BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1504|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1504
Author: Skinner (D), et al
Amended: 8/17/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 5-3, 6/22/10
AYES: Pavley, Lowenthal, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Kehoe
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 6/28/10
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-4, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Ashburn, Emmerson, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 43-28, 1/27/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Forest resources: carbon sequestration
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Board of Forestry and
Fire Protection to ensure that its rules and regulations
for harvesting timber consider the capacity of forest
resources to sequester carbon dioxide sufficient to meet or
exceed the state's emission reduction goals for the
forestry sector under
CONTINUED
AB 1504
Page
2
AB 32 (Nunez), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Under the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973,
establishes procedures for submitting a timber harvest
plan (THP) to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CDF) when conducting timber operations. An
application for conversion must be filed with the Board
of Forestry and Fire Protection (BFFP) if timberlands
are to be converted. The BFFP is authorized to adopt
regulations to assure the continuous growing and
harvesting of commercial forest species and to protect
certain resources. (Section 4511 et seq. of the Public
Resources Code)
2. Under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (CGWSA), requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to
determine the 1990 statewide greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions level and approve a statewide GHG emissions
limit that is equivalent to that level, to be achieved
by 2020. ARB must adopt regulations for reporting and
verification of GHG emissions, monitoring and compliance
with the program, and achieving GHG emission reductions
from sources or categories of sources by January 1, 2011
to be operative on January 1, 2012, subject to certain
requirements. (Section 38500 et seq. of the Health and
Safety Code)
3. Under the California Forest Legacy Program Act of 2007,
authorizes CDF to acquire conservation easements by
entering into a contract with the Wildlife Conservation
Board to administer the purchase of conservation
easements based on certain eligibility criteria (e.g.,
be subject to potential conversion, owned by willing and
interested sellers or conservation donors, 10 percent
forestry canopy). (Section 12200 et seq. of the Public
Resources Code [PRC])
4. Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA):
A. Requires lead agencies with the principal
AB 1504
Page
3
responsibility for carrying out or approving a
proposed project to prepare a negative declaration,
mitigated declaration, or environmental impact report
(EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt
from CEQA (CEQA includes various statutory
exemptions, as well as categorical exemptions in the
CEQA guidelines). (PRC Section 21000 et seq.) A
state agency regulatory program required plan or
other written documentation containing environmental
information may be submitted in lieu of an EIR if the
Secretary of the Resources Agency has certified the
regulatory program pursuant to certain requirements.
(PRC Section 21080.5)
B. Requires the Office of Planning and Research
(OPR), on or before July 1, 2009, to prepare,
develop, and transmit to the Resources Agency
amendments to the CEQA guidelines to assist public
agencies in the mitigation of GHG's or the effects of
GHG's as required under CEQA, including the effects
associated with transportation and energy
consumption, and requires the Resources Agency to
certify and adopt those guidelines by January 1,
2010.
Under current law, the Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection is required to develop rules and regulations for
the harvesting of timber. The rules and regulations shall
ensure the continuing harvest of timber while protecting
soil, air, fish, wildlife, and water resources. In order
to commercially harvest timber in the state, a landowner
must file a THP with CDF. The THP governs the timber
harvest and specifies harvest methods and protections that
will be put in place to protect public resources, such as
fish and water quality. Under law, the THP process is
functionally equivalent to the CEQA process. Therefore, a
THP must address all the issues that would be addressed
under CEQA. Recently revised CEQA guidelines require the
analysis of carbon emissions as part of the required
environmental analysis. Because the THP review process is
functionally equivalent to CEQA, THPs will now have to
address carbon emissions associated with a proposed timber
harvest.
AB 1504
Page
4
Under AB 32 (Nunez), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006, the ARB
is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emission
limit, such that statewide emissions in 2020 are equal to
emissions in 1990. The ARB is required to implement
regulatory measures to reduce emissions to meet that
target. Pursuant to AB 32, the ARB adopted a "scoping plan"
to outline how the state will achieve those goals. The
scoping plan allocated emission reductions to a variety of
sectors of the state's economy. The scoping plan includes
the goal that the forestry sector will continue to
sequester carbon at the current estimated rate of five
million tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
This bill requires the Board to ensure that all its rules
and regulations that govern timber harvesting consider the
capacity of forest resources to sequester carbon dioxide,
sufficient to meet the state's greenhouse gas emission
reduction goals for the forestry sector, and states that
any funding needed for research will come from AB 32
monies.
Background
According to the climate change scoping plan prepared by
ARB, pursuant to CGWSA requirements, "The 2020 Proposed
Scoping Plan target for California's forest sector is to
maintain the current 5 MMTCO2E [Million Metric Tons of
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent] of sequestration through
sustainable management practices, including reducing the
risk of catastrophic wildfire, and the avoidance or
mitigation of land-use changes that reduce carbon storage.
[CDF] has the existing authority to provide for sustainable
management practices, and will, at a minimum, work to
maintain current carbon sequestration levels. The
Resources Agency and its departments will also have an
important role to play in implementing this measure."
According to the scoping plan, "Monitoring carbon
sequestered on forest lands will be necessary to implement
the target. The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection,
working with the Resources Agency, the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection and ARB would be tasked with
developing a monitoring program, improving greenhouse gas
inventories, and determining what actions are needed to
AB 1504
Page
5
meet the 2020 target for the Forest sector. Future climate
impacts will exacerbate existing wildfire and insect
disturbances in the Forest sector. These disturbances will
create new uncertainties in reducing emissions and
maintaining sequestration levels over the long-term,
requiring more creative strategies for adapting to these
changes. In the short term, focusing on sustainable
management practices and land-use issues is a practical
approach for moving forward."
The scoping plan also notes that "Future land use decisions
will play a role in reaching our greenhouse gas emissions
reduction goals for all sectors. Loss of forest land to
development increases greenhouse gas emissions levels
because less carbon is sequestered. Avoiding or mitigating
such conversions will support efforts to meet the 2020
goal. When significant changes occur, the California
Environmental Quality Act is a mechanism providing for
assessment and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Review of existing $800-$1,000
General
regulations
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/10)
EPIC
Forests Forever
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to supporters, "some -
including the U.S. Forest Service - fear that current
California forest practices have a dangerous possibility of
leaving the state forests as a net emitter of carbon. AB
AB 1504
Page
6
1504 helps ensure that we have some way of measuring
whether California forests are - as we all hope - net
sequesters of carbon, giving us time to fix the problem
before it overwhelms us if it is not."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Torrico, Yamada
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Carter, De Leon, Galgiani, Hall, V.
Manuel Perez, Torlakson, Bass
CTW:mw 8/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****