BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          1496 (Thurmond)


          As Amended  May 6, 2015


          Majority vote


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                |Noes                |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |Natural         |6-0   |Williams, Cristina  |                    |
          |Resources       |      |Garcia, McCarty,    |                    |
          |                |      |Rendon, Mark Stone, |                    |
          |                |      |Wood                |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |12-4  |Gomez, Bonta,       |Bigelow, Gallagher, |
          |                |      |Calderon, Daly,     |Jones, Wagner       |
          |                |      |Eggman,             |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |Eduardo Garcia,     |                    |
          |                |      |Gordon, Holden,     |                    |
          |                |      |Quirk, Rendon,      |                    |
          |                |      |Weber, Wood         |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          SUMMARY:  Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to undertake  








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          activities and analyses relating to methane gas emissions.  
          Specifically, this bill requires ARB to:


          1)Undertake, in consultation with local air districts, monitoring  
            and measurements of high-emission methane hot spots in the state  
            using the best available scientific and technical methods.


          2)Carry out a life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission analysis of  
            natural gas produced and imported into the state using the best  
            available scientific and technical methods.


          3)Update GHG emission factors for electric generation with natural  
            gas and the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.


          4)Review, in consultation with independent scientific experts, the  
            most recent available scientific data and reports on the  
            atmospheric reactivity of methane as a precursor to the  
            formation of photochemical oxidants and evaluate whether methane  
            should be reclassified as a contributor to the formation of air  
            pollution.


          EXISTING LAW:


          1)Requires ARB, pursuant to California Global Warming Solutions  
            Act of 2006 (AB 32 (Núñez), Chapter 488, Statues of 2006), to  
            adopt regulations to achieve maximum technologically feasible  
            and cost-effective reductions in GHG emissions, including  
            methane.


          2)Requires ARB to complete a comprehensive strategy to reduce  
            emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), including  
            methane, by January 1, 2016.








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          3)Designates ARB as the air pollution control agency responsible  
            for the coordination of the activities of air pollution control  
            districts and air quality management districts for the purposes  
            of the federal Clean Air Act. 


          4)Requires air districts to adopt and enforce rules and  
            regulations to achieve and maintain the state and federal  
            ambient air quality standards in all areas affected by  
            non-vehicular emission sources under their jurisdiction. 


          5)Generally prohibits a person from discharging air contaminants  
            or other material that cause injury, detriment, nuisance, or  
            annoyance or endanger the comfort, repose, health or safety to  
            any considerable number of persons, or to the public, or that  
            cause, or have a tendency to cause injury or damage to a  
            business or property.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee,


          1)Increased annual staffing costs of $525,000 and contract costs  
            of $700,000 for ARB to monitor and measure methane hot spots  
            (Cost of Implementation Fund).


          2)Increased annual staffing costs of $350,000 and contract costs  
            of $200,000 for ARB to perform natural gas life cycle GHG  
            emissions analyses and update GHG factors for natural gas  
            transportation fuels (Cost of Implementation Fund).


          COMMENTS:  As part of AB 32's direction that ARB adopt a statewide  
          GHG emissions limit equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and adopt  








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          regulations to achieve maximum technologically feasible and  
          cost-effective GHG emission reductions, AB 32 requires ARB to  
          prepare and approve a scoping plan at five-year intervals.  


          The first AB 32 scoping plan, adopted by ARB in 2008, described  
          the specific measures ARB and others must take to reduce statewide  
          GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.  In May 2014, ARB adopted a  
          scoping plan update.  The scoping plan update discusses the  
          objective of achieving an 80% reduction by 2050 and the need for a  
          midterm target, but does not propose or adopt a specific target.   
          According to ARB, the update defines ARB's climate change  
          priorities for the next five years and sets the groundwork to  
          reach California's long-term climate goals.  Among its provisions,  
          the update commits ARB to develop a SLCP strategy by 2015 that  
          will include an inventory of sources and emissions, the  
          identification of additional research needs, and a plan for  
          developing SLCP control measures.  SB 605 (Lara), Chapter 523,  
          Statutes of 2014, requires ARB to complete a comprehensive SLCP  
          strategy by January 1, 2016.


          Methane is a gas that is emitted from both natural and human  
          sources.  Its concentration in the global atmosphere has more than  
          doubled since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.  Methane  
          is a SLCP with a lifetime of only about 12 years when released  
          into the atmosphere.  It is an extremely potent GHG, with 20 to 30  
          times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period  
          (and more than 80 times over a 20-year period).  Methane also  
          impacts local air quality and community health through its  
          participation in the formation of ozone, as well as water vapor,  
          the most powerful of the common causes of warming.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                               
                          Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092     
                                                                    FN:  








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