BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1236|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1236
          Author:   Chiu (D) and Low (D), et al.
          Amended:  9/2/15 in Senate
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE:  6-1, 6/17/15
           AYES:  Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley
           NOES:  Moorlach

           SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE:  8-0, 7/7/15
           AYES:  Beall, Cannella, Allen, Galgiani, Leyva, McGuire, Roth,  
            Wieckowski
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bates, Gaines, Mendoza

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 5/26/15 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Local ordinances:  electric vehicle charging  
                     stations


          SOURCE:    Author

          DIGEST:   This bill requires each city and county to adopt an  
          ordinance to streamline and expedite the permitting process for  
          electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

          Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/15 add legislative intent  
          provisions consistent with the bill and change a reference to  
          the trade organizations that promulgate EV charging station  
          standards.  

          ANALYSIS: 








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          Existing law:

           1) Authorizes the legislative body of any city, or county to  
             adopt, ordinances to regulate a variety of purposes, such as  
             the location, height, bulk, number of stories, and size of  
             buildings and structures. 


           2) Requires every city and county to adopt an ordinance, by  
             September 30, 2015, to streamline and expedite the permitting  
             process for small, residential, rooftop solar energy systems.  
              


           3) Directs relevant state agencies to develop benchmarks to  
             help support and facilitate the rapid commercialization, of  
             Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs).  The order directed these  
             agencies to establish benchmarks to help the state's ZEV  
             infrastructure support 1.5 million ZEVs by 2025.  The Office  
             of Planning and Research (OPR) has developed a "ZEV  
             guidebook" to help local jurisdictions plan for increasing  
             numbers of ZEVs.  The guidebook offers a number of tools and  
             templates, including a checklist that guides both permit  
             applicants and building department staff through the process  
             of charging station installation.


           4) Requires every city, or county to adopt an ordinance that  
             creates an expedited permitting process for small,  
             residential rooftop solar energy systems.  These ordinances  
             must be adopted by September 30, 2015.


           5) Requires an owner of a commercial, or residential property  
             to approve the installation of an EV charging station, if it  
             meets specified requirements and complies with the owner's  
             process for approving a modification to the property and made  
             a term in a lease of a commercial property executed, renewed,  
             or extended on or after January 1, 2015, void and  
             unenforceable if it prohibits or unreasonably restricts the  
             installation of an EV charging station in a parking space.








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           6) Allows cities to own and operate electrical utilities.


           7) Establishes the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to provide  
             funding for projects and activities that reduce greenhouse  
             gas emissions.


          This bill:

           1) Requires each city, county, and city and county with a  
             population of 200,000 or more residents to develop an  
             ordinance for an expedited, streamlined permitting process  
             for EV charging stations by September 30, 2016. 


           2) Requires each city, county and city and county with a  
             population of less than 200,000 residents to develop an  
             ordinance for an expedited, streamlined permitting process  
             for EV charging stations by September 30, 2017. 


           3) Requires the streamlined permitting process to include a  
             checklist of requirements for EV charging stations to be  
             eligible for expedited review.  If a local agency has a  
             website, it must (a) post the checklist and any required  
             permitting documents online, (b) allow applicants to submit  
             the permit application electronically and (c) allow  
             applicants to sign documents electronically unless it states  
             a reason why it is unable to do so.


           4) Allows local governments to refer to the recommendations for  
             expedited permitting in the most recent version of OPR's ZEV  
             guidebook.  The process may vary to account for unique local  
             conditions including climate, geology, seismology, or  
             topology.


           5) Limits the local agency's review of the permit application,  








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             to whether the application meets all relevant health and  
             safety standards.  


           6) Requires approval through the issuance of a building permit,  
             or similar nondiscretionary permit, for any application that  
             meets the requirements of the checklist.  If the application  
             doesn't meet the requirements, the local agency must provide  
             a list of deficiencies to the applicant.  


           7) Allows a local agency to require a discretionary use permit  
             for a charging station, if a building official at the agency  
             makes certain findings, including that the proposed  
             installation could have a specific, adverse impact on public  
             health or safety.  However, the local agency cannot deny the  
             permit unless it makes findings that there is no way to  
             mitigate the health or safety impacts.


           8) Requires the local agency to consult with local fire  
             agencies and, if applicable, the jurisdiction's utility  
             director. 


           9) Prohibits a local agency from requiring approval by a common  
             interest development (such as a homeowners association) as a  
             condition of a permit.  


           10)Allows the decision of the local agency's building official  
             to be appealed to the agency's planning commission.


           11)Requires an application for an electric vehicle charging  
             station permit in a city, or county that owns and operates an  
             electrical utility to demonstrate that the application  
             complies with the utility's interconnection policy.


           12)Requires charging stations to meet standards promulgated by  
             various trade associations, including the Society of  








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             Automotive Engineers and the National Electrical  
             Manufacturers Association.


           13)Allows the local agency to establish a process to prioritize  
             competing applications for expedited permits.


           14)Makes findings and declarations, including the Legislature's  
             intent to remove obstacles to the installation of charging  
             stations, so long as it does not supersede building  
             officials' ability to address higher priority life-safety  
             situations.


          Background
          
          As an alternative to gasoline-based vehicles, California has  
          more EVs and the charging stations necessary to fuel them than  
          any other state in the nation.  The state currently has over  
          137,000 EVs on the roads and nearly 12,000 charging stations to  
          support them, according to the Plug-in Electric Vehicle  
          Collaborative and the U.S. Department of Energy.  This  
          represents 43 percent of the electric vehicles and about 22  
          percent of the charging stations in the country. 

          Both EVs and charging stations have grown significantly in  
          recent years, due to a rapidly growing list of state policies  
          that support the adoption of EV technology and infrastructure,  
          beginning with incentives for purchasing EVs and requirements on  
          automakers, to manufacture specified percentages of EVs in  
          relation to their production of conventional cars.  To further  
          help communities across the state support their residents and  
          businesses in making the switch to ZEVs, OPR created several  
          resources to help achieve the goals in the Governor's Executive  
          Order, including the ZEV guidebook.  

          According to the ZEV guidebook, local jurisdictions follow  
          several types of permitting processes: 

           No Permit Necessary.  A few jurisdictions have characterized  
            the installation of EV charging equipment, as a minor  








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            improvement and do not require a permit.


           Permit Required, Online System.  Some jurisdictions have  
            invested in online permitting and inspection portals, which  
            reduces the time and paperwork necessary to complete the  
            permit application.  The jurisdiction defines what is  
            acceptable to be permitted through the online system.


           Permit Required, Over-the-Counter (OTC) with Scope-of-Work  
            Only.  This process is similar to the online system, except  
            that the electrical contractor deals directly with a city  
            official noting the type of job being completed.  There is no  
            detailed overview of the installation and the permit is  
            obtained immediately.


           Permit Required, OTC with Plan Check.  Plan check is defined  
            as a technical review of the installation and will typically  
            require additional documentation from the electrician.  In  
            these cases, the permit will be obtained only if the official  
            agrees that the documentation shows an acceptable  
            installation, which can add time and cost to the upfront  
            permit application process.


           Permit Required, Plan Check.  The same technical review  
            occurs, but not immediately.  Instead, an official or  
            third-party contractor reviews the documents according to the  
            jurisdiction's process timeline.  It is not uncommon for the  
            timeframe to be a few days to a few weeks.


          Because the permitting process can vary from one local agency to  
          another, some businesses and organizations want to standardize  
          and streamline the process for permitting EV charging stations.

          Comments
          
          1)Purpose of the bill.  The Legislature and the Governor have  
            made it a priority to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas  








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            emissions in California.  Achieving the state's target of 1.5  
            million ZEVs by 2025 is a critical step towards both of those  
            goals and developing a system of convenient EV charging  
            stations is essential to promoting and accelerating the  
            adoption of ZEVs.  Unfortunately, the number of EV charging  
            stations has not kept pace with the number of EVs purchased in  
            the state.  Currently, the permitting process associated with  
            installing EV charging stations varies widely across local  
            agencies.  Permitting requirements and the time needed to  
            receive the permit differ drastically across local  
            jurisdictions.  This results in uncertainty and hinders the  
            ability of prospective EV buyers to understand the  
            administrative burden and the cost of installing EV charging  
            stations before purchasing an EV.  AB 1236 equalizes the  
            process for permitting across jurisdictions and simplifies the  
            process of installing charging stations.  At the same time, AB  
            1236 also provides local jurisdictions with flexibility in how  
            they permit EV charging stations.  AB 1236 will help lower the  
            cost of installation, expedite permitting, and further expand  
            the infrastructure needed to meet these statewide goals.

          2)Home rule.  As demand for EVs and charging stations grows over  
            time, cities and counties will adopt best practices for EV  
            permitting based on the needs and experiences of their  
            communities.  For local agencies that process very few permit  
            requests, it may not make sense to require them to go through  
            the significant effort to develop a checklist and ordinance  
            when demand for charging stations is low.  

          3)Too Soon?  AB 1236 was modeled very closely upon AB 2188  
            (Muratsuchi, Chapter 521, Statutes of 2014), which required  
            ordinances for residential rooftop solar installations to be  
            developed by September 30, 2015.  Many cities and counties  
            have not yet completed or begun to implement these ordinances.  
             It may make sense to delay action on this legislation until  
            after AB 2188 has been in place for some time, so as to  
            identify any problems with this structure.

          Prior Legislation
          
          AB 2188 (Muratsuchi, Chapter 521, Statutes of 2014) requires  
          every city and county to adopt an ordinance by September 30,  








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          2015, to streamline and expedite the permitting process for  
          small, residential, rooftop solar energy systems.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes


          SUPPORT:   (Verified9/3/15)


          American Institute of Architects
          American Lung Association in California
          California Apartment Association
          California League of Conservation Voters 
          Chargepoint, Inc.
          Coalition for Clean Air
          Natural Resources Defense Council
          NRG Energy, Inc.
          Pacific Gas and Electric Company 
          Plug In America
          SacEV
          Sierra Club California
          Silicon Valley Leadership Group
          Stem, Inc.
          TechNet
          Volta


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified9/3/15)


          California Building Industries Association
          California Building Officials
          California Municipal Utilities Association
          California State Association of Counties
          City of Burbank
          City of San Marcos
          League of California Cities
          Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers
          Urban Counties Caucus

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 5/26/15








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          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bonilla,  
            Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,  
            Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,  
            Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,  
            Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,  
            Grove, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,  
            Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bloom, Chávez, Harper, Mathis

          Prepared by:Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
          9/3/15 18:30:28


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