BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1615|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1615
Author: Assembly Budget Committee
Amended: 10/6/10 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT : Resources Budget Trailer Bill
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : Senate Floor Amendments of 10/6/10 delete the
prior version of the bill which expressed the intent of the
Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the
Budget Act of 2010, and add the current content relating to
Resources.
This bill is now the Resources Budget Trailer bill which
contains provisions necessary to implement the 2010-11
Budget.
ANALYSIS : This bill includes the following key changes
to implement the 2010-11 State Budget:
1. Renewable Energy Generation Siting . Increases the
minimum and maximum levels for siting application and
compliance fees for construction of a thermal powerplant
or electric transmission line. Additionally, deletes
the existing siting application fee exemption for
renewable generation, and requires a report to the
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Legislature by July 1, 2012 on the impact of these
changes. Revenues from siting application and
compliance fees support application processing and
compliance monitoring at the California Energy
Commission (CEC).
2. Clean and Renewable Energy Revolving Loan Program .
Authorizes the CEC to implement the Clean and Renewable
Energy Business Financing Revolving Loan Program to
provide low interest loans to California clean and
renewable energy manufacturing businesses, and to use
federal funds made available by the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for this purpose.
Additionally, creates the Clean and Renewable Energy
Business Financing Revolving Loan Fund, which is
continuously appropriated for the purposes of the
Program.
3. Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology
Program (AB 118) Investment Plan . Requires the CEC to
submit to the Legislature, in coordination with the
Governor's Budget, the annual investment plan (plan)
required by AB 118 (Nunez), Chapter 750, Statutes of
2007. On March 15, 2011, and each January thereafter,
the draft plan is to be submitted for legislative
review, followed by the final plan at the time of the
Governor's May Revision. Additionally, the Legislature
is to be notified of any significant changes made
thereafter, as defined.
4. Greening Ethanol . Places various requirements on
biorefiners receiving loans from the CEC's proposed
California Ethanol Producer Incentive Program under AB
118, including that they develop plans and secure
funding for refinery improvements (that either reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and/or allow for the use of
alternative feedstocks) within a specified time period.
5. Energy Assistance Fund Extensions . Extends, until
January 1, 2013 and January 1, 2016, respectively, the
State Energy Conservation Assistance Account and the
Local Jurisdiction Energy Assistance Account.
6. Orphan Oil Facility Fee Sunset . Clarifies that any
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increased fees imposed by the Department of Conservation
for the accelerated remediation of orphaned oil
facilities, for the purposes of completing workload
requested in the 2010-11 Budget Act, shall last for only
four years.
7. Underground Injection Control Program Reporting .
Requires the Department of Conservation to provide the
Legislature with annual reporting on the Underground
Injection Control Program, including progress in
implementing the program's action plan.
8. Beverage Container Recycling Fund Reporting . Specifies
the information to be provided in the Department of
Resources Recycling and Recovery's quarterly report to
the Legislature on the condition of the Beverage
Container Recycling Fund.
9. Align SB 8 X7 Appropriations with Existing Law . Reverts
$522 million in Proposition 1E and Proposition 84 funds
originally appropriated in
SB 8 X7 (Steinberg), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009-10,
Seventh Extraordinary Session, and appropriates those
dollars anew with certain requirements designed to
better align the funding with existing law, including:
(1) broadening Proposition 1E and Proposition 84 flood
control project eligibility; (2) linking
stormwater-flood funding to
SB 790 (Pavley), Chapter 620, Statutes of 2009; and (3)
making integrated regional water management
appropriation language consistent with existing grant
guidelines.
10. Environmental Education Initiative Contributions .
Authorizes, until January 1, 2013, the Secretary of
Environmental Protection to enter into a contract with
an "external fiscal agent," as defined, in order to
direct the expenditure of private contributions made to
the external fiscal agent for the purposes of carrying
out the Environmental Education Initiative.
11. Green Building Standards Reporting . Requires the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to
report to the Legislature by January 1, 2012, on the
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steps taken by the Office of the State Fire Marshal to
improve fire and panic safety with respect to green
building standards, and to better coordinate work on
green building standards code development with the
California Building Standards Commission and the
Department of Housing and Community Development.
12. Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention Emergency
Fund, Schedule A, and Fire Prevention Reporting .
Requires CAL FIRE to report on Emergency Fund (E-Fund)
expenditures and Schedule A contracts, and clarifies
existing requirements for reporting on fire prevention
activities. Additionally, specifies that the Governor
is to submit a zero-based budget for CAL FIRE
expenditures previously supported from the E-Fund in
fiscal year 2009-10 (but subsequently included in the
base budget for 2010-11).
13. Property Acquisition for Parks and Off-Highway Vehicles .
Specifies the terms under which the "Freeman Property,"
a portion of land abutting both Anza-Borrego Desert
State Park (park) and Ocotillo-Wells State Vehicular
Recreation Area (OWSVRA), may be acquired and divided
between the park and OWSVRA. Waives the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review process for the
purposes of the acquisition, but not for any general
plan that is required for the acquisition or any
subsequent project approved for the property.
14. Avoid Conflict of Interest in Delta Contracting .
Declares the Legislature's intent that the Delta
Stewardship Council, in entering contracts for the
completion of the Delta Plan and the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan (BDCP) avoid any actual or apparent
conflict of interest by including contract provisions to
ensure the independence of the contractor's work on the
Delta Plan with respect to any work that contractor may
do on the BDCP.
15. Zero-Based Delta Expenditures . Requires the Governor to
submit a zero-based budget for fiscal year 2011-12 for
all state agency programs that implement water and
ecosystem restoration activities in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta, including those related to the CALFED
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Bay-Delta Program.
16. Information Made Public During Rule-Making Process .
Clarifies the intent of AB 1085 (Mendoza), Chapter 384,
Statutes of 2009, which specified that the Air Resources
Board (ARB) must make available to the public certain
information associated with the rule-making process
prior to the beginning of the comment period for any
regulation proposed for adoption. Originally, the
stated intent of AB 1085 was to require the provision of
certain information such that interested parties could
"easily and without undue effort reproduce and verify
all aspects of" ARB staff analyses. The revised
language would state the Legislature's intent that "the
public is provided all of the information relied on" by
the ARB in the rule-making process.
17. Zero-Based AB 32 Expenditures . Requires the Governor to
submit a zero-based fiscal year 2011-12 budget for all
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32
[Nunez], Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006) programs and
expenditures.
18. Establish New State Water Board Fund . Establishes the
Wastewater Operator Certification Fund as a repository
for revenues from fees (authorized under current law)
charged to certified operators of wastewater treatment
plants, applicants to become certified operators, and
contract operators for various services associated with
certification. The Operator Certification historically
operated on a reimbursement basis, but continues to
grow, resulting in the need to create a special fund to
receive growing revenues.
19. Support for Water Quality Monitoring at Landfills .
Clarifies and conforms existing solid waste landfill fee
provisions to related provisions in the Clean Water Act
by specifying that, if revenues from solid waste
disposal "tipping fees" are insufficient to fund state
water board and regional water board regulatory
activities for solid waste landfills, then the current
waste discharge permit fee shall not be waived (as has
been the custom and practice for a number of years when
tipping fees were sufficient to fund water quality
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activities). Requires the State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) to perform an analysis and report on the
costs of regulating water quality at active landfills,
and directs the board, on a one-time basis, to collect
(the full-year value of) the Waste Discharge Fee from
permittees in the second half of the 2010-11 fiscal
year.
20. Environmental Consultant Pilot Program Reporting .
Requires the SWRCB to submit to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee, no later than July 1, 2013, a report
on the effectiveness of a pilot program to directly
contract with environmental consultants to prepare
required CEQA documents for water rights applicants and
petitioners.
21. Leaded Products Enforcement and Penalties . Provides for
the deposit of penalties collected to enforce the
requirements of the hazardous waste control laws
regarding lead-containing jewelry, toxic packaging, and
wheel weights in the Toxic Substances Control Account,
where they are to be expended by the Department of Toxic
Substances Control to implement and enforce the
provisions of those laws.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
CTW:mw 10/6/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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