BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1801|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1801
Author: Campos (D)
Amended: 6/18/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/13/12
AYES: Wolk, Dutton, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hernandez, Kehoe,
La Malfa, Liu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/10/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Land use: fees
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill limits the total amount of fees
charged by a city or county for an applicant to install a
solar energy system to the actual costs borne by the local
agency in providing the service for which the fee is
charged, prohibits a city or county from calculating a fee
for a solar energy system by utilizing specified methods,
and requires a city or county to identify the individual
fees assessed on the invoice provided to the applicant.
ANALYSIS : California historically has promoted solar
energy projects. In 1978, the Legislature enacted the
Solar Rights Act to make it easier for people to install
solar energy systems. To further promote solar
installations, AB 1407 (Wolk), Chapter 290, Statutes of
2003, prohibited state-sponsored solar energy grants or
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loans to public entities that restrict solar energy
installations, and AB 2473 (Wolk), Chapter 789, Statutes of
2004, declared that the implementation of statewide
standards for solar energy systems is not a municipal
affair but a matter of statewide concern.
When a local agency charges fees for building permits,
those fees may not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of
providing the service for which the fee is charged. Fees
charged in excess of the estimated reasonable cost of
providing the services are taxes and must be approved by a
2/3-vote of the electors. Building permit fees generally
pay for the cost of the project plan examination and
on-site inspection.
This bill prohibits cities and counties from using the
valuation method to calculate their fees, such as charging
fees based on the solar energy system's valuation, the
value of the property, materials, labor, or any other
factor not directly associated with the cost to review and
inspect the installation of the solar energy system. This
bill requires cities and counties to separately identify
each application fee assessed on the invoice provided to
the installer. Last, this bill also restates existing law,
which prohibits cities and counties from charging fees to
install solar energy systems that exceed the cost of
providing the service for which the fees are charged.
Comments
"A solar energy system" is any solar collector, solar
energy device, or structural design feature of a building
whose primary purpose is to collect, store, or distribute
solar energy for heating, cooling, electric generation, or
water heating. Although exact procedures vary by location,
the approval procedure for a solar permit is similar to the
procedure for approving a building permit. Typically, the
solar installation company or customer submits an
electrical diagram and roof layout plan to the city or
county planning department. The installer or customer pays
a permit fee to get the plan approved in order to start the
installation project.
Most building permit fees are based on the "valuation
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method" created by the International Conference of Building
Officials (ICBO). The ICBO periodically publishes
industry-wide building standards and valuation tables for
different kinds of projects. The construction valuation
measures the complexity of the project and suggests a
reasonable permit fee. The other permit fee method, called
a "fixed method," calculates fees independent of the
project's valuation. It typically charges fees based on
the cost of the labor required to issue the permit and
inspect the project, and flat fees for certain
administrative processes, such as record storage or
planning department reviews.
Currently, each local authority that has jurisdiction over
solar installations determines its fee structure. Fees
vary widely by location, with the City of Lawndale charging
the highest fee at $1,471 for a 3 kilowatt system, while 31
cities have no permit fees at all. The average solar
permit fee across all cities and counties is $343. In
2009, the Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter, surveyed 250
Southern Californian cities and counties and found that 83%
of jurisdictions that used a valuation method charged above
the maximum reasonable recovery fee, while only 8% of
jurisdictions that used a fixed method charged above the
maximum reasonable recovery fee.
Related legislation . SB 1222 (Leno) tries to ease the
solar permitting process by placing a cap on permit fees
that cities and counties can charge for residential and
commercial solar rooftop installations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/13/12) (per Senate Governance and
Finance Committee analysis -- unable to reverify at time of
writing)
Solar Energy Industries Association
Renewable Energy Accountability Project
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/10/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
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Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries,
Olsen, V. Manuel P�rez
AGB:k 6/20/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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