BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 767
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          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

             AB 767 (John A. Perez) - As Introduced:  February 17, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Business, 
          Professions and Consumer Protection           Vote: 8-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes the State Capitol Sustainability Task 
          Force, consisting of the California State Senate, the California 
          State Assembly, the Office of the Governor, and the Office of 
          the Lieutenant Governor.  Specifically, this bill requires the 
          task force to:

          a)Coordinate, develop, and complete a state capitol 
            sustainability initiative for the State Capitol Building, the 
            Legislative Office Building, and the State Capitol park 
            grounds.

          b)Join the California Climate Action Registry to monitor and 
            reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

          c)Perform benchmarking and monitoring of building operations, 
            improve energy and water efficiency. 

          d)Increase overall fuel economy and fuel diversity of the 
            vehicle fleet.  

          e)Improve waste diversion practices, promote environmentally 
            preferable purchasing, and integrate sustainable practices.  

          f)Develop public education materials on sustainability and 
            partner with utility companies, water districts, labor 
            organizations, environmental groups, federal and local 
            government, and private industry to develop green 
            demonstration projects. 

          g)Finalize the Capitol Park Master Plan, including establishment 








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            of bicycle paths.  

          h)Seek grant funding and other opportunities to recognize these 
            efforts.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Minor absorbable costs to administer the work of the task 
            force.

          2)Cost pressures to the GF and various special funds for energy 
            efficiency and similar upgrades.  These costs would be wholly 
            dependent upon the number of projects that result from the 
            work of the task force, the scale of those projects, and 
            resolution of the complexities inherent to renovation and 
            modification of historic structures.  

            At the extreme, these projects may entail costs in the 
            hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially include 
            replacement of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning 
            systems; reinstallation of window glazing, casings and 
            insulation; reconfiguration or replacement of irrigation and 
            plumbing systems; and installation of solar or other on-site 
            renewable energy generation systems.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  According to the author, this bill increases the 
            opportunities for implementing more sustainable practices by 
            involving all of the tenants in the State Capitol building.  
            The author contends funding to implement this bill may be 
            available through the federally funded American Recovery and 
            Reinvestment Act.  In addition, the author believes the State 
            Capitol presents an opportunity to demonstrate sustainable 
            practices and environmental leadership to the hundreds of 
            thousands of people who visit the building. 

           2)Background.   The California State Capitol Building was 
            completed in 1874 and the East Annex in 1952.  In January 
            1982, after six years of work, major restoration of the 
            Capitol was completed.

            In 2001, the State and Consumer Services Agency, DGS, and SMUD 
            held the Greening of the State Capitol Project in Sacramento.  
            The Project identified numerous ways to "green" the Capitol, 








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            including increasing energy efficiency, instituting 
            environmentally preferable purchasing requirements, building 
            commissioning, use of electric vehicles, establishing on-site 
            power generation, installing water efficiency measures, and 
            improving recycling.  The Project also completed a landscape 
            assessment, which identified irrigation problems and methods 
            to compost green waste and use the composted material in 
            Capitol Park.  While some of these activities have been 
            undertaken, many improvements could still be made to improve 
            the overall environmental effect of the Capitol.  

           3)Related Legislation  .  This bill is similar to AB 2670 (John A. 
            Perez), 2010, which was vetoed by the governor, and AB 1327 
            (Bass), 2009, which was held by this committee.

           4)Support.   This bill is supported by Environmental Defense 
            Fund.
                
            5)Opposition  .  There is no formal opposition registered to this 
            bill.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081