b) While demand for more transportation and housing options is
high, court action in California Redevelopment Association v.
Matosantos (2011) 53 Cal.4th 231 eliminated more than $1,000,000,000
annually that was available for housing development. Additionally,
funds from successful state housing bonds are virtually exhausted.
Funding for transit in California was cut by more than $4,000,000,000
over the last decade, leading to massive service cuts at transit
agencies even as transit ridership soared.
(c) According to the California Air Pollution Control Officers
Association, living in an affordable, transit-oriented development
can reduce a low-income household's greenhouse gas emissions from
driving by up to 65 percent.
(d) Access to public transportation reduces greenhouse gas
emissions. Compared to the 20 percent of households with the best
transportation access, typical households in each of the four most
populous regions emitted from 27 percent to 42 percent more
transportation-related greenhouse gasses.
(e) Because transit, transit-oriented residential development, and
bicycle and pedestrian networks are significantly underbuilt in
California, investments in their expanded production will have real,
lasting impacts on greenhouse gas emissions.
(f) Those investments will also create and sustain well-paying
jobs at a time of high unemployment and generate myriad other local,
regional and statewide economic benefits. Every $1,000,000,000
invested in public transit creates and supports 36,000 jobs and
generates nearly $500,000,000 in tax revenues. Similarly, every
$1,000,000,000 invested in apartments leverages $3,600,000,000 in
private and federal investment and creates 34,500 construction and
permanent jobs.
(g) Revenues from the state's cap-and-trade program provide a
timely opportunity to generate short-term and long-term environmental
and economic benefits for California communities, while meeting high
demand for transit-oriented residential development, expanded
transit, and active transportation opportunities.
(h) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to fund
existing programs in the short term and create new programs in the
long term to achieve these goals.
SEC. 2. Part 14 (commencing with Section 53570) is
added to Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code
, to read:
PART 14. Sustainable Communities for All
53570. (a) The Sustainable Communities for All program, which is
hereby established, shall begin operations on January 1, 2015, with
the goal of equitably implementing Chapter 728 of the Statutes of
2008 by providing transportation and housing choices that allow lower
income Californians to drive less and reduce household costs.
(b) The program shall fund all of the following through
competitive grants and loans:
(1) Expanded or improved public transit service, including
operations to quickly expand service and increase ridership.
(2) Transit capital maintenance.
(3) Development and rehabilitation of transit-oriented residential
development that is affordable to low-income households and provides
trip reduction strategies including transit passes and car share.
(4) Expanded bicycle and pedestrian networks, facilities, and
programs that promote additional use and safety, and that provide
access to transit, schools, colleges, shopping, and other
destinations.
(5) Expanded vanpool, car share, and carpool promotion programs.
(6) Transportation demand management strategies and incentives
that reduce both vehicle travel and ownership, including discounted
transit passes in transit priority zones.
(7) Invest in energy efficiency improvement in existing
multifamily rental homes affordable to lowerincome households.
SEC. 3. There is hereby appropriated ____ dollars
($____) from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be allocated, as
follows:
(a) To the Department of Housing and
Community Development ____ dollars ($____) to be expended to provide
loans for the development and construction of housing
development projects within close proximity to transit stations, as
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 53562 of the Health and
Safety Code, in accordance with all of the following:
(1) These funds shall only finance housing units that will be
available at an affordable rent to persons of very low or low-income
for at least 55 years. The units may be located in mixed-income
developments.
(2) The department shall use density as a scoring criterion in
place of project size.
(3) The department shall give priority to developments that
achieve additional greenhouse gas emissions reductions or energy
conservation through onsite renewable energy, energy efficiency,
discount transit passes, car sharing, or other similar features.
(b) To the projects and programs that are eligible to receive
funds through the State Transit Assistance program and that show
greenhouse gas reductions ____ dollars ($____).
(c) To the projects and programs that are eligible to receive
funds through the Bicycle Transportation Account and that show
greenhouse gas reductions ____ dollars ($____).
(d) To the projects and programs that are eligible to receive
funds through the Safe Routes to Schools program and that show
greenhouse gas reductions ____ dollars ($____).
(e) To the projects and programs that are eligible to receive
funds through the federal Transportation Alternative Program (23
U.S.C. Sec. 213) and that show greenhouse gas reductions ____ dollars
($____).
(f) To the Energy Savings Assistance Program and the
Weatherization Assistance Program ____ dollars ($____).
SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the
Legislature to increase funding for equitable transit-oriented
development that is affordable to core transit riders and other
low-income households with a decreased propensity to drive when
transit options are available.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate funds from
the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the Department of Housing and
Community Development to be expended for loans for the development
and construction of housing development projects within close
proximity to transit stations, as specified in subdivision (b) of
Section 53562 of the Health and Safety Code, in accordance with the
following:
(1) These funds shall only finance housing units that will be
available at an affordable rent to persons of very low or low income
for at least 55 years. The units may be located in mixed-income
developments.
(2) The department shall use density as a scoring criterion in
place of project size.
(3) The department shall give priority to developments that
achieve additional greenhouse gas emission reductions or energy
conservation through onsite renewable energy, energy efficiency,
discount transit passes, car sharing, or other similar features.