BILL NUMBER: AB 642 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2012
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 8.65 (commencing with Section 25752) to
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, relating to
renewable energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 642, as amended, Charles Calderon. Renewable energy: biomass:
algae.
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.
This bill would enact the Salton Sea Stabilization and
Agricultural Cultivation Act, which would authorize the Secretary of
the Natural Resources Agency to establish an Algae Production Program
in the Imperial Valley to meet high-priority economic and
environmental goals, expedite regulatory application and review
processes, and provide grants to facilitate research and the
commercial development of algae for fuels, foods, medicines, and
clean water within the state. The bill would further authorize the
secretary to provide grants to eligible research institutions and
commercial enterprises for research and demonstration projects
leading to the commercial development of algae. The bill would
require the secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of
Business, Transportation and Housing, the Secretary of Food and
Agriculture, the Chairman of the State Air Resources Board, and the
Governor's Tribal Advisor, if an algae production program is
established pursuant to the bill, to publish a report, no later than
May 1, 2013, that enumerates the environmental and economic benefits
of the algae industry, and contains specified recommendations. The
bill would also require the secretary by May 1, 2013, to publish a
rule establishing an Algae Production Program and a process for the
application, review, and issuance of grants, and, no later than July
1, 2013, to publish a final rule to implement recommendations
contained in the above-described report.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 8.65 (commencing with Section
25752) is added to Division 15 of the Public Resources
Code , to read:
CHAPTER 8.65. SALTON SEA STABILIZATION AND AGRICULTURAL ALGAE
CULTIVATION
25752. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Salton
Sea Stabilization and Agricultural Algae Cultivation Act.
25752.1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Salton Sea is a critical environmental and economic
resource located in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys.
(b) The deteriorating condition of the Salton Sea endangers
important wildlife habitat and results in serious unhealthful fine
particulate air pollution.
(c) The State of California has previously obligated itself to
protect the long-term health of the Salton Sea.
(d) A multiagency task force previously estimated the cost of the
"preferred solution" for the Salton Sea to be more than nine billion
dollars ($9,000,000,000) in one-time costs, in addition to
significant ongoing operational costs.
(e) The development of agricultural algae cultivation on the
periphery of the Salton Sea is a more cost-effective means by which
to meet the state's obligation to protect the Salton Sea.
(f) The State of California is uniquely and timely poised to
assume national leadership in full-scale production of algal biofuels
and parallel advancement in algal biofuel technology.
(g) Initiating the algae program will have the immediate benefit
of reducing fine particulate air pollution.
(h) Commercial development of algae has the potential for
significant value as a source for fuels, foods, medicines, and clean
water.
(i) The United States Navy has significant facilities in the
Imperial Valley and has expressed its interest in being a customer
for algae-derived energy products.
(j) The University of California, and, specifically, the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography and the San Diego Center for Algal
Biofuels at the University of California, San Diego, have engaged in
much of the research and development activities that are now leading
to the commercial deployment of agricultural algae production in
other parts of the country and the world.
(k) The designation of the Salton Sea Agricultural Algae
Cultivation District (AACD) could produce an affordable solution to
the serious Salton Sea environmental challenges.
(l) The designation of the AACD will encourage a potentially
important new industry developed in California to deploy on a
commercial scale in California and provide a significant source of
future revenue for the State of California in the form of royalties
or other revenue sharing similar to the state's off-shore oil revenue
sharing funds.
25752.2. (a) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency may
establish an Algae Production Program in the Imperial Valley to meet
high-priority economic and environmental goals, expedite regulatory
application and review processes, and provide grants to facilitate
research and the commercial development of algae for fuels, foods,
medicines, and clean water within the state.
(b) The secretary may provide grants to eligible research
institutions and commercial enterprises for research and development
projects and demonstration projects intended to lead to the
commercial development of algae under subdivision (a). The
demonstration projects shall be sited within the Agricultural Algae
Cultivation District, as designated by the secretary, at the Salton
Sea and shall do all of the following:
(1) Improve air quality by reducing fine particulates originating
in the dry sea bed.
(2) Improve water quality in the Salton Sea that will, in turn,
stabilize marine habitats for fish and migratory birds.
(3) Reduce use of potable water for crop farming.
(4) Present new options for the state's restoration plan of the
Salton Sea.
(5) Demonstrate the scalability of agricultural algae cultivation
and production and the revenue potential to the state.
(c) The secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Business,
Transportation and Housing, the Secretary of Food and Agriculture,
the Chairman of the State Air Resources Board, and the Governor's
Tribal Advisor, if an algae production program is established
pursuant to this chapter, shall publish a report no later than May 1,
2013, that enumerates the environmental and economic benefits of the
algae industry and provides recommendations on all of the following:
(1) The creation of algae production zones.
(2) The expedited application and review of state and local
regulatory and permitting requirements for research and development
facilities and commercial scale-up facilities, including requirements
imposed by the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000)).
(3) The use of state lands for facilities.
(4) Access to infrastructure including roads, electricity, water
delivery, and carbon dioxide.
(5) Use of water and waste products.
(6) Tax incentives.
(7) Loan guarantees.
(8) State procurement of commercial algae products.
(9) Insurance underwriting.
(10) Waivers of liability for seismic, flooding, and other natural
events.
(11) Revenue and royalty sharing for commercial production.
(d) If an algae production program is established pursuant to this
chapter, the secretary shall publish a rule establishing an Algae
Production Program and a process for the application, review, and
issuance of grants under subdivision (b) no later than May 1, 2013.
The secretary shall publish a final rule to implement recommendations
of the report described under subdivision (c) no later than July 1,
2013.
(e) An organization eligible for a grant under subdivision (b)
shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Be incorporated as a business authorized to do business in the
state.
(2) Provide matching funds for the proposed project.
(3) Certify use of state funds solely for the proposed project
sited with the state.
(4) Demonstrate the proposed project will have substantial
environmental and economic benefits to the state.
(5) Identify a customer or customers for the product to be
developed.
(6) Agree to a royalty or other revenue arrangement ensuring the
state's ongoing financial participation in commercially viable
operations in the Agricultural Algae Cultivation District.
SECTION 1. For the purposes of Sections 25741
and 26003 of the Public Resources Code, biomass includes algae.