BILL NUMBER: AB 1073	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  14
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 23, 2012
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  MAY 23, 2012
	PASSED THE SENATE  MARCH 26, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 10, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  FEBRUARY 23, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 12, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 16, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fuentes

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to amend Section 25500.1 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to energy, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1073, Fuentes. Energy: solar thermal powerplants: conversion to
solar photovoltaic technology.
   (1) Existing law vests the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission with the exclusive jurisdiction to certify
thermal powerplants. Under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), the certification of a thermal powerplant is a certified
regulatory program and is therefore exempt from certain requirements
of CEQA. A thermal powerplant does not include a solar photovoltaic
electrical generating facility. However, existing law provides that
the thermal powerplant certification process applies to owners of
specified proposed solar thermal powerplants who are proposing to
convert the proposed facility from solar thermal technology to solar
photovoltaic technology if the proposed solar thermal powerplant
project has been certified by the commission. Existing law provides
that the thermal powerplant certification process does not apply to
the proposed conversion if the certification of the proposed solar
thermal powerplant was timely challenged.
   This bill would provide that the thermal powerplant certification
process would apply to a proposed conversion of a solar thermal
powerplant that was timely challenged if the challenge was
subsequently dismissed by the California Supreme Court.
   (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 25500.1 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   25500.1.  (a) The owner of a proposed solar thermal powerplant,
for which an application for certification was filed with the
commission after August 15, 2007, and certified by the commission
and, of a project on federal land, for which a record of decision was
issued by the Department of the Interior or the Bureau of Land
Management before September 1, 2011, may petition the commission not
later than June 30, 2012, to review an amendment to the facility's
certificate to convert the facility, in whole or in part, from solar
thermal technology to photovoltaic technology, without the need to
file an entirely new application for certification or notice of
intent pursuant to Section 25502, provided that the commission
prepares supplemental environmental review documentation, provides
for public notice and comment on the supplemental environmental
review, and holds at least one public hearing on the proposal.
   (b) The Department of Fish and Game and the State Water Resources
Board shall provide comments to the commission on the water resource
and water quality effects of the proposed powerplants. The commission
shall incorporate all feasible mitigation measures identified by the
department and the board.
   (c) For a facility specified in subdivision (a), this chapter
shall continue to apply, notwithstanding that the facility or part of
the facility would otherwise be excluded pursuant to Section 25120.
   (d) The commission shall process a petition submitted under this
section pursuant to Section 1769 of Title 20 of the California Code
of Regulations.
   (e) This section shall not apply to any project if the project's
certificate was timely challenged pursuant to Section 25531, unless
the challenge was subsequently dismissed by the California Supreme
Court.
   (f) This section does not abrogate a party's right to challenge a
project's certification pursuant to Section 25531 or any other
provision of law.
  SEC. 2.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   To expedite the construction of a proposed facility that is
converting from solar thermal to solar photovoltaic technology for
the protection of public health and the environment, it is necessary
for this measure to take effect immediately.