SB 760, as amended, Mendoza. Disadvantaged Community Enhancement Act of 2015.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council consisting of specified members and requires the council to, among other things, develop and administer the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through projects that implement land use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices to support infill and compact development and that support other related and coordinated public policy objectives.
This bill would require the council to develop and implement the Disadvantaged Community Enhancement Program to award grants to disadvantaged communities, as defined, to facilitate projects for community enhancement improvements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of the goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and that provide tobegin delete disadvantaged communitiesend deletebegin insert eligible applicantsend insert multiple environmental benefits. The bill would authorize the council, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to expend
moneys in the fund to implement the program.begin insert The bill would require the State Air Resources Board to determine a methodology for quantifying carbon reduction benefits of proposed projects and the community enhancement improvements.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Division 45 (commencing with Section 75500)
2is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
3
6
This division shall be known, and may be cited as, the
10Disadvantaged Community Enhancement Act of 2015.
It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
12division, to provide additional funding opportunities to address
13 infrastructure challenges in California’s most disadvantaged
14communities and promote projects that provide for cobenefits that
15address physical blight andbegin delete decenciesend deletebegin insert deficienciesend insert while addressing
16climate change.
For purposes of this division, the following terms mean
18the following:
19(a) “Active transportation program” means the program
20established pursuant to Section 2380 of the Streets and Highway
21Code.
22(a)
end delete
23begin insert(b)end insert “Council” means the Strategic Growth Council established
24pursuant to Section 75121.
25(b)
end delete
P3 1begin insert(c)end insert “Disadvantaged community” means a community identified
2as a disadvantaged community pursuant to Section 39711 of the
3Health and Safety Code.
4(d) “Eligible applicant” means a city, county, city and county,
5special district, Native American tribe, state conservancy, or a
6qualified nonprofit organization.
7(c)
end delete
8begin insert(e)end insert “Program” means the Disadvantaged Community
9Enhancement Program established pursuant to Section 75510.
10
The council shall develop and implement the
15Disadvantaged Community Enhancement Program to award grants
16to disadvantaged communities to facilitate projects for community
17enhancement improvements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions
18in furtherance of the goals of the California Global Warming
19Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
2038500) of the Health and Safety Code) and that provide to
21disadvantaged communities multiple environmental benefits.
Eligible community enhancement improvements
23include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
24(a) Water quality improvement.
end delete25(b) Groundwater, storage, recharge, or remediation.
end delete26(c) Storm water capture.
end delete
27(a) Land acquisitions in urban settings of blighted or
28contaminated properties serving little sequestration benefit for
29greenspace conversion.
30(d)
end delete
31begin insert(b)end insert Urban greening projects including urban forestry and
32landscaping.
33(e)
end delete
34begin insert(c)end insert Park development and land protection for passive or active
35recreation.
36(f)
end delete
37begin insert(d)end insert Hardscapebegin delete conversions.end deletebegin insert conversions and repurposing of
38lands to serve greenspace benefits.end insert
39(g)
end delete40begin insert(e)end insert Nonmotorized trail and other active transportation projects.
P4 1(h)
end delete2begin insert(f)end insert Heat island mitigation.
3(i)
end delete4begin insert(g)end insert Planning of a sustainable community.
begin insert(a)end insertbegin insert end insert The council shall award grants tobegin insert eligibleend insert applicants
6through a competitive process. In prioritizing the award, the council
7shall considerbegin delete allend deletebegin insert bothend insert of thebegin delete following factorsend deletebegin insert
following:end insert
8begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertFactorsend insert of the community benefiting from thebegin delete award:end deletebegin insert award,
9including all of the following:end insert
10(a)
end delete11begin insert(A)end insert The poverty rate.
12(b)
end delete13begin insert(B)end insert The unemployment rate.
14(c)
end delete15begin insert(C)end insert The childhood obesity rate and incidents of asthma.
16(d)
end delete
17begin insert(D)end insert The availability of greenspace and venues for
physical
18activity.
19(e)
end delete
20begin insert(E)end insert The lack of nonmotorizedbegin delete infrastructure.end deletebegin insert infrastructure
21supporting an active transportation program.end insert
22(f)
end delete23begin insert(F)end insert The levels of air pollution.
24(g)
end delete25begin insert(G)end insert The drinking water quality.
26(h)
end delete27begin insert(H)end insert The groundwater quality, if applicable.
begin insert
28(2) The environmental benefits
resulting from the project,
29including, but not limited to, the following:
30(A) Water quality improvement.
end insertbegin insert31(B) Groundwater, storage, recharge, or remediation.
end insertbegin insert32(C) Storm water capture.
end insertbegin insert
33(b) The council shall give priority to eligible applicants and
34projects that are located wholly within distressed watershed areas
35with significant populations and heavy concentrations of industrial
36facilities and trade corridor activity.
(a) To receive a grant for a project pursuant to the
38program,begin delete a disadvantaged communityend deletebegin insert an eligible applicantend insert shall
39submit an application, as prescribed by the council, that contains
P5 1information regarding the factorsbegin insert and environmental benefitsend insert
2 described in Section 75512.
3(b) In addition to subdivision (a), the applicant shall also include
4in the application the following information:
5(1) A clear articulation on how the grant would be used to
6address the factorsbegin insert and provide the environmental benefitsend insert
7
described in Section 75512.
8(2) The leveraging of other sources of funds to facilitate and
9maximize the benefits from the proposed community enhancement
10improvements.
11(3) A demonstration on how the community enhancement
12improvements would assist the state in meeting the greenhouse
13gas emissions reduction goals established pursuant to the California
14Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5
15(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code.
Awards made pursuant to this division shall not supplant
17other sources of funding designed to benefit disadvantaged
18communities.
For purposes of verifying carbon reduction benefits
20resulting from the implementation of eligible projects, the State
21Air Resources Board shall perform a study to determine a
22methodology for quantifying carbon reduction benefits of proposed
23projects and the community enhancement improvements specified
24in Section 75511.
25
The council may, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
29expend moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
30established pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code
31to implement the program.
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