BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1496
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1496 (Thurmond)
As Amended May 6, 2015
Majority vote
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|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 | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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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
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