BILL NUMBER: AB 1405 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members De Leon and V. Manuel Perez
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 38597 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to air pollution.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1405, as amended, De Leon. California Global Warming Solutions
Act of 2006: Community Benefits Fund.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the
State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the
reporting and verification of emissions of greenhouse gases and to
monitor and enforce compliance with the reporting and verification
program, and requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse
gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas
emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The act requires the
state board to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process
to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
greenhouse gas emission reductions. The act authorizes the state
board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. The
act authorizes the state board to adopt a schedule of fees to be paid
by the sources of greenhouse gas emissions regulated pursuant to the
act, and requires the revenues collected pursuant to that fee to be
deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund and be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of carrying out the
act.
This bill would establish the Community Benefits Fund, and would
require an unspecified percentage of revenues generated pursuant to
the act, including the fee discussed above, to be deposited into that
fund. The moneys in the fund would be used, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, in the most impacted and disadvantaged
communities in California to accelerate greenhouse gas emission
reductions and mitigate direct health impacts of climate change
for the Community Benefits Program, which the bill
would create. The program would be implemented by the Community
Benefits Fund Review Panel, which the bill would create within the
California Environmental Protection Agency, with 9 members
to be appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and the
Senate Committee on Rule s, as provided. The panel would
be required to ensure that the funds appropriated to it are used in
the most impacted and disadvantaged communities in California to
accelerate greenhouse gas emission reductions and mitigate direct
health impacts of climate change in those communities. The state
board would be required to develop and recommend methodology to the
panel to identify the most impacted and disadvantaged communities.
The state board, the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, and the State Department of Public Health
would be required to jointly develop and recommend semiannual plans
for the use of funds under the program .
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. Section 38597 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
38597. (a) The state board may adopt by regulation, after a
public workshop, a schedule of fees to be paid by the sources of
greenhouse gas emissions regulated pursuant to this division,
consistent with Section 57001. The revenues collected pursuant to
this section, except as provided in subdivision (b), shall be
deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund and are available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of carrying out this
division.
(b) There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
Community Benefits Fund. ____ percent of the total
revenues generated each year pursuant to this division,
including, but not limited to, subdivision (a), shall be deposited
by the state board into the Community Benefits Fund. The
moneys in the fund shall be used, upon appropriation by the
Legislature , in the most impacted and disadvantaged
communities in California to accelerate greenhouse gas emission
reductions and mitigate direct health impacts of climate change.
for the Community Benefits Program described in
subdivision (c).
(c) (1) The Community Benefits Fund Review Panel is hereby created
as part of the California Environmental Protection Agency. The
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice shall provide support
to the panel. The panel shall implement the Community Benefits
Program to ensure that funds appropriated to it by the Legislature
are solely used in the most impacted and disadvantaged communities in
California to accelerate greenhouse gas emission reductions and
mitigate direct health impacts of climate change in those
communities. The panel shall award competitive grants for projects,
including, but not limited to, any projects that do any of the
following:
(A) Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while achieving cobenefits
such as reductions in other air pollutants and energy efficiency.
(B) Minimize health impacts caused by global warming.
(C) Assist small businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions.
(D) Install or replace equipment that reduces greenhouse gas
emissions.
(E) Improvements to mass transit that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, including, but not limited to, subsidies to commuters.
(F) Clean distributed electricity generation systems that reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
(G) Energy efficiency upgrades for schools, senior centers, or
low-income housing that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(H) Emergency preparedness for extreme weather events caused by
global warming.
(2) (A) The panel shall have a total of nine members. The
Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Committee on
Rules shall each appoint three members by ____. The members shall
have demonstrated integrity in protecting community interests in the
area of environmental protection for at least 10 years, or have
education and demonstrated expertise and at least 10 years of working
experience in the areas of air pollution, public health, energy
efficiency, economics, local government, or running a small business.
(B) The members of the panel shall serve for three-year terms and
can be reappointed for no more than a second three-year term. For the
initial appointments pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Governor, the
Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Committee on Rules, shall
each appoint one member to a one-year term, one member to a two-year
term, and one member to a three-year term.
(3) The state board shall develop and recommend methodology to the
panel to identify the most impacted and disadvantaged communities,
that shall be reviewed and modified, if necessary, by the panel.
(4) The state board, the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, and the State Department of Public Health
shall jointly develop and recommend semiannual plans for the use of
funds under the program. These plans shall be presented to the panel
for approval. The panel shall determine whether a project is approved
or rejected for funding pursuant to the program.
(5) The panel shall ensure that all projects approved for funding
have local community support, including, but not limited to, local
public health and air quality support.
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the
panel shall only approve a project if it determines, based on the
facts available to it, that the use of moneys for that project would
not be inconsistent with Article XIII A of the California
Constitution and case law construing that provision. The panel shall
ensure in this regard, in consultation with the state board, that no
feepayer pays for a disproportionate share of the global warming harm
addressed by the Community Benefits Program.