BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 16
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 16 (Rubio)
As Amended August 25, 2011
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE :36-4
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 10-0
APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Huffman, Bill Berryhill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Blumenfield, Campos, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Fong, Gatto, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, Hueso, | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Jones, Olsen | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
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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 45 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, unless otherwise
requested by the applicant. Gives DFG an additional 30 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 inform the
applicant in writing of the information needed and offer to
meet with the applicant, unless otherwise requested in writing
by the applicant.
2)Defines eligible project to include an eligible renewable
energy resource as defined in California's Renewables
Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program.
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3)Requires, except as otherwise provided, 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 to reject or
approve such an application within 45 days after deeming it
complete to offer to meet with the applicant to review the
status of the application.
4)Requires DFG, if it deems an application complete more than 60
days before the project is certified under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by an agency other than DFG,
to reject or approve the incidental take permit application
within 30 days after the CEQA certification, unless a longer
period is agreed to by DFG and the applicant. Requires DFG if
it is the lead agency under CEQA, to reject or approve the
incidental take permit application concurrently with the CEQA
certification.
5)Requires DFG to approve or reject an application for a
consistency determination for projects which have received a
federal incidental take statement or permit within 30 days
after the DFG director receives notice that a federal permit
has been issued.
6)Requires DFG by January 1, 2014, to provide an accounting to
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.
7)Provides that this bill shall become operative only if AB 13
X1 of the 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session is enacted.
Further provides that this bill shall become operative on the
effective date of AB 13 X1 of the 2011-12 First Extraordinary
Session.
8)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.
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9)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
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 Assembly Appropriations
Committee, ongoing costs to DFG of an unknown but presumably
substantial amount, possibly in the millions of dollars,
resulting from compressing DFG's permitting workload into a
truncated timeline. (Fish and Game Preservation Fund.) These
costs should be fully covered by DFG fees. Given current
restrictions on state hiring, it is not clear DFG would be able
to add personnel should it need to do so to complete the
workload within specified timeframes.
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
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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 1,000 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 AB 13 X1 (V. Manuel
P�rez) of the First Extraordinary Session which would authorize
DFG to collect fees to cover the costs of the expedited review
required by this bill. AB 13 X1 would authorize DFG to collect
a permit application fee of $25,000 to $75,000, depending on the
size of the project, and if the fee is insufficient to cover
DFG's costs, would authorize DFG to collect additional permit
fees of up to $200,000. AB 13 X1 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 of fees as an optional method of meeting
their mitigation requirements. AB 13 X1 would extend those
provisions to also apply to wind and geothermal power plants in
the DRECP. AB 13 X1 passed the Legislature and is pending
approval by the Governor.
The author of this bill notes that renewable energy industry
representatives indicate they are supportive of the fees
authorized in AB 13 X1 if it is joined to the reforms in this
bill. In addition to requiring that the permit review be
expedited by DFG, this bill 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.
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Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0002117