BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1970
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Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1970 (Gordon) - As Amended: April 10, 2014
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-1
Local Government 8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Community Investment and Innovation
Program (CIIP) to provide grants and other financial assistance
to eligible local government recipients for the purpose of
developing and implementing local greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
reduction projects. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides money shall be available from the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund for this program, upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
2)Requires the Strategic Growth Council (SGW), in consultation
with the California Air Resources Board (ARB), to establish
and administer the CIIP to provide local assistance grants and
other financial assistance to eligible recipients for the
purposes of developing and implementing GHG emissions
reduction projects in the state.
3)Defines eligible recipients for purposes of the bill to mean
"a city, county, city and county, charter city, charter
county, district, special district, or a collection of cities,
counties, districts or special districts, including but not
limited to a regional energy network."
4)Requires SGW, in consultation with ARB, to develop guidelines
for the project implementation as specified.
5)Requires ARB and the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), to give
priority to projects that demonstrate specified
characteristics.
AB 1970
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Cost pressure of an unknown amount, potentially in the tens of
millions of dollars annually, to fund the CCIP (GHG Reduction
Fund).
2)Costs for the SGC to develop guidelines and implement the
program in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range.
3)Costs to the ARB in the tens of thousands of dollars annually
to assist in the development of guidelines and awarding of
local grants.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, local and regional GHG
reduction projects that would achieve a portion of the state's
GHG emission reduction targets lack funding. Without
AB 970, local-scale and regional-scale emission reduction
initiatives are not likely to be undertaken.
AB 1970 provides local governments with access to the
cap-and-trade auction revenue and will allow local governments
to serve as a delivery tool for projects that will help the
state reach its GHG reduction goals set forth in AB 32.
2)Background. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (AB 32) requires ARB to adopt a statewide GHG emissions
limit equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and adopt regulations,
including market-based compliance mechanisms, to achieve
maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective GHG
emission reductions.
All moneys collected by ARB from the 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)
are deposited into the GHG Reduction Fund available for
appropriation by the Legislature. The local and regional
agencies defined in this bill are eligible for funding under
this program.
For the 2014-15 Budget, the Governor has proposed spending
$850 million on a variety of programs, including $100 million
AB 1970
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for grants to local governments to support implementation of
Sustainable Communities Strategies, $50 million for inter-city
rail grants, $30 million for organic waste diversion
infrastructure, and $20 million for water and energy saving
projects.
3) Prior Legislation. This bill is similar to AB 416
(Gordon), which was held on this committee's Suspense File
last year. However, AB 416 did not rely upon the
appropriation of cap and trade revenues, but instead relied
upon the General Fund.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081