BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 197 (Eduardo Garcia) - State Air Resources Board: greenhouse
gases
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: August 2, 2016 |Policy Vote: E., U., & C. 7 - |
| | 1, E.Q. 5 - 2 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: August 8, 2016 |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary:1) AB 197 creates the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate
Policies. The bill also requires the Air Resources Board (ARB)
to consider adopting measures to achieve the statewide
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit based on specified
priorities, and requires the ARB to rank all emission reduction
measures adopted pursuant to this bill. Finally, this bill adds
two ex officio members to the ARB to be appointed from the
Legislature.
Fiscal
Impact:
One-time costs of $100,000 (various special funds) to the ARB
for construction to enlarge the hearing room dais and to
provide the equipment needed to accommodate two additional
board members.
AB 197 (Eduardo Garcia) Page 1 of
?
$233,000 annually (Cost of Implementation Fund) to the ARB for
staffing needs to support new board members and develop
ranking criteria. (See staff comments)
Background:
Air Resources Board. The Air Resources Board was created in
1967 through the Mulford-Carrell Act, which combined two
Department of Health bureaus, the Bureau of Air Sanitation, and
the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board.
Six of the board members must have certain qualifications (e.g.,
automotive engineering; chemistry, meteorology, or a
health-related field). The other six members must be board
members from the following entities: South Coast Air Quality
Management District (AQMD), Bay Area AQMD, San Joaquin Valley
AQMD, San Diego Air Pollution Control District, one of six
Sacramento region air districts, and a board member from any
other district. These board members must reflect the
"qualitative requirements" of the other 6 members to the extent
practicable. Board members serve part-time, except the
Chairperson, who serves as a full-time member.
In 2015, AB 1288 (Atkins, Chapter 586, Statutes of 2015) added
two additional members to the board, which increased the
membership from 12 to 14. The new members are appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly, and
must work directly with pollution-burdened and vulnerable
communities.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (referred to as
AB 32) requires the ARB to determine the 1990 statewide (GHG)
emissions level, to approve a statewide GHG emissions limit
equivalent to that level that will be achieved by 2020, and to
adopt GHG emissions reductions measures by regulation. ARB is
authorized to include the use of market-based mechanisms to
comply with the regulations. Under this authority, the ARB
initiated the cap-and-trade program. All monies, except for
fines and penalties, collected pursuant to the cap-and-trade
program are deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
(GGRF). Existing law requires that the GGRF only be used to
facilitate the achievement of reductions of GHG emissions
AB 197 (Eduardo Garcia) Page 2 of
?
consistent with AB 32.
Proposed Law:
This bill:
1) Establishes the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change
Policies, consisting of three members of the Senate and three
members of the Assembly, to ascertain facts and make
recommendations to the Legislature concerning the state's
climate change programs and policies.
2) Requires ARB to consider adopting measures to achieve the
statewide GHG emissions limit based on the following
priority:
a) Measures that result in direct GHG emissions reductions
from large stationary sources, such as refineries, and the
transportation sector in the most technologically feasible
and cost effective manner possible that accounts for the
societal costs of GHG emissions.
b) Measures that result in direct reductions in GHG
emissions from sources other than large stationary sources
and transportation in the most technologically feasible
and cost effective manner possible that accounts for the
societal costs of GHG emissions.
3) Requires ARB to rank GHG emission reduction measures based on
the reductions in GHG emissions, criteria pollutants, toxic
air contaminants, and cost-effectiveness.
4) Requires ARB to make all data related to the above ranking
available to the public and present the rankings annually at
a regular ARB meeting.
5) Establishes six-year terms for voting members of ARB, and
specifies that a voting member may be reappointed upon
expiration of their term.
6) Specifies that a member of ARB, whose appointment satisfies
local air district membership requirements for ARB's makeup,
cannot be a member of ARB effective immediately if they cease
to hold the qualifying membership of a local air district.
AB 197 (Eduardo Garcia) Page 3 of
?
7) Requires that two Legislative members serve as ex-officio,
nonvoting members of ARB, with one member appointed by the
Senate Committee on Rules, and the other member appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly.
8) Provides that the provisions of this bill are only operative
if SB 32 (Pavley) is enacted and becomes law on or before
January 1, 2017.
Related
Legislation: SB 32 (Pavley) requires ARB to approve a statewide
GHG emissions limit of 40% below the 1990 GHG emissions level to
be achieved by 2030. This bill is pending consideration in
Assembly Appropriations.
Staff
Comments:1)
Purpose of Bill. According to the author, "In order for
California to remain an economic and environmental leader the
state will need to also be a leader on issues related to equity.
Placing the health and economic impacts of climate policy on
vulnerable populations second will stunt the state's prosperity.
A great degree of transparency and investment in California's
environmentally and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations
has the potential to yield significant climate, economic, public
health and quality of life benefits while knocking down barriers
to opportunity."
ARB Costs. This bill adds two ex officio members to the ARB.
According to the ARB, the hearing room dais is not large enough
to accommodate two more board members. The ARB would have to
enlarge the dais and purchase equipment to accommodate the two
new ex officio members. This construction would take five to
six months. The addition of these two members would also
increase workload for the board liaison, who provides
administrative support to the Board including scheduling
meetings and member briefings, tracking ex parte communications,
and developing member packets. Due to the addition of two
members last year and the two additional members required under
this bill, the ARB will likely have to hire another liaison.
AB 197 (Eduardo Garcia) Page 4 of
?
The ARB would also incur costs to compile the pollutant
reductions and co-benefits data for existing GHG reduction
measures from information available in the Initial Statement of
Reasons documents and rank the measures pursuant to the
requirements of the bill.
Contingent enactment. AB 197 (E. Garcia) contains contingent
enactment language with SB 32 (Pavley), currently in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee, and will only become
operative if SB 32 is enacted.
-- END --