BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1383
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1383 (Lara)
As Amended August 31, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 21-13
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |6-1 |Williams, Cristina |Harper |
|Resources | |Garcia, Gomez, | |
| | |McCarty, Mark Stone, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |11-4 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Jones, Obernolte |
| | |Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, McCarty | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |6-1 |Williams, Cristina |Harper |
|Resources | |Garcia, Gomez, | |
| | |McCarty, Mark Stone, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to approve and
implement the comprehensive short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP)
strategy to achieve, from 2013 levels, a 40% reduction in
methane, a 40% reduction in hydrofluorocarbon gases (HFCs), and
a 50% reduction in anthropogenic black carbon, by 2030.
Establishes specific procedures to regulate landfill and dairy
sources of methane. Requires the California Energy Commission
(CEC), ARB and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop
recommendations for development and use of renewable gas, then
consider and adopt policies and incentives to increase
production and use of renewable gas, including biomethane and
biogas, that reduces SLCPs in the state. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires ARB to approve and begin implementing the
comprehensive strategy to reduce SLCPs in the state to
achieve, from 2013 levels, a 40% reduction in methane, a 40%
reduction in HFCs, and a 50% reduction in anthropogenic (i.e.,
non-forest) black carbon, by 2030.
2)Requires ARB, prior to approving the strategy, to do all of
the following:
a) Coordinate with other state and local governments to
develop measures identified in the strategy;
b) Hold at least three public hearings in geographically
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diverse locations in the state;
c) Evaluate the best available scientific, technological,
and economic information to ensure the strategy is cost
effective and technologically feasible; and
d) Incorporate and prioritize, as appropriate, measures and
actions that provide cobenefits, as specified.
3)Requires ARB to publicly notice the strategy and post a copy
of the strategy on their Web site at least one month prior to
approval.
4)States the intent of the Legislature:
a) To support the adoption of policies that improve
organics recycling and innovative, cost-effective, and
environmentally beneficial uses of biomethane derived from
solid waste facilities; and;
b) That the disposal reduction targets established by the
bill serve as a statewide average target and not as a
minimum requirement for any jurisdiction.
5)States that methane emission reduction goals shall include
targets to reduce the landfill disposal of organic waste 50%
by 2020 and 75% by 2025 from the 2014 level.
6)Requires the California Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle), in consultation with ARB, to adopt
regulations to achieve the organics reduction targets.
Specifies that the regulations:
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a) May require local jurisdictions to impose requirements
on generators or other relevant entities within their
jurisdiction and impose penalties for noncompliance;
b) Include requirements intended to meet the goal that not
less than 20% of edible food that is currently disposed is
recovered for human consumption by 2025;
c) Shall not establish a numeric organic waste disposal
limit for individual landfills;
d) Include different levels of requirements for local
jurisdictions and phased timelines based upon their
progress in meeting the organic waste reduction goals, as
specified;
e) May include penalties to be imposed by CalRecycle for
noncompliance; and,
f) Take effect on or after January 1, 2022, except the
imposition of penalties imposed by CalRecycle shall not
take effect until two years after the effective date of the
regulations.
7)Specifies that a local jurisdiction may charge and collect
fees to cover the costs incurred in complying with the
regulations.
8)Requires CalRecycle, in consultation with ARB, to analyze the
progress that the waste sector, state government, and local
governments have made in achieving the organic waste reduction
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goals. Requires the analysis to include:
a) The status of new organics recycling infrastructure
development;
b) The progress in reducing regulatory barriers to the
siting of organics recycling facilities and the timing and
effectiveness of policies that will facilitate the
permitting of organics recycling infrastructure; and
c) The status of markets for the products generated by
organic recycling facilities, including cost-effective
electrical interconnection and common carrier pipeline
injection of digester biomethane and the status of markets
for compost, biomethane, and other products from the
recycling of organic waste.
9)Authorizes CalRecycle, if it determines that significant
progress has not been made, to include incentives or
additional requirements in the regulations.
10)Declares that the bill does not limit the authority of a
local jurisdiction to adopt, implement, or enforce
requirements in addition to the requirements of the bill or
the regulations.
11)Requires ARB to adopt regulations to reduce methane emissions
from dairy and livestock manure management operations, subject
to the following conditions:
a) Reductions are limited to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030;
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b) Requires emission reduction regulations to be
implemented on or after 2024;
c) ARB must first complete specified steps, including
stakeholder consultation, public meetings, and research;
d) ARB must determine the regulations are technologically
feasible, economically feasible, cost-effective, and
minimize and mitigate potential leakage;
e) Requires ARB to analyze progress toward the targets and
authorizes ARB to reduce the 40% by 2030 goal if the
analysis determines that progress has not been made due to
insufficient funding, technical or market barriers;
f) Requires ARB and PUC to establish energy infrastructure
development and procurement policies for dairy biomethane
projects, including directing gas utilities to implement at
least five dairy biomethane pilot projects; and
g) Enteric emission reductions shall be achieved only
through incentive-based mechanisms until ARB determines
that a cost-effective, considering the impact on animal
productivity, scientifically proven means of reducing
enteric emissions is available and that adoption of the
enteric emissions reduction method would not damage animal
health, public health, or consumer acceptance.
12)Requires the CEC, ARB, and PUC to develop recommendations for
development and use of renewable gas, then consider and adopt
policies and incentives to increase production and use of
renewable gas, including biomethane and biogas, that reduces
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SLCPs in the state. Requires prioritization of fuels with the
greatest GHG benefits, including consideration of carbon
intensity and reduction in SLCPs.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires ARB, pursuant to California Global Warming Solutions
Act of 2006 (AB 32 (Núñez), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006), to
adopt a statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit
equivalent to the 1990 level by 2020, and adopt regulations to
achieve maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
GHG emission reductions.
2)Requires ARB, pursuant to SB 605 (Lara), Chapter 523, Statutes
of 2014, to complete, by January 1, 2016, a comprehensive
strategy to reduce emissions of SLCPs, defined as an agent
that has a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere and a
climate-warming influence that is more potent than carbon
dioxide.
3)Establishes, pursuant to AB 341 (Chesbro), Chapter 476,
Statutes of 2011, a statewide waste diversion goal of 75% by
2020. Requires a commercial waste generator, including
multi-family dwellings, to arrange for recycling services and
requires local governments to implement commercial solid waste
recycling programs designed to divert solid waste from
businesses.
4)Requires, pursuant to AB 1826 (Chesbro), Chapter 727, Statutes
of 2014, generators of specified amounts of organic waste to
arrange for recycling services for that material. Defines
"organic waste" as food waste, green waste, landscape and
pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper
that is mixed in with food waste.
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown cost pressures, potentially in the tens of
millions of dollars or more, to fund programs to implement the
strategies (Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund or other special
funds).
COMMENTS: The 5th assessment report from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes that atmospheric
concentrations of global warming pollutants have risen to levels
unseen in the past 800,000 years. Carbon dioxide concentrations
have increased by 40% since pre-industrial times. There is
broad scientific consensus that these global GHG emission
increases are leading to higher air and water temperatures, as
well as rising sea levels. Sea level is expected to rise 17 to
66 inches by 2100, and the frequency of extreme events such as
heat waves, wildfires, floods, and droughts is expected to
increase.
Pursuant to AB 32, ARB approved the first Scoping Plan in 2008.
The Scoping Plan outlined a suite of measures aimed at achieving
1990-level emissions, a reduction of 80 million metric tons of
CO2 (MMT CO2e). Average emission data in the Scoping Plan
reveal that transportation accounts for almost 40% of statewide
GHG emissions, and electricity and commercial and residential
energy sector account for over 30% of statewide GHG emissions.
The industrial sector, including refineries, oil and gas
production, cement plants, and food processors, was shown to
contribute 20% of California's total GHG emissions.
The 2008 Scoping Plan recommended that reducing GHG emissions
from the wide variety of sources that make up the state's
emissions profile could best be accomplished through a
cap-and-trade program along with a mix of other strategies,
including a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS), light-duty vehicle
GHG standards, expanding and strengthening existing energy
efficiency programs, and building and appliance standards, a 33%
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Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), and regional
transportation-related GHG targets. Pursuant to authority under
AB 32, the ARB adopted a Low Carbon Fuel Standard in 2009, and a
cap-and-trade program approved on December 13, 2011.
ARB approved an update to the Scoping Plan in 2014. The update
describes policies, actions, and strategies in the energy,
transportation, fuels, agriculture, waste, and natural lands
sectors as a means to continue emissions reductions in each of
these sectors. The update also asserts that California is on
track to meet the near-term 2020 GHG limit and is well
positioned to maintain and continue reductions beyond 2020 as
required by AB 32.
CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries, which makes it the
most critical GHG to reduce in order to limit long-term climate
change. However, climate pollutants, including methane, HFCs,
and soot (black carbon), are relatively short-lived (anywhere
from a few weeks to 15 years), but have much higher global
warming potentials than CO2. New research suggests that
aggressively reducing these short-lived climate pollutants in
the short-term, compared to only cutting CO2 emissions, can do
more to slow sea level rise and other climate change impacts in
the near-term.
a)Methane (CH4) is the principal component of natural gas and is
also produced biologically under anaerobic conditions in
ruminants, landfills, and waste handling. Atmospheric methane
concentrations have been increasing as a result of human
activities related to agriculture, fossil fuel extraction and
distribution, and waste generation and processing. Many
emissions sources of methane are unregulated (e.g., methane
from dairy production and fugitive methane emissions from
landfills and natural gas distribution). Methane is about 80
times more powerful as a global warming pollutant than CO2 on
a 20-year time scale.
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b)HFCs (also known as F-gases) are synthetic gases used in
refrigeration, air conditioning, insulation foams, solvents,
aerosol products, and fire protection. They are primarily
produced for use as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances
which are being phased out globally. Currently, HFCs are a
small fraction of the total climate forcing gases, but they
are the fastest growing source of carbon pollution. HFCs, on
average, have a global warming potential 1600 times that of
CO2 on a 20-year time scale.
c)Black carbon, a component of soot, also known as PM 2.5, comes
from diesel engines and incomplete burning of carbon sources.
Wildfires contribute two-thirds of the total black carbon
emissions in the state. In addition to being a powerful
global warming pollutant, black carbon is associated with
numerous negative health impacts and is designated a potential
human carcinogen. Black carbon is not listed under AB 32 as a
GHG subject to AB 32 regulations. However, due to known
health and air quality impacts, ARB has several programs to
reduce PM emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. Black carbon
has a global warming potential 3200 times that of CO2 on a
20-year time scale.
SB 605 requires ARB to complete a comprehensive strategy to
reduce emissions of SLCPs by January 1, 2016. Following the
release of a concept paper and a draft strategy, on April 11,
2016, ARB published a proposed SLCP Reduction Strategy, which is
scheduled for adoption in September. The ARB Strategy
recommends the same 40/40/50 targets for methane, HFCs, and
black carbon as established by this bill. In addition to the
targets, the Strategy proposes specific measures, including:
a)Removal and replacement of old fireplaces and woodstoves;
b)Implementing a sustainable freight strategy;
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c)Regulations for best management practices for new dairies;
d)Financial incentives for manure management and dairy
digesters;
e)Requiring organics diversion from landfills;
f)Regulations to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas
production, processing and storage;
g)Financial incentives for low-global warming potential (GWP)
refrigeration early adoption; and
h)Bans on the sale of very-high GWP refrigerants and
prohibitions on new equipment using high GWP gases.
ARB indicates that each proposed regulation will be subject to
its own public process with workshops, opportunities for
stakeholder discussion, consideration of environmental justice,
and legally required analyses of the economic and environmental
impacts.
CalRecycle has been engaged with ARB in developing ARB's
Strategy to reduce methane emissions from landfills. It is also
is tasked with diverting at least 75% of solid waste generated
statewide by 2020. Organic materials make up one-third of the
waste stream and food continues to be the greatest single item
disposed, comprising over 15% of materials landfilled.
CalRecycle is also charged with implementing its Strategic
Directive 6.1, which calls for reducing organic waste disposal
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by 50% by 2020. According to CalRecycle, significant gains in
organic waste diversion are necessary to meet the 75% goal and
implement Strategic Directive 6.1. Recycling technologies for
organic waste include composting, anaerobic digestion, and other
types of processing that generate renewable fuels, energy, soil
amendments, and mulch. AB 1826 requires generators of
significant quantities of organic waste to ensure the material
is recycled.
Recycling organic waste provides significant GHG reductions over
landfilling. Composting and other organics processing
technologies, including anaerobic digestion, reduce GHGs by
avoiding the emissions that would be generated by the material's
decomposition in a landfill, as well as by displacing fossil
fuels. While most modern landfills have systems in place to
capture methane, significant amounts continue to escape into the
atmosphere. According to ARB's GHG inventory, nearly 8.28
million metric tons of CO2 equivalent are released annually by
landfills in California.
According to the author, California has been a proud and bold
leader in pursuing environmental policies to reduce climate
change and address the sources that cause it. Those policies
have mostly focused on reducing emissions of CO2, the most
significant long-term driver of climate change. This bill
represents the next step in those efforts, to establish a goal
to reduce SLCPs that are among the most harmful emissions to
both human health and global climate change. There is an urgent
need to develop a strategy to address and reduce these deadly
pollutants. Extensive research links particulate pollution and
increased ozone levels to severe and chronic health conditions
such as cancer, heart disease, and asthma. Reducing super
pollutants in California will have an immediate beneficial
effect - dramatically reducing the serious impacts these
pollutants have on our air quality and the health of our
children.
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The August 31 "dairy" amendments prevent implementation of
emission reduction regulations before 2024. What appears to be
a delay of up to seven years is mitigated by the fact that the
bill does not limit ARB's authority to adopt and implement other
regulations prior to 2024, such as requiring reporting and
monitoring of emissions, and even to develop and adopt emission
reduction regulations prior to 2024, as long as reduction
obligations don't begin before 2024.
The amendments limit the dairy sector's reduction obligation to
40% below 2013 levels, even if additional reductions are
feasible and cost-effective relative to other sectors. The
amendments also authorize ARB to reduce the goal for the dairy
and livestock sector if specified findings are made.
The amendments prohibit ARB from regulating emissions from
enteric fermentation until ARB, in consultation with the
Department of Food and Agriculture, determines that a
cost-effective, considering the impact on animal productivity,
scientifically proven means of reducing enteric emissions is
available and that adoption of the enteric emissions reduction
method would not damage animal health, public health, or
consumer acceptance.
The proposed amendments impose additional procedural and
analytical requirements on ARB, including considering milk
prices and the commitment of public funds, which are
inconsistent with AB 32 and the recently passed requirements of
AB 197 (E. Garcia) of the current legislative session, which
provides direction to ARB regarding its actions to achieve GHG
reductions beyond the 2020 statewide limit, including
introducing the consideration of "social costs."
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Analysis Prepared by:
Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
FN:
0005027