BILL NUMBER: AB 642	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 22, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 27, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Charles Calderon

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2011

    An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 7100) to
Part 2 of Division 6 of the Public Resources Code, relating to
renewable energy.   An act relating to renewable energy.




	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 642, as amended, Charles Calderon. Renewable energy: biomass:
algae. 
   (1) Existing law authorizes the State Lands Commission to
negotiate various types of leases for public lands, including grazing
leases, recreational leases, oil and gas leases, and mineral leases.
 
   This bill would authorize the commission to enter into a lease for
the development of algae-producing energy and agricultural products.
The bill would require the lease to include specified provisions.
 
   (2) Existing 
    Existing  law requires the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission to administer the Renewable
Energy Resources Program, which provides financial assistance for the
development of renewable electricity generation facilities,
including facilities that use biomass.
   Existing law requires the California Alternative Energy and
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to establish a renewable
energy program to provide financial assistance to specified entities
to generate new and renewable energy sources. Existing law defines
"renewable energy" to mean a device or technology that, among other
things, uses biomass for electrical generation.
   The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires a
retail seller of electricity to purchase a specified minimum
percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy
resources, including electricity generated through the use of, among
other things, biomass, in any given year as a specified percentage of
total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar
year.
   This bill would expressly provide that "biomass" for the above
provisions includes algae.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes
  no  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    Chapter 6 (commencing with Section
7100) is added to Part 2 of Division 6 of the Public Resources Code,
to read:
      CHAPTER 6.  LEASES FOR ALGAE PRODUCTION FOR ENERGY AND
AGRICULTURAL USES


   7100.  The commission may, when it appears to be in the public
interest, negotiate and enter into a lease for the development of
algae-producing energy and agricultural products. The lease shall
include all of the following:
   (a) Terms, conditions, and provisions that will protect the
interests of the state with reference to securing payment to the
state of the proper amount or the value of production.
   (b) Provisions specifying the methods of operation and standard
requirements for carrying on operations in a proper and workmanlike
manner, the prevention of waste, the protection of the safety and
health of workers, and the liability of the lessee for personal
injury and property damage.
   (c) Security for faithful performance of the lessee, including
provisions for the forfeiture of the lease as set forth in Section
6805, and the requirement that the lessee shall, at the time of
execution of the lease, furnish and thereafter maintain a good and
sufficient bond in an amount specified by the commission, in favor of
the state, guaranteeing faithful performance by the lessee of the
terms, covenants, and conditions of the lease and compliance with
this chapter.
   (d) Other covenants, conditions, requirements, and reservations as
may be deemed advisable by the commission in effecting the purpose
of this chapter and not inconsistent with any of its provisions.
   (e) A provision providing that any provision of the lease executed
under this chapter that purports to deprive the state or a lessee of
a right or benefit secured by law, or that is otherwise inconsistent
with this chapter, is void, and shall be deemed separable from and
without effect upon the valid provision of the lease.
   7101.  The commission, in issuing a lease under this chapter,
shall reserve to the state the right to lease, sell, or otherwise
dispose of the subsurface rights in the land. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.  For the purposes
of Sections 25741 and 26003 of the Public Resources Code, biomass
includes algae.