BILL NUMBER: SB 970 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leyva
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
An act to amend Section 42999 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to greenhouse gases.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 970, as amended, Leyva. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: grant
program: recyclable materials.
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
market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
Existing law requires certain moneys appropriated by the
Legislature from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be used by the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for a grant program to
provide financial assistance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
promoting in-state development of infrastructure to process organic
and other recyclable materials into new, value-added products.
This bill would require the department, in awarding a grant for
organics composting or anaerobic digestion under the program, to
consider, among other things, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions
reductions that may result from the project and the amount of organic
material that may be diverted from landfills as a result of the
project. This bill would also permit the department, to the
degree that funds are available, to provide larger grant awards for
large-scale regional integrated projects that provide cost-effective
organic waste diversion and maximize environmental benefits.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) Organic waste diversion policies in California should
encourage and incentivize regional integrated projects that maximize
the efficient diversion of landfill waste, achieve cost-effective
reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, and maximize resource
recovery and environmental benefits through the creation of clean
energy and low-carbon transportation fuels.
(b) According to the California Air Resources Board, leveraging
existing excess capacity at California's waste treatment facilities
can dramatically reduce the number of new facilities that may be
required to handle diverted organic waste and help maximize the
environmental and economic potential of organic waste diversion.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 42999 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
42999. (a) Any additional funds appropriated by the Legislature
from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, established pursuant to
Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, to the department shall be
used to administer a grant program to provide financial assistance to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting in-state development of
infrastructure to process organics and other recyclable materials
into new new, value-added products. The
moneys shall be expended consistent with the requirements of Article
9.7 (commencing with Section 16428.8) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code and Chapter 4.1
(commencing with Section 39710) of Part 2 of Division 26 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(b) From moneys appropriated for purposes of this section, the
department shall provide grants, incentive payments, contracts, or
other funding mechanisms to public and private entities located in
the state for any of the following:
(1) Organics composting.
(2) Anaerobic digestion.
(3) Recyclable material manufacturing infrastructure projects or
other related activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(c) For purposes of this section, eligible infrastructure projects
that reduce greenhouse gas emissions include, but are not limited
to, any of the following:
(1) Capital investments in new facilities and increased throughput
at existing facilities for activities, such as converting windrow
composting to aerated-static-pile composting to use food waste as
feedstock.
(2) Designing and constructing anaerobic digestion facilities to
produce biofuels and bioenergy.
(3) Designing and constructing facilities for processing
recyclable materials.
(d) In awarding a grant for organics composting or anaerobic
digestion pursuant to this section, the department shall consider all
of the following:
(1) The amount of greenhouse gas emissions reductions that may
result from the project.
(2) The amount of organic material that may be diverted from
landfills as a result of the project.
(3) If, and how, the project may benefit disadvantaged
communities.
(4) If, and how, the project leverages existing waste water
treatment infrastructure.
(5) If, and how, the project maximizes resource recovery,
including the production of clean energy or low-carbon or carbon
negative transportation fuels.
(6) If, and how, the project encourages and results in broad
regional integrated solutions that maximize the environmental and
economic potential of organic waste diversion.
(4)
(7) Project readiness and permitting that the project
may require.
(5)
(8) Air and water quality benefits that the project may
provide.
(e) To the degree that funds are available, the department may
provide larger grant awards for large-scale regional integrated
projects that provide cost-effective organic waste diversion and
maximize environmental benefits.