BILL NUMBER: AB 1405	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 28, 2009
	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   add
Section 38597.4 to  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,  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 Rules, 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 
 a  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.   4 is added to
the   Health and Safety Code   , to read: 

   38597.4.  (a) 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, Section 38597, 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, for the purposes described in
subdivision (b).
   (b) (1) Funds appropriated by the Legislature from the Community
Benefits Fund shall be used solely 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 Community Benefits Fund shall be
used to provide 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) The state board shall develop a methodology to identify the
most impacted and disadvantaged communities.
   (3) The state board, the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, and the State Department of Public Health
shall jointly develop semiannual plans for the use of funds under
this section.
   (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, projects
shall only be funded if the state board determines, based on the
facts available to it, that the use of moneys for that project would
be consistent with Article XIII A of the California Constitution and
case law construing that provision. The state board shall ensure in
this regard that no feepayer pays for a disproportionate share of the
global warming harm addressed by this section.  
  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 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.