BILL NUMBER: SB 1043 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 30, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Allen
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Williams)
FEBRUARY 12, 2016
An act to amend Section 25420 of, and to add Section 39735 to, the
Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 40106 of the
Public Resources Code, relating to biogas.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1043, as amended, Allen. Renewable gas: biogas and biomethane.
(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency
responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse
gases. The act requires the state board to adopt regulations to
require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas
emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with this program.
The act requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit, as defined, to be achieved by 2020 equivalent to the
statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990. Existing law
requires the state board to complete a comprehensive strategy to
reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, as defined, in
the state.
This bill would require the state board to consider and adopt
policies to significantly increase the sustainable production and use
of renewable gas, as defined, and, in so doing, would require the
state board, among other things, to ensure the production and use of
renewable gas provides direct environmental benefits and identify
barriers to the rapid development and use of renewable gas and
potential sources of funding. The bill would require the state
board to develop and adopt a lifecycle accounting method for
greenhouse gas and emissions of short-lived climate pollutants
associated with biogas produced from forest biomass, as specified.
(2) Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, in consultation with the state board, the
Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery, and the California Environmental Protection
Agency, to compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose
risks to human health and that are found in biogas, as defined, at
concentrations that significantly exceed the concentrations of those
constituents in natural gas. Existing law requires the office to
determine the health protective levels for that list, as specified,
and requires the state board to identify realistic exposure scenarios
and the health risks associated with those scenarios, as specified.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to adopt, by
rule or order, standards for biomethane, as defined, that specify
the concentrations of constituents of concern that are reasonably
necessary to protect public health and ensure pipeline integrity and
safety, as specified, and requirements for monitoring, testing,
reporting, and recordkeeping, as specified. Existing law requires a
gas corporation to comply with those standards and requirements and
requires the commission to require gas corporation tariffs to
condition access to common carrier pipelines on the applicable
customer meeting those standards and requirements.
This bill would revise the definitions of biogas and biomethane
for these purposes.
(3) Existing law defines "biomass conversion" for purposes of the
waste management laws to mean the production of heat, fuels, or
electricity by the controlled combustion of, or the use of other
noncombustion thermal conversion technologies on, certain listed
materials.
This bill would revise that definition to add to those listed
materials byproducts or residue from composting.
Existing law specifies that "biomass conversion" does not include
the controlled combustion of, among other things, materials that
contain sewage sludge.
This bill would delete from that exclusion the controlled
combustion of materials that contain sewage sludge.
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 all of the
following:
(a) California has enacted numerous policies to reduce emissions
of greenhouse gases and to increase the use of renewable energy
resources and renewable fuels, including the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
38500) of the Health and Safety Code), the California Renewables
Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section
399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code), the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulation (Executive
Order S-01-07 (January 19, 2007), Sections 95480 to 95490, inclusive,
of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations), an energy
storage portfolio requirement (Chapter 469 of the Statutes of 2010),
emissions goals for 2030 and 2050 (Executive Order B-30-15), and the
state's comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived
climate pollutants (Section 39730 of the Health and Safety Code).
(b) Natural gas, which is used for a wide variety of purposes,
including the generation of electricity, heating, cooling,
industrial, commercial, residential, and transportation fuel, causes
more than one-quarter of all emissions of greenhouse gases in
California. Methane emissions from a variety of sources, including
wastewater treatment facilities, landfills, dairies, agricultural
production, and oil and gas, represent up to 15 percent of California'
s total climate change emissions. Wildfires cause two-thirds of all
black carbon emissions, which accounts for approximately 10 percent
of California's's California's total
climate change emissions.
(c) Reducing emissions of methane, black carbon, and other
short-lived climate pollutants is the most effective way to
immediately slow global warming and reduce the impacts of climate
change. Capturing and using methane (renewable gas) can significantly
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use, organic
waste, wildfires, and petroleum-based fertilizers.
Increasing the production and use of renewable gas could reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases by tens of millions of metric tons of
carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.
(d) Renewable gas generated from organic waste can be used to
produce the lowest carbon transportation fuel,
fuel. It can also be used to produce flexible generation
of electricity from a renewable resource,
renewable power, energy storage, and a low-carbon gas supply
for heating, cooling, and other purposes.
(e) Using forest biomass collected as part of a sustainable
forestry plan can significantly reduce the risks and impacts of
catastrophic wildfires, including black carbon emissions and air
pollution, impacts on water supply and quality, impacts on utility
and other infrastructure, threats to public safety and communities,
impacts on fisheries and wildlife, and effects on precipitation.
(f) Increasing the use of renewable gas in heavy-duty vehicles in
California can help protect disadvantaged communities in the state by
reducing toxic air contaminants and smog-forming emissions.
(g) Renewable gas can provide significant economic benefits to
California, including job creation, an in-state source of gas,
increased energy security, revenue and energy for public agencies,
and revenue for dairies, farms, rural forest communities, and other
areas.
(h) Increasing the use of renewable gas will diversify and
decarbonize California's gas supply.
(i) Increasing the use of renewable gas can help California to
meet the waste diversion requirements of Section 41781.3, Article 1
(commencing with Section 41780) of Chapter 6 of Part 2 of, and
Chapter 12.9 (commencing with Section 42649.8) of Part 3 of, Division
30 of, the Public Resources Code, and the Short-Lived Climate
Pollutant Reduction Strategy being developed by the State Air
Resources Board pursuant to Section 39730 of the Health and Safety
Code by using diverted organic waste to produce renewable gas.
SEC. 2. Section 25420 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
25420. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Biogas" means gas that is produced from organic waste through
anaerobic digestion or eligible conversion technologies, consistent
with Section 40106 of the Public Resources Code.
(b) "Biomethane" means the methane derived from biogas.
(c) "Board" means the State Air Resources Board.
(d) "CalRecycle" means the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery.
(e) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission.
(f) "Common carrier pipeline" means a gas conveyance pipeline
located in California that is owned or operated by a utility or gas
corporation, excluding a dedicated pipeline.
(g) "Dedicated pipeline" means a conveyance of biogas or
biomethane that is not part of a common carrier pipeline system and
that conveys biogas from a biogas producer to a conditioning facility
or an electrical generation facility.
(h) "Department" means the Department of Toxic Substances Control.
(i) "Gas corporation" has the same meaning as defined in Section
222 of the Public Utilities Code and is subject to rate regulation by
the commission.
(j) "Hazardous waste landfill" means a landfill that is a
hazardous waste facility, as defined in Section 25117.1.
(k) "Office" means the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment.
(l) "Organic waste" means waste of biological origins, including
organic waste, as defined in Section 42649.8 of the Public Resources
Code; biomass feedstock, consistent with Section 40106 of the Public
Resources Code; and livestock waste.
(m) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
company, partnership, association, business concern, limited
liability company, or corporation. "Person" also includes any city,
county, district, and the state or any department or agency thereof,
or the federal government or any department or agency thereof to the
extent permitted by law.
SEC. 3. Section 39735 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
39735. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Biogas" has the same meaning as defined in Section 25420,
except that it does not include gas produced from forest biomass
unless is it is produced from forest
waste remaining after all other reasonable forest products have been
produced and harvested it meets one or
more of the following conditions:
(A) The waste was generated
pursuant to the Governor's state of emergency proclamation issued on
October 30, 2015, or a subsequent emergency order related to
forests, 2015.
(B) The waste was generated as a result
of activities necessary to clear defensible space within
150 300 feet of a legally permitted
structure, or a harvesting operation that advances the
establishment of a well-distributed mature forest on the site.
structure.
(C) The waste was produced pursuant to an approved timber harvest
plan, nonindustrial timber management plan, or working forest
management plan that will increase the average stand diameter of
residual crop trees, and the biogas produced from the waste will
provide long-term reductions in greenhouse gas and emissions of
short-lived climate pollutants pursuant to the lifecycle accounting
method specified in subdivision (c).
(D) The waste was generated from fuel reduction or ecological
forest restoration thinning activities on national forest land that
increase stand heterogeneity, create openings of less than one acre,
and increase the average stand diameter of residual trees.
(2) "Renewable gas" means biogas or synthetic gas generated by an
eligible renewable energy resource meeting the requirements of the
California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16
(commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division
1 of the Public Utilities Code). For purposes of this
paragraph, "eligible renewable energy resource" does not include
organic waste, as defined in subdivision (l) of Section 25420.
(3) "Short-lived climate pollutant" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 39730.
(b) In order to meet the state's climate change, low-carbon fuel,
renewable energy, landfill diversion, and wildfire reduction goals,
the state board shall consider and adopt policies to significantly
increase the sustainable production and use of renewable gas. In
doing so, the state board shall do all the following:
(1) Consider adopting a low-carbon gas standard, a renewable gas
portfolio standard, public utility purchase requirements, purchase
requirements by end-use sectors, including transportation, electrical
generation, fuels refining, and public utility purchasing, and other
policies to increase the production and use of renewable gas and to
reduce the carbon intensity of the state's gas supply.
(2) Ensure that any policy is coordinated and consistent with
existing state policies to: to accomplish the
following:
(A) Promote renewable fuels and eligible renewable energy
resources, as defined in the California Renewables Portfolio Standard
Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3
of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code).
(B) Reduce life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases and
short-lived climate pollutants and increase carbon sequestration.
(C) Divert organic waste from landfills, consistent with Section
39730 and other state policies.
(D) Reduce air and water pollution.
(E) Reduce wildfires.
(F) Promote resilient and sustainable forests.
(G) Protect the environmental quality of natural and working lands
through sustainable cultivation, use, and application of biological
materials.
(3) Ensure, in consultation with the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery, that any policy recognizes that the amount of
landfill gas will decline in the future due to increased organic
waste diversion to meet the targets of the state board's strategy to
reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants and other state
organic waste reduction efforts.
(3)
(4) Ensure that the production and use of renewable gas
provides direct benefits to the state's environment by avoiding or
reducing the emission of criteria pollutants, avoiding or reducing
emissions of short-lived climate pollutants and greenhouse
gases, gases within the state, avoiding or
reducing emissions that adversely affect the waters of the state,
avoiding or reducing nuisances associated with the emission of odors,
or helping the state to meet its landfill diversion requirements.
(4)
(5) Identify barriers to the rapid development and use
of renewable gas and make specific recommendations to remove those
barriers.
(5)
(6) Coordinate with the Public Utilities Commission,
the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission,
publicly owned utilities, the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(6)
(7) Identify potential sources of funding to provide
incentives for renewable gas production and use.
(c) The state board shall develop and adopt a life cycle
accounting method for greenhouse gas and emissions of short-lived
climate pollutants associated with biogas produced from forest
biomass that meets the requirements specified in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a). The method shall include upstream accounting of
forest carbon and shall avoid double counting of emission reductions.
SEC. 4. Section 40106 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
40106. (a) "Biomass conversion" means the production of heat,
fuels, or electricity by the controlled combustion of, or the use of
other noncombustion thermal conversion technologies on, the following
materials, when separated from other solid waste:
(1) Agricultural crop residues.
(2) Bark, lawn, yard, and garden clippings.
(3) Leaves, silvicultural residue, and tree and brush pruning.
(4) Wood, wood chips, and wood waste.
(5) Nonrecyclable pulp or nonrecyclable paper materials.
(6) Byproducts or residue from composting.
(b) "Biomass conversion" does not include the controlled
combustion of recyclable pulp or recyclable paper materials, or
materials that contain sewage sludge, industrial
sludge, medical waste, hazardous waste, or either high-level or
low-level radioactive waste.
(c) For purposes of this section, "nonrecyclable pulp or
nonrecyclable paper materials" means either of the following, as
determined by the department:
(1) Paper products or fibrous materials that cannot be
technically, feasibly, or legally recycled because of the manner in
which the product or material has been manufactured, treated, coated,
or constructed.
(2) Paper products or fibrous materials that have become soiled or
contaminated and as a result cannot be technically, feasibly, or
legally recycled.