BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 16
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared Huffman, Chair
SB 16 (Rubio) - As Amended: May 27, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 36-4
SUBJECT : Renewable Energy: Department of Fish and Game:
Expedited Permitting
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to
take steps to expedite the processing of renewable energy
permits. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires DFG within 30 days after it receives an application
for an incidental take permit under the California Endangered
Species Act (CESA) for an eligible renewable energy project,
as defined, to determine whether the application is complete
and notify the applicant. If the application is incomplete,
requires DFG to inform the applicant of the information that
is needed to complete the application. Gives DFG an
additional 15 days after receipt of the additional information
requested to determine if the application is complete, and if
the application is still incomplete, requires DFG to offer to
meet with the applicant.
2)Defines eligible project to include an eligible renewable
energy resource as defined in California's Renewables
Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program.
3)Requires DFG to approve or reject an incidental take permit
application for an eligible renewable energy project within 60
days or less from the date the application is deemed complete,
unless a longer period of time is agreed upon by DFG and the
applicant. Additionally requires DFG if it has not made a
determination within 45 days to offer to meet with the
applicant regarding the status of the application.
4)Requires DFG to approve or reject an incidental take permit
application for projects which have received a federal
incidental take statement or permit within 150 days after the
application is deemed complete.
5)Requires DFG by January 1, 2014 to provide an accounting to
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the Legislature on incidental take permit applications for
eligible renewable energy projects. Also requires DFG by
January 1, 2012 and annually thereafter until 2014, to report
to the Legislature on the extent to which it arranges for
entities other than itself to provide all or part of the
environmental review of eligible projects.
6)Provides that this bill shall become operative only if ABx1 13
of the 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session is enacted and
takes effect on or before January 1, 2012. Further provides
that this bill shall either become operative 30 days after the
effective date of
ABx1 13, or 30 days after the effective date of this bill,
whichever is later.
7)Contains an urgency clause stating that it is necessary this
bill become effective immediately in order to expedite
permitting of needed renewable energy projects as soon as
possible.
8)States legislative findings and declarations regarding the
importance of facilitating permitting of renewable energy
projects, including scientific evaluation by DFG of the
wildlife impacts of such projects and particularly on
threatened and endangered species, and the Legislature's
intent to evaluate the performance of DFG and consider
refunding a portion of permit fees if DFG fails to meet the
deadlines in this bill.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for the listing of threatened and endangered species
under CESA. Requires a project proponent to obtain an
incidental take permit for any project which would impact
threatened or endangered species.
2)Authorizes DFG, in consultation with other state and federal
agencies, to design and implement actions to protect, restore,
and enhance habitat that can be used to fully mitigate the
impacts of take of endangered or threatened species resulting
from solar thermal or photo voltaic power plants in the
planning area of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
(DRECP).
3)Authorizes developers of eligible renewable energy projects to
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voluntarily pay fees into the Renewable Energy Resources
Development Fee Trust Fund sufficient to complete mitigation
actions developed by DFG as a method of meeting their
mitigation requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, unknown costs covered by new revenues.
COMMENTS : This bill would require DFG to undertake expedited
review of applications for CESA incidental take permits for
renewable energy projects. The author asserts this bill is
needed because there is currently no timeframe under which DFG
must review an incidental take permit for renewable energy
permits, and applicants often must wait long periods of time
which results in project delays. Kern County in support of this
bill indicates that the county has approved and moved into the
construction phase for over 1000 megawatts of wind and solar
energy projects, and that the average time it took DFG to issue
incidental take permits was six months. Information provided by
the author indicates that it is anticipated DFG will receive
more than 300 applications for renewable energy projects this
year because of the increasing interest in renewable energy
projects and the investment and tax provisions contained in
state and federal law. However, DFG also needs significant
staff resources to handle the required review of these projects
within an expedited time frame.
This bill is contingent on enactment of ABx1 13 (M. Perez) of
the First Extraordinary Session which would authorize DFG to
collect fees to cover the costs of the expedited review required
by this bill. ABx1 13 would authorize DFG to collect a permit
application fee of $50,000, and if $50,000 is insufficient to
cover DFG's costs, would authorize DFG to collect additional
permit fees of up to $200,000. ABx1 13 also expands provisions
of law enacted last year which authorized DFG to design and
implement mitigation actions for solar thermal and photo-voltaic
power plants, and authorized developers of such projects to
voluntarily pay in lieu fees as an optional method of meeting
their mitigation requirements. ABx1 13, as amended on April 26,
2011, would extend those provisions to also apply to wind and
geothermal power plants in the DRECP.
As currently worded, ABx1 13 applies to a subset of renewable
energy projects, namely solar thermal, photo-voltaic, wind and
geothermal, whereas SB 16 applies to all renewable energy
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resources in the California RPS Program. However, staff is
informed that the intent of the author is to amend ABx1 13 to
also apply to all renewable resources in the RPS. It is
important that the definitions of eligible project in both bills
be consistent so that DFG's costs of expedited review are
covered.
The author of this bill notes that renewable energy industry
representatives indicate they are supportive of the fees
authorized in ABx1 13 if it is joined to the reforms in SB 16.
In addition to requiring that the permit review be expedited by
DFG, SB 16 also requires that DFG provide an accounting to the
Legislature by January 1, 2014, including but not limited to:
the number of incidental take applications received; the number
of permits approved, rejected or withdrawn; details regarding
the projects; the time that elapsed between when a permit was
deemed complete and when it was approved; the staff time spent
on each permit; and other information DFG determines to be
relevant.
Suggested Technical Amendments : Committee staff recommends that
the following technical feasibility amendments, which are
acceptable to the author, be adopted:
On page 4, line 35, strike "30 days" and insert " 45 days ".
On page 5, line 5, strike "15 business days" and insert " 30
days ".
On page 5, line 10: after "application" insert the department
shall inform the applicant in writing of what information and/or
supporting material is needed by the department and? ".
On page 5, line 11 and again on line 19, after "director" insert
" or his/her designee, reporting directly to the director. "
.
On page 5, line 25, strike "150 days after the application is
deemed complete" and insert " 30 days after the issuance of the
federal permit ."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Kern County (sponsor)
SB 16
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096