BILL ANALYSIS
AB 881
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 881 (Huffman)
As Amended May 7, 2009
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 11-4
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|Ayes:|Caballero, Arambula, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Davis, Skinner | |Calderon, Davis, Fuentes, |
| | | |Hall, John A. Perez, |
| | | |Price, Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight, Duvall |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Audra Strickland |
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SUMMARY : Creates, until December 1, 2015, the Sonoma County
Regional Climate Protection Authority (Authority).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the Authority is a public instrumentality
governed by the same board as that governing the Sonoma County
Transportation Authority (SCTA).
2)States that the Authority is a separate entity from SCTA.
3)Requires that each member of the Authority be an elected
official of a local governmental entity within Sonoma County
(County).
4)States that the members of the County Board of Supervisors
serving on the Authority shall comprise less than a majority
of the Authority.
5)Authorizes the Authority, in cooperation with local entities
that elect to participate, to perform coordination and
implementation activities, within the boundaries of the
County, to assist those entities in meeting their greenhouse
gas (GHG) emission reduction goals.
6)States that the Authority may coordinate and implement
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activities that shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
a) Reduction of energy consumption;
b) Coordination and implementation of energy efficiency
projects;
c) Increasing efficiency of water use;
d) Utilizing carbon sequestration opportunities;
e) Administration of grants to local entities;
f) Alternative transportation options; and,
g) Measuring and quantifying ongoing GHG reductions.
7)Prohibits anything in this measure from superseding or
interfering with activities, plans, or actions of other local
agencies.
8)Authorizes the Authority to apply for funds available to carry
out its functions.
9)Authorizes the Authority to receive grants of funds to carry
out its functions.
10)Requires that all funds available to the Authority be held in
a separate account and accounted for independently.
11)Prohibits transportation funds from being used for purposes
of this measure other than those activities of the Authority
related to transportation.
12)Prohibits funding from the Traffic Relief Act for the County
(Measure M) from being used for purpose of this measure.
13)Requires the Authority to do all of the following:
a) Adopt rules for proceedings;
b) Use the established quorum requirement;
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c) Act by motion, resolution, or ordinance;
d) Conduct meetings under the Ralph M. Brown Act;
e) Adopt a budget;
f) Adopt an administrative code; and,
g) Conduct a financial audit annually.
14)Requires that members of the Authority be compensated and
reimbursed for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in
connection with performing official duties.
15)States that the Authority may sue and be sued.
16)Contains a sunset clause that makes this section inoperable
on December 1, 2015, unless otherwise extended.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to AB 32 (Nunez and Pavley), Chapter 488, Statutes of
2006, enacts the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 that
directs the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to implement
a statewide GHG emissions reduction strategy that would reduce
emissions 25% by 2020.
2)Requires ARB to adopt an AB 32 Scoping Plan among other
mandated activities.
3)Authorizes, under the Local Transportation Authority and
Improvement Act, any county board of supervisors to create or
designate a local transportation authority in their county for
the purposes of imposing a retail transactions and use tax of
up to 1%, by a two-thirds vote thereof, subject to voter
approval, with revenues to be used for transportation
improvements.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there is no state fiscal effect. Local mandated
costs are not reimbursable because the requirements of this bill
are the result of legislative authority requested by the local
agencies affected by the bill.
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COMMENTS : ARB adopted the AB 32 Scoping Plan (Plan) in December
2008. The Plan recognizes the critical role local governments
will play in the successful implementation of
AB 32. The Scoping Plan specifically states that, "Local
governments are essential partners in achieving California's
goals to reduce GHG emissions. They have broad influence and,
in some cases, exclusive authority over activities that
contribute to significant direct and indirect GHG emissions
through their planning and permitting processes, local
ordinances, outreach and education efforts, and municipal
operations. Many of the proposed measures to reduce GHG
emissions rely on local government actions."
In addition, ARB is encouraging local governments to adopt a GHG
reduction goal for municipal operations emissions and move
toward establishing similar goals for community emissions that
parallel the state commitment to reduce GHG emissions by
approximately
15% from current levels by 2020. According to the author, the
County, SCTA, the Sonoma County Water Agency and all nine cities
in Sonoma have adopted, in their "Climate Action Plan", a more
aggressive goal to reduce 25% below the 1990 level by 2015.
The AB 32 Scoping Plan recognizes the critical need to develop
comprehensive local programs to address all GHG emissions that
occur within a local government's jurisdiction. ARB encourages
local governments "to partner with special districts, such as
school districts, transportation planning agencies and waste and
water utilities that provide services within their
jurisdictions."
According to a recent Public Policy Institute of California
report "Climate Policy at the Local Level: A Survey of
California's Cities and Counties" the implementation barriers to
local GHG reduction efforts is due to the difficulty of
coordinating between local agencies. The report states that for
many local governments, many key functions are undertaken by
distinct entities - e.g., electricity and water utilities,
regional or county transportation planning agencies and local
air districts. Collaborative efforts have often been a key to
success.
The author believes that in order to help local governments be
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more successful in reducing emissions to meet the state's goal
and local goals, we need to give local governments a better
ability to coordinate at the local level to implement emissions
reductions strategies. This bill will create a new entity in the
County, the Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority,
to be in effect until 2015, to organize efforts with local
public agencies and private entities in the County to coordinate
GHG reduction strategies, in order to assist the state in
meeting its 2020 goal as well as help the County meet its GHG
reduction goal. The Agency will be a public instrumentality
governed by the same board as that governing the Sonoma County
Transportation Authority.
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958 FN:
0000895