BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1464 (De León) - California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006: greenhouse gas emissions reduction
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: April 11, 2016 |Policy Vote: E.Q. 7 - 0 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: May 9, 2016 |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1464 requires the Department of Finance (DOF) and
the Air Resources Board (Board), in identifying priority
programmatic investments using Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
(GGRF) monies, to assess how proposed investments interact with
current state regulations, policies, and programs, and evaluate
if and how the proposed investments could be incorporated into
existing programs. The bill also requires the investment plan to
recommend metrics that would measure progress and benefits from
the proposed programmatic investments.
Fiscal
Impact:
Approximately $145,000 (GGRF) annually for two years to Air
Resources Board for limited-term staffing costs.
Approximately $150,000 (GGRF) annually for contracts for
modeling GGRF investments interactions with existing state
policies and analyzing emissions impacts from investment
concepts.
SB 1464 (De León) Page 1 of
?
Background: The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (referred
to as AB 32, HSC §38500 et seq.) requires the ARB to determine
the 1990 statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions level, to
approve a statewide GHG emissions limit equivalent to that level
that will be achieved by 2020, and to adopt GHG emissions
reductions measures by regulation. ARB is authorized to include
the use of market-based mechanisms to comply with the
regulations. Under this authority, the ARB initiated the
cap-and-trade program. All monies, except for fines and
penalties, collected pursuant to the cap-and-trade program
deposited in the GGRF (Government Code §16428.8).
Existing law requires that the GGRF only be used to facilitate
the achievement of reductions of GHG emissions consistent with
AB 32 (HSC §39710 et seq.). To this end, the DOF, in
consultation with the ARB and any other relevant state agencies,
is required to develop, as specified, a three-year investment
plan for the moneys deposited in the GGRF. The investment plan
must allocate a minimum of 25% of the funds to projects that
benefit disadvantaged communities and to allocate 10% of the
funds to projects located within disadvantaged communities.
Additionally, the ARB, in consultation with CalEPA, is required
to develop funding guidelines for administering agencies
receiving allocations of GGRF funds that include a component for
how agencies should maximize benefits to disadvantaged
communities.
Proposed Law:
This bill requires the Investment Plan to recommend metrics
that would measure progress and benefits from the proposed
programmatic investments, and, in identifying priority
programmatic investments, requires the Investment Plan to do
both of the following:
1) Assess how proposed investments interact with current state
regulations, policies, and programs.
2) Evaluate if and how proposed investments could be
SB 1464 (De León) Page 2 of
?
incorporated into existing programs.
Related
Legislation: AB 1532 (Pérez, Chapter 807, Statutes of 2012)
required DOF, in consultation with ARB and any other relevant
state entity, to develop a 3-year investment plan that includes
specified analysis and information and to submit the plan to the
Legislature. The bill also required the DOF to submit a report
no later than March 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, to the
appropriate committees of the Legislature containing specified
information.
Staff
Comments:1) According to the author, "Cap-and-trade auction revenue, with
proceeds to the state of over $4 billion since the initial
auction, has been appropriated to more than 12 different
agencies to administer a variety of programs to reduce GHG
emissions and provide co-benefits, including benefits to
disadvantaged communities. In 2012, the Legislature directed
the Department of Finance to prepare an investment plan every
three years to help guide Legislative appropriation of the
proceeds. The Investment Plan is required to assess gaps in the
state's strategies to meet climate goals, and identify priority
investments. However, as the Legislative Analyst's Office has
noted in their recent budget report, the Investment Plan does
not provide a robust analysis with which to evaluate proposals
for GGRF spending, including how proposed investments interact
with the current state programs. Additionally, the LAO reports
the lack of specificity of benefits assigned to administration
budget proposals, and the difficulty this poses in evaluating
these proposals for funding. On top of this, the GGRF fund
keeps growing, with the potential to fund a variety of new
programs. SB 1464 requires the Investment Plan to consider how
proposed investments interact with current state programs, and
if those investments and programs can be incorporated into
current state programs. SB 1464 also requires the investment
plan recommend metrics that would measure progress and benefits
from the proposed programmatic investments. In this way, the
Investment Plan will better serve its original statutory
intent-to guide the Legislature in funding an optimized strategy
SB 1464 (De León) Page 3 of
?
of complementary investments to maximize GHG emissions
reductions and co-benefits from the GGRF, especially in those
communities disproportionately burdened by pollution."
-- END --