BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1051
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Norma Torres, Chair
AB 1051 (Bocanegra) - As Amended: April 8, 2013
SUBJECT : Housing.
SUMMARY : Creates the Sustainable Communities for All Program to
fund, via cap-and-trade auction revenues, the equitable
implementation of SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of
2008. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Sustainable Communities for All Program, to
begin operations on January 1, 2015, with the goal of
equitably implementing SB 375 by providing transportation and
housing choices that allow lower-income Californians to drive
less and reduce household costs.
2)Requires the program to fund all of the following through
competitive grants and loans:
a) Expanded or improved public transit service, including
operations to quickly expand service and increase
ridership;
b) Transit capital maintenance;
c) 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;
d) 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;
e) Expanded vanpool, car share, and carpool promotion
programs;
f) Transportation demand management strategies and
incentives that reduce both vehicle travel and ownership,
including discounted transit passes in transit priority
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zones;
g) Energy efficiency improvements in existing multifamily
rental homes affordable to lower income households; and
h) Open-space protection, local parks, and urban forestry.
3)Makes implementation of the new program, including development
of standards and guidelines by the State Air Resources Board
and provision of financial assistance to eligible recipients,
contingent upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature.
4)States the Legislature's intent to appropriate moneys for the
Sustainable Communities for All program in a manner consistent
with the requirements of AB 1532 (John A. Pérez), Chapter 807,
Statutes of 2012.
5)States the intent of the Legislature to achieve the goals of
the Sustainable Communities for All program in the short term
by funding existing programs in the 2013-14 budget year.
6)Appropriates an unspecified amount from the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund to be allocated in the 2013-2014 budget year as
follows:
a) An unspecified amount to the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD) to be expended to provide loans
under the Transit-Oriented Development Housing Program for
the development and construction of housing within close
proximity to transit stations, with the following
conditions:
i) The funds can 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, although
the units may be located in a mixed-income development;
ii) HCD must use project density as a scoring
criteria; and
iii) HCD must 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.
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a) An unspecified amount to the projects and programs that
are eligible to receive funds through the State Transit
Assistance program and that show greenhouse gas reductions;
b) An unspecified amount to the projects and programs that
are eligible to receive funds through the Bicycle
Transportation Account and that show greenhouse gas
reductions;
c) An unspecified amount to the projects and programs that
are eligible to receive funds through the Safe Routes to
Schools program and that show greenhouse gas reductions;
d) An unspecified amount to the projects and programs that
are eligible to receive funds through the federal
Transportation Alternative Program and that show greenhouse
gas reductions;
e) An unspecified amount to the Energy Savings Assistance
Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program; and
f) An unspecified amount to the California Natural
Resources Agency for allocation to its departments and
state conservancies for the purposes of funding the
following projects that show greenhouse gas reductions:
urban forestry, local parks, and the protection of open
space, including wildlife habitats and working lands.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB), pursuant to the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 [AB 32 (Nuñez
and Pavley), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006], to adopt a
statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit equivalent to
1990 levels by 2020 and adopt regulations to achieve maximum
technologically feasible and cost-effective GHG emission
reductions.
2)Authorizes ARB to permit the use of market-based compliance
mechanisms to comply with GHG reduction regulations, under
limited circumstances once specified conditions are met.
3)Establishes the GHG Reduction Fund and requires all moneys,
except for fines and penalties, collected by ARB from the
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auction or sale of allowances pursuant to a market-based
compliance mechanism (i.e., the cap-and-trade program adopted
by ARB under AB 32) to be deposited in the Fund and available
for appropriation by the Legislature.
4)Establishes the GHG Reduction Fund Investment Plan and
Communities Revitalization Act (AB 1532) to set procedures for
the investment of regulatory fee revenues derived from the
auction of GHG allowances pursuant to the cap-and-trade
program. AB 1532 authorizes a range of GHG reduction
investments, including funding to reduce GHG emissions through
investments in programs implemented by local and regional
agencies, local and regional collaboratives, and nonprofit
organizations coordinating with local governments.
5)Requires, under the provisions of SB 535 (DeLeon), Chapter
830, Statues of 2012, the investment plan that is developed
and submitted to the Legislature pursuant to AB 1532 to
allocate a minimum of 25% of the available moneys in the GHG
Reduction Fund to projects that provide benefits to
disadvantaged communities and a minimum of 10% of the
available moneys in the fund to projects located within
identified disadvantaged communities.
6)Requires, under the provisions of SB 375, the ARB, by
September 30, 2010, to provide each region that has a
metropolitan planning organization (MPO) with a greenhouse gas
emission reduction target for the automobile and light truck
sector for 2020 and 2035, respectively. In turn, each MPO is
required to include in its regional transportation plan a
sustainable communities strategy designed to achieve the
targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Background : According to ARB, the state needs a total reduction
of 80 million metric tons (MMT), or 16 percent compared to
business as usual, to reduce statewide GHG emissions to 1990
levels by 2020. ARB intends to achieve approximately 78 percent
of the reductions through identified "regulatory" measures. ARB
proposes to achieve the balance of reductions necessary to meet
the 2020 limit (approximately 18 MMT) through a cap-and-trade
program. The first two quarterly auctions of allowances in the
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cap-and-trade program were held in November 2012 and February
2013. The next auction (the last of this fiscal year) is
scheduled for May 16, 2013.
The 2012-13 Budget Act [AB 1464 (Blumenfield), Chapter 21,
Statutes of 2012] authorized the Department of Finance (DOF) to
allocate at least $500 million from cap-and-trade revenue, and
make commensurate reductions to General Fund expenditure
authority, to support the regulatory purposes of AB 32. AB 1532
established a long-term spending strategy for moneys in the
Fund, including procedures for deposit and expenditure of
cap-and-trade auction revenues pursuant to an investment plan.
Pursuant to AB 1532, DOF and ARB are developing a three-year
investment plan for the auction proceeds. The investment plan
will identify the state's GHG emission reduction goals and
priority programs for investment of proceeds to support
achievement of those goals. The Governor's proposed 2013-14
Budget includes a brief discussion of Administration priorities
for investment, emphasizing investments in the transportation
and energy sectors from which large reductions in GHG emissions
are possible. In addition, areas to be examined during the
planning process include sustainable agriculture practices
(including the development of bioenergy), forest management and
urban forestry, and the diversion of organic waste to bioenergy
and composting.
In February 2013, ARB released an investment plan "concept
paper" and held public workshops to solicit public input. The
release of a draft investment plan is pending, and will be
followed by an ARB public hearing (tentatively scheduled for
April 25-26, 2013). DOF will submit the final plan to the
Legislature in May 2013. Funding will be appropriated to state
agencies by the Legislature and Governor through the annual
Budget Act, consistent with the plan.
SB 375 required the ARB, by September 30, 2010, to provide each
region that has a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) with
a greenhouse gas emission reduction target for the automobile
and light truck sector for 2020 and 2035, respectively. Each
MPO, in turn, is required to include within its regional
transportation plan (RTP) a sustainable communities strategy
(SCS) designed to achieve the ARB targets for greenhouse gas
emission reduction in the region.
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Purpose of the bill : According to the proponents of AB 1051,
California's transportation sector is responsible for the most
GHG emissions of any sector, 38%. Because transportation needs
are driven in large part by where people want-and can afford-to
live, housing affordability affects the sector's emissions. They
view cap-and-trade revenue as a critical resource, since
substantial reductions in transportation and housing funding
threaten the ability of communities to achieve AB 32 and SB 375
goals. Therefore, they are proposing to allocate a significant
percentage of the cap-and-trade revenues to improve clean
transportation choices and build homes affordable to
lower-income households near transit. They note that in AB 32,
AB 1532, and SB 535, policymakers put a priority on avoiding and
mitigating the disproportionate impacts of climate change and
cap and trade on disadvantaged communities and households. They
argue that funding and policies that avoid displacement of
existing residents where transit investments are made are
paramount to achieving both environmental and social equity
goals.
AB 1051 creates the Sustainable Communities for All Program to
fund, using cap-and-trade auction revenues, a broad range of
activities related to implementing SB 375, including:
Expanded public transit service.
Transit capital maintenance.
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.
Expanded bicycle and pedestrian networks, facilities,
and programs.
Expanded vanpool, car share, and carpool promotion
programs.
Transportation demand management strategies and
incentives that reduce vehicle travel and vehicle
ownership, including discounted transit passes in transit
priority zones.
Energy efficiency improvements in existing multifamily
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rental homes affordable to lower income households.
Open-space protection, local parks, and urban forestry.
In order to provide time for ARB to develop guidelines, the bill
does not make the new program operational on January 1, 2015. In
order to achieve similar goals in the short term, the bill makes
a variety of appropriations in the 2013-2014 budget year. The
programs proposed for funding in 2013-2-14, all in unspecified
amounts, include the Transit-Oriented Development Housing
Program, the Energy Savings Assistance Program, the
Weatherization Assistance Program, the State Transit Assistance
Program, the Bicycle and Transportation Account, the Safe Routes
to School Program, and the Transportation Alternatives Program.
Projects and programs would have to show GHG reductions in order
to receive funding from these appropriations.
Staff comments : This bill is one of several bills introduced
this year in the Assembly that proposes a spending framework for
funds from the cap-and-trade auction revenues to support the
development of sustainable communities. Other measures include
AB 416 (Gordon), which has passed out of both the Natural
Resources Committee and the Local Government Committee and is
pending in the Appropriations Committee, and AB 574 (Lowenthal),
which is pending in the Transportation Committee. Of those
bills, AB 1051 is the only one that highlights the importance of
investing in affordable housing near transit in order to reduce
GHGs.
Double referral : AB 1051 was also referred to the Committee on
Transportation, where it will be heard should it pass out of
this committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Bike San Diego
California Bicycle Coalition
California Housing Partnership Corporation
California ReLeaf
Century Housing
City Heights Community Development Corporation
Construction Employers Association
Domus Development
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First Community Housing
Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic
Fresno Metro Ministries
Housing California
Kennedy Commission (Orange County)
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Move LA
Mercy Housing
Mid-City CAN
Move San Diego
The Nature Conservancy
Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
Prevention Institute
Public Advocates
Sacramento Housing Alliance/Coalition on Regional Equity
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
San Diego Housing Federation
Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing
TransForm
The Transit Coalition
Trust for Public Land
Walk Sacramento
Walk San Diego
Opposition
CalTax
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / H. & C.D. / (916)
319-2085