BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1447
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1447 (Waldron and V. Manuel P�rez)
As Amended April 22, 2014
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 9-0 TRANSPORTATION 16-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Grove, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder, |
| |Garcia, Muratsuchi, | |Achadjian, Ammiano, |
| |Patterson, | |Bloom, Bonta, Buchanan, |
| |Skinner, Stone, Williams | |Daly, Frazier, Gatto, |
| | | |Holden, Logue, Nazarian, |
| | | |Patterson, Quirk-Silva, |
| | | |Waldron |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
Ayes:Gatto, Bigelow, Bocanegra,
Bradford, Ian Calderon, Campos,
Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez,
Holden, Jones, Linder, Pan, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, Weber
SUMMARY : Clarifies that eligible investments of moneys
appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) may
include traffic signal synchronization when the project is
designed and implemented to achieve cost-effective reductions in
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and includes specific reduction
targets and metrics to evaluate the project's effect.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB), pursuant to California
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 [AB 32 (N��ez), Chapter
488, Statutes of 2006], to adopt a statewide GHG emissions
limit equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and adopt regulations
to achieve maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
GHG emission reductions.
2)Authorizes ARB to permit the use of market-based compliance
mechanisms to comply with GHG reduction regulations, once
AB 1447
Page 2
specified conditions are met.
3)Establishes the GHGRF and requires all moneys, except for
fines and penalties, collected by ARB from the auction or sale
of allowances pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism
(i.e., the cap-and-trade program adopted by ARB under AB 32)
to be deposited in the GHGRF and available for appropriation
by the Legislature.
4)Establishes the GHGRF Investment Plan and Communities
Revitalization Act [AB 1532 (John A. P�rez), Chapter 807,
Statutes of 2012] to set procedures for the investment of GHG
allowance auction revenues. AB 1532 authorizes a range of GHG
reduction investments and establishes several additional
policy objectives.
5)Requires the investment plan to allocate: 1) a minimum of 25%
of the available moneys in the fund to projects that provide
benefits to identified disadvantaged communities; and, 2) a
minimum of 10% of the available moneys in the fund to projects
located within identified disadvantaged communities [SB 535
(De Leon), Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012].
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, no direct fiscal impact. Traffic signal
synchronization projects that reduce GHG emissions are eligible
for funding from the GHGRF.
COMMENTS :
The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port
Security Bond Act of 2006, approved by the voters as Proposition
1B on November 7, 2006, provided $250 million to fund traffic
signal synchronization or other technology-based improvements to
improve safety, operations and the effective capacity of local
streets and roads. SB 88 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee),
Chapter 181, a 2007 budget trailer bill, allocated $150 million
to the City of Los Angeles. The remaining $100 million was
allocated in much smaller amounts by the California
Transportation Commission to jurisdictions around the state.
The 2012-13 Budget Act authorized Department of Finance (DOF) to
allocate at least $500 million from cap-and-trade revenue, and
make commensurate reductions to General Fund (GF) expenditure
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authority, to support the regulatory purposes of AB 32. AB 1532
established a long-term spending strategy for moneys in the
GHGRF, including procedures for deposit and expenditure of
cap-and-trade auction revenues pursuant to an investment plan.
AB 1532 specifically authorizes funding for transportation
projects that reduce GHG emissions.
While DOF and ARB developed a three-year investment plan for the
auction proceeds pursuant to AB 1532, the 2013-14 Budget Act
provided that the first $500 million in auction revenue be
loaned to the GF and did not appropriate any funds pursuant to
the investment plan. For the 2014-15 Budget, the Governor has
proposed spending $850 million on a variety of programs,
including $250 million for High Speed Rail and approximately
$350 million for other transportation-related investments.
However, no funds have been proposed for traffic signal
synchronization.
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0003503