BILL NUMBER: SB 104 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Oropeza
( Coauthor: Senator Pavley
)
JANUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 38505 and 38562 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to air pollution.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 104, as amended, Oropeza. California Global Warming Solutions
Act of 2006: designation of greenhouse gases.
(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates
the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions
level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt by January 1,
2011, greenhouse gas emission limits and emission reduction measures
to achieve the maximum technological feasible and cost-effective
greenhouse gas emission reductions.
The act defines greenhouse gases to include carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and
sulfur hexafluoride.
This bill would also include in that definition nitrogen
trifluoride and any other gas designated as a greenhouse gas by the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The bill would also express the intent of the Legislature that the
state board take all feasible actions to include in the regulations
to be adopted pursuant to the act by January 1, 2011, emission limits
and emission reduction measures for nitrogen trifluoride. The state
board would not be required to adopt, by January 1, 2011, emission
limits and emission reduction measures for any other
gas designated as a greenhouse gas by the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change. The state board would be
required to adopt emission limits and emission reduction measures
for a gas designated as a greenhouse gas by the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change or by the state board within 2
years of a designation as a greenhouse gas.
Because a violation of the act is a crime and this bill would
expand the scope of the act, this bill would create a state-mandated
local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Air
Resources Board take all feasible actions to include in the
regulations to be adopted pursuant to Section 38562 of the Health and
Safety Code by January 1, 2011, emission limits and emission
reduction measures for nitrogen trifluoride.
SEC. 2. Section 38505 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
38505. For the purposes of this division, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(a) "Allowance" means an authorization to emit, during a specified
year, up to one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.
(b) "Alternative compliance mechanism" means an action undertaken
by a greenhouse gas emission source that achieves the equivalent
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the same time period as a
direct emission reduction, and that is approved by the state board.
"Alternative compliance mechanism" includes, but is not limited to, a
flexible compliance schedule, alternative control technology, a
process change, or a product substitution.
(c) "Carbon dioxide equivalent" means the amount of carbon dioxide
by weight that would produce the same global warming impact as a
given weight of another greenhouse gas, based on the best available
science, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
(d) "Cost-effective" or "cost-effectiveness" means the cost per
unit of reduced emissions of greenhouse gases adjusted for its global
warming potential.
(e) "Direct emission reduction" means a greenhouse gas emission
reduction action made by a greenhouse gas emission source at that
source.
(f) "Emissions reduction measure" means programs, measures,
standards, and alternative compliance mechanisms authorized pursuant
to this division, applicable to sources or categories of sources,
that are designed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
(g) "Greenhouse gas" or "greenhouse gases" includes all of the
following gases:
(1) Carbon dioxide.
(2) Methane.
(3) Nitrous oxide.
(4) Hydrofluorocarbons.
(5) Perfluorocarbons.
(6) Sulfur hexafluoride.
(7) Nitrogen trifluoride.
(8) Any other gas designated as a greenhouse gas by the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and any amendments
and protocols thereto.
(h) "Greenhouse gas emissions limit" means an authorization,
during a specified year, to emit up to a level of greenhouse gases
specified by the state board, expressed in tons of carbon dioxide
equivalents.
(i) "Greenhouse gas emission source" or "source" means any source,
or category of sources, of greenhouse gas emissions whose emissions
are at a level of significance, as determined by the state board,
that its participation in the program established under this division
will enable the state board to effectively reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and monitor compliance with the statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit.
(j) "Leakage" means a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases
within the state that is offset by an increase in emissions of
greenhouse gases outside the state.
(k) "Market-based compliance mechanism" means either of the
following:
(1) A system of market-based declining annual aggregate emissions
limitations for sources or categories of sources that emit greenhouse
gases.
(2) Greenhouse gas emissions exchanges, banking, credits, and
other transactions, governed by rules and protocols established by
the state board, that result in the same greenhouse gas emission
reduction, over the same time period, as direct compliance with a
greenhouse gas emission limit or emission reduction measure adopted
by the state board pursuant to this division.
(l) "State board" means the State Air Resources Board.
(m) "Statewide greenhouse gas emissions" means the total annual
emissions of greenhouse gases in the state, including all emissions
of greenhouse gases from the generation of electricity delivered to
and consumed in California, accounting for transmission and
distribution line losses, whether the electricity is generated in
state or imported. Statewide emissions shall be expressed in tons of
carbon dioxide equivalents.
(n) "Statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit" or "statewide
emissions limit" means the maximum allowable level of statewide
greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, as determined by the state board
pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 38550).
SEC. 3. Section 38562 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
38562. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (g), on or before
January 1, 2011, the state board shall adopt greenhouse gas emission
limits and emission reduction measures by regulation to achieve the
maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide
greenhouse gas emissions limit, to become operative beginning on
January 1, 2012.
(b) In adopting regulations pursuant to this section and Part 5
(commencing with Section 38570), to the extent feasible and in
furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions
limit, the state board shall do all of the following:
(1) Design the regulations, including distribution of emissions
allowances where appropriate, in a manner that is equitable, seeks to
minimize costs and maximize the total benefits to California, and
encourages early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(2) Ensure that activities undertaken to comply with the
regulations do not disproportionately impact low-income communities.
(3) Ensure that entities that have voluntarily reduced their
greenhouse gas emissions prior to the implementation of this section
receive appropriate credit for early voluntary reductions.
(4) Ensure that activities undertaken pursuant to the regulations
complement, and do not interfere with, efforts to achieve and
maintain federal and state ambient air quality standards and to
reduce toxic air contaminant emissions.
(5) Consider cost-effectiveness of these regulations.
(6) Consider overall societal benefits, including reductions in
other air pollutants, diversification of energy sources, and other
benefits to the economy, environment, and public health.
(7) Minimize the administrative burden of implementing and
complying with these regulations.
(8) Minimize leakage.
(9) Consider the significance of the contribution of each source
or category of sources to statewide emissions of greenhouse gases.
(c) In furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit, by January 1, 2011, the state board may adopt a
regulation that establishes a system of market-based declining annual
aggregate emission limits for sources or categories of sources that
emit greenhouse gas emissions, applicable from January 1, 2012, to
December 31, 2020, inclusive, that the state board determines will
achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, in the aggregate, from those
sources or categories of sources.
(d) Any regulation adopted by the state board pursuant to this
part or Part 5 (commencing with Section 38570) shall ensure all of
the following:
(1) The greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved are real,
permanent, quantifiable, verifiable, and enforceable by the state
board.
(2) For regulations pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section
38570), the reduction is in addition to any greenhouse gas emission
reduction otherwise required by law or regulation, and any other
greenhouse gas emission reduction that otherwise would occur.
(3) If applicable, the greenhouse gas emission reduction occurs
over the same time period and is equivalent in amount to any direct
emission reduction required pursuant to this division.
(e) The state board shall rely upon the best available economic
and scientific information and its assessment of existing and
projected technological capabilities when adopting the regulations
required by this section.
(f) The state board shall consult with the Public Utilities
Commission in the development of the regulations as they affect
electricity and natural gas providers in order to minimize
duplicative or inconsistent regulatory requirements.
(g) (1) This section does not require the
state board to adopt, by January 1, 2011, greenhouse gas emission
limits and emission reduction measures for any gas described in
paragraph (8) of subdivision (g) of Section 38505.
(2) The state board shall adopt greenhouse gas emission limits and
emission reduction measures, consistent with the requirements of
this section, for both of the following:
(A) Any gas described in paragraph (8) of subdivision (g) of
Section 38505 within two years of the gas being designated as a
greenhouse gas pursuant to that provision.
(B) Any gas not described in paragraphs (1) to (8), inclusive, of
subdivision (g) of Section 38505 designated as a greenhouse gas by
the state board within two years of the state board designating the
gas as a greenhouse gas.
(h) After January 1, 2011, the state board may revise regulations
adopted pursuant to this section and adopt additional regulations to
further the provisions of this division.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.