Amended in Assembly April 6, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 17, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2713

Introduced by Assembly Member Chiu

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mullin)

February 19, 2016

An act to add Section 65850.8 to the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2713, as amended, Chiu. Land use: local ordinances: energy systems.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a general plan for the physical development of the county or city and authorizes the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations by counties and cities.

Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county to approve an application for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, as defined, through the issuance of specified permits unless the city or county makes specified written findings. Existing law provides that the implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle charging stations is a matter of statewide concern.

begin delete

This bill would require a city, county, or city and county to approve an application for the installation of advanced energy storage, as defined, through the issuance of specified permits unless the city or county makes specified written findings based upon substantial evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. The bill would provide that the implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of advanced energy storage systems is a matter of statewide concern.

end delete begin delete

This bill would require advanced energy storage system to meet specified standards. The

end delete

begin insert This end insert bill would, on or before begin delete January 31, 2018, end delete begin insert September 30, 2017, end insert for a city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents, or begin delete June 30, 2018, end delete begin insert January 31, 2018, end insert for a city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 resident, require begin delete every end delete begin insert the end insert city, county, or city and county to begin delete create an expedited and streamlined permitting process for advanced energy storage installations. The bill would require the city, county, or city and county, in developing the ordinance, to refer to documented best practices, and would require the ordinance to substantially comply with the California Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook. The bill would also require, in developing an expedited review and checklist, the city, county, or city and county to develop a simplified standard plan so that an engineering plan check is unnecessary for standard advanced energy storage system configurations end delete begin insert make all documentation and forms associated with the permitting of advanced energy storage, as defined, available on a publicly accessible Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to allow for the electronic submittal of a permit application and associated documentation, as specified. The bill would prohibit the calculation of a fee associated with the permitting or inspection of an advanced energy storage installation from being calculated based on the value of the installation or any other factor not directly associated with the cost to issue the permit end insert .

The bill would require the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, on or before September 30, 2017, to create a California Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook, as specified.

By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 65850.8 is added to the Government
Code, to read:

65850.8.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares begin delete all end delete begin insert both end insert of the
following:

begin delete

(1) The implementation of consistent statewide standards to
achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of advanced
energy storage is not a municipal affair, as that term is used in
Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution, but is instead
a matter of statewide concern.

(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies not adopt
ordinances or impose permitting, plan review, or inspection
requirements that create unreasonable barriers to the installation
of advanced energy storage and not unreasonably restrict the ability
of homeowners and agricultural and business concerns to install
advanced energy storage.

end delete begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (1) end insert  It is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the
installation of advanced energy storage and to limit obstacles to
its use in order to increase the reliability, safety, and resilience of
the state’s electrical system.

begin delete

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies comply
not only with the language of this section, but also the legislative
intent to encourage the installation of advanced energy storage by
removing obstacles to, and minimizing costs of, permitting and
inspection of those installations while ensuring they are installed
safely and reliably.

end delete begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  It is further the intent of the Legislature that the applicable
state agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Planning and
Research, extend and expand the existing initiative being conducted
by the Public Utilities Commission to further note best practices
in the safe permitting of advanced energy storage. That effort
should ultimately produce an Advanced Energy Storage Permitting
Guidebook, taking advantage of the efforts and lessons learned in
creating the streamlined permitting processes and modeling in part
after the California Solar Permitting Guidebook.

begin delete

(b) A city, county, or city and county shall administratively
approve an application to install advanced energy storage through
the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit,
as applicable. Review of the application to install advanced energy
storage shall be limited to the building official’s review of whether
it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and
federal law. The requirements of local law shall be limited to those
standards and regulations necessary to ensure that the advanced
energy storage system will not have a specific, adverse impact
upon the public health or safety. However, if the building official
of the city, county, or city and county makes a finding, based on
substantial evidence, that the advanced energy storage project or
selected technology could have a specific, adverse impact upon
the public health and safety, the city, county, or city and county
may require the applicant to apply for a use permit.

(c) A city, county, or city and county shall not deny an
application for a use permit to install advanced energy storage
unless it makes written findings based upon substantial evidence
in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific,
adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no
feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific,
adverse impact. The findings shall include the basis for the
rejection of potential feasible alternatives of preventing the adverse
impact.

(d) The decision of the building official pursuant to subdivisions
(b) and (c) may be appealed to the planning commission of the
city, county, or city and county.

(e) Any conditions imposed on an application to install advanced
energy storage shall be designed to mitigate the specific, adverse
impact upon the public health and safety at the lowest cost possible.

(f) (1) Advanced energy storage system installations shall meet
applicable health and safety standards and requirements imposed
by state and local permitting authorities.

(2) Advanced energy storage installations shall meet all
applicable safety and performance standards established by the
California Building Standards Code, the California Electrical Code,
and accredited testing laboratories, such as Underwriters
Laboratories, and, where applicable, regulations of the Public
Utilities Commission regarding safety and reliability.

(g) (1) 

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert On or before begin delete January 31, 2018, end delete begin insert September 30, 2017, end insert every
city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or
more residents, and on or before begin delete June 30, end delete begin insert January 31, end insert 2018, every
city, county, or city and county with a population of less than
200,000 residents, begin delete shall, in consultation with the local fire
department or district and the utility director, if the city, county,
or city and county operates a utility, adopt an ordinance, consistent
with the goals and intent of this section, that creates a streamlined
permitting and inspection process for advanced energy storage
installations. The ordinance shall substantially comply with the
California Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook created pursuant
to subdivision (k). In developing a streamlined permitting process,
the city, county, or city and county shall adopt a checklist of all
requirements with which advanced energy storage installations
shall comply to be eligible for expedited review. An application
that satisfies the information requirements in the checklist, as
determined by the city, county, or city and county, shall be deemed
complete. Upon confirmation by the city, county, or city and county
of the application and supporting documents being complete and
meeting the requirements of the checklist, and consistent with the
ordinance, a city, county, or city and county shall, consistent with
subdivision (b), approve the application and issue all required
permits or authorizations. Upon receipt of an incomplete
application, a city, county, or city and county shall issue a written
correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the application and
any additional information required to be eligible for expedited
permit issuance. An application submitted to a city, county, or city
and county that owns and operates an electric utility shall
demonstrate compliance with the utility’s interconnection polices
prior to approval. end delete

begin delete

(2) In developing the ordinance, the city, county, or city and
county shall refer to documented best practices in California,
including relevant practices or procedures from its own expedited
permitting process for rooftop solar pursuant to Section 65850.5
and for electric vehicle charging stations pursuant to Section
65850.7, and applicable safety-related findings published or
promoted by the Public Utilities Commission.

(3) In developing the streamlined permitting review and
checklist, the city, county, or city and county shall develop a
simplified standard plan so that an engineering plan check is
unnecessary for standard system configurations, known as an
“over-the-counter review.” If the expedited review process requires
an engineering plan check, this check shall be completed no later
than five business days after the application is deemed complete.

end delete

begin delete (4) end delete begin delete   end delete begin delete The checklist and required permitting documentation shall
be published end delete begin insert shall make all documentation and forms associated
with the permitting of advanced energy storage available end insert on a
publicly accessible Internet Web site, if the city, county, or city
and county has an Internet Web begin delete site, and the end delete begin insert site. The end insert city, county,
or city and county shall allow for electronic begin delete submittal end delete begin insert submission end insert
of a permit application and associated documentation, and shall
authorize the electronic signature on all forms, applications, and
other documentation in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant. begin delete If
a city, county, or city and county determines that it is unable to
authorize the acceptance of an electronic signature on all forms,
applications, and other documents in lieu of a wet signature by an
applicant, the city, county, or city and county shall state, in the
ordinance required under this subdivision, the reasons for its
inability to accept electronic signatures and acceptance of an
electronic signature shall not be required. end delete

begin delete

(h) A city, county, or city and county shall not condition
approval for any advanced energy storage installation permit on
the approval of the installation by an association, as that term is
defined in Section 4080 of the Civil Code.

end delete begin delete

(i) A city, county, or city and county shall calculate the
reasonable cost of executing the process as specified in this section.
The details and results of this calculation shall be reported to the
Energy Commission upon implementation of the expedited process
and the fee charged to each application will be reported to the
Energy Commission on an annual basis.

end delete begin delete

(j)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  Any fee charged for the permitting or inspection of an
advanced energy storage installation shall not be calculated based
on the value of the installation or any other factor not directly
associated with the cost to issue the permit.

begin delete

(k)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  On or before September 30, 2017, the Governor’s Office of
Planning and Research shall, in consultation with local building
officials, the State Fire Marshall, the storage industry, the Public
Utilities Commission, and other stakeholders, and through review
of any existing streamlined permitting practices used by cities,
counties, or city and counties, create a California Energy Storage
Permitting Guidebook modeled substantially on the California
Solar Permitting Guidebook.

begin delete

(l)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:

begin delete

(1) “A feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the
specific, adverse impact” includes, but is not limited to, any
cost-effective method, condition, or mitigation imposed by a city,
county, or city and county on another similarly situated application
in a prior successful application for a permit.

end delete begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (1) end insert  “Advanced energy storage” means an energy storage system,
as defined in Section 2835 of the Public Utilities Code, as well as
an energy storage system that is designed to provide backup energy
services in the event of a grid outage, that is limited to either of
the following:

(A) Electrochemical energy storage in nonventing packages.

(B) Customer sited installations.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  “Customer sited” means the system is interconnected to the
electrical grid through an existing retail customer interconnection.

begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  “Electronic submittal” means the utilization of one or more
of the following:

(A) Email.

(B) The Internet.

(C) Facsimile.

begin delete

(5) “Specific, adverse impact” means a significant, quantifiable,
direct, and unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified, and
written public health or safety standards, policies, or conditions
as they existed on the date the application was deemed complete.

end delete

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.