Bill Text: CA AB1012 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Energy: renewable resources: endangered species:

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-09-01 - Read third time, passage refused. (Ayes 20. Noes 14. Page 5122.) [AB1012 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1012-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1012	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 20, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 17, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 25, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 5, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly  Member   V. Manuel
Perez   Members   V. Manuel Perez,  
Bradford,   and Skinner 
    (   Coauthors:  
Assembly Members   Fuentes,  
  Galgiani,    
and Nielsen   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

    An act to add Section 2099.10 to the Fish and Game Code,
relating to energy.   An act to amend Sections 2069 and
2099 of, and to add Section 2840 to, the Fish and Game Code, and to
amend Section 25524 of, to add Section 25619 to, and to add and
repeal Sections 21081.8 and 21097.5 of, the Public Resources Code,
relating to renewable energy resources, and making an appropriation
therefor. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1012, as amended,  V. Manuel Perez   V.
Manuel Perez  . Energy: renewable resources: endangered 
species.   species: environmental impact reports. 

   The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission (Energy Commission), and requires it to
certify sufficient sites and related facilities that are required to
provide a supply of electricity sufficient to accommodate projected
demand for power statewide. The act grants the Energy Commission the
exclusive authority to certify any stationary or floating electrical
generating facility using any source of thermal energy, with a
generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more, and any facilities
appurtenant thereto. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to
establish a process for certain applicants for certification of a
solar thermal powerplant that are proposed to be constructed in the
planning area for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, as
defined, that allows the applicant to elect to pay additional fees to
be used by the Energy Commission to contract with 3rd parties to
assist the Energy Commission staff in performing the analysis
otherwise performed by staff in determining whether or not to issue a
certification.  
   The 
    (1)     The  California Endangered
Species Act (CESA) requires the Fish and Game Commission to establish
a list of endangered species and a list of threatened species, and
requires the Department of Fish and Game to recommend, and the
commission to adopt, criteria for determining if a species is
endangered or threatened. CESA authorizes the department to authorize
the take of threatened species, endangered species, or candidate
species by permit if certain requirements are met. CESA authorizes
the department, in consultation with the  Energy Commission
  State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission (Energy Commission)  and, to the extent practicable,
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States
Bureau of Land Management, to design and implement actions to
protect, restore, or enhance the habitat of plants and wildlife that
can be used to fully mitigate the impacts of the take of endangered,
threatened, or candidate species (mitigation actions) resulting from
certain solar thermal and photovoltaic powerplants in the planning
area of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. 
   This bill additionally would authorize the department to design
and implement these mitigation actions for proposed wind and
geothermal powerplants in the planning area subject to the Desert
Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.  
   Existing 
    (2)     Existing  law requires the
department to collect, and requires the owner or developer of
 certain solar thermal powerplants or photovoltaic
powerplants   an eligible project  to pay, a
one-time permit application fee of $75,000. Existing law requires the
department to utilize the permit application fee to pay for all or a
portion of the department's cost of processing incidental take
permit applications pursuant to CESA. 
   This bill would require the department to collect, and an owner or
developer of an eligible project to pay, a one-time permit
application fee of $75,000 to the department, to pay for all or a
portion of the department's cost of processing incidental take permit
applications. The bill would define "eligible project" to mean an
eligible renewable energy resource as defined in the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard. If the permit application fee is
insufficient to complete permitting work due to the complexity of a
project or timeline delays, the bill would authorize the department
to collect an additional fee from the owner or developer to pay for
its actual costs, not to exceed an additional $75,000.  

   Existing law establishes the Renewable Energy Resources
Development Fee Trust Fund as a continuously appropriated fund in the
State Treasury to serve, and be managed, as an optional, voluntary
method for developers or owners of eligible projects, as defined, to
deposit fees sufficient to complete mitigation actions established by
the department and thereby meet their requirements pursuant to CESA
or the certification authority of the Energy Commission. The
definition of eligible projects for purposes of these provisions and
fees is limited to certain solar thermal powerplants and photovoltaic
powerplants proposed to be constructed in the planning area subject
to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.  
   This bill would expand the definition of eligible projects to
include wind and geothermal powerplants proposed to be constructed in
the planning area subject to the Desert Renewable Energy
Conservation Plan. By expanding the purposes for which moneys in this
continuously appropriated fund may be used, this bill would make an
appropriation.  
   (3) The Natural Community Conservation Planning Act authorizes the
Department of Fish and Game to enter into agreements with any person
or public entity for the purpose of preparing a natural community
conservation plan, in cooperation with a local agency that has land
use permit authority over the activities proposed to be addressed in
the plan, to provide comprehensive management and conservation of
multiple wildlife species.  
   This bill would require the department to enter into one or more
planning agreements with appropriate plan participants, including,
but not limited to, the Energy Commission, one or more counties
within the San Joaquin Valley, as defined, and other persons or
public entities for the purpose of preparing one or more natural
community conservation plans, if certain conditions are met with
regard to the plan and the parties to the planning agreement. 

   (4) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a
lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and
certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a
project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a
significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative
declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect.
CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative
declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the
environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that
effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as
revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. 

   This bill, until January 1, 2014, would not require an EIR to
analyze, or mitigate, where feasible, the environmental effect for an
eligible renewable energy resource, including greenhouse gas
emissions, not found to be significant under CEQA.  
   The bill would authorize an applicant for a project to construct
an eligible renewable energy resource that has an approved
electricity purchase agreement to provide information to the lead
agency regarding the environmental benefits of the project when
comments may be received by the lead agency on a draft environmental
impact report or negative declaration. The bill would authorize the
lead agency to consider this information when making a finding under
CEQA. The bill would repeal this exemption on January 1, 2014. 

   (5) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission (Energy Commission), and requires it to
certify sufficient sites and related facilities that are required to
provide a supply of electricity sufficient to accommodate projected
demand for power statewide. The act grants the Energy Commission the
exclusive authority to certify any stationary or floating electrical
generating facility using any source of thermal energy, with a
generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more, and any facilities
appurtenant thereto.  
   Existing law requires the Energy Commission to establish a process
for certain applicants for certification of a solar thermal
powerplant that is proposed to be constructed in the planning area
subject to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, as defined,
that allows the applicant to elect to pay additional fees to be used
by the Energy Commission to contract with 3rd parties to assist the
Energy Commission staff in performing the analysis otherwise
performed by staff in determining whether or not to issue a
certification.  
   This bill would expand this process to any eligible renewable
energy resource.  
   The bill would require the Energy Commission , upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to provide $7,000,000 in grants to qualified
counties for the development or revision of rules and policies,
including general plan elements, zoning ordinances, and a natural
community conservation plan as a plan participant, to facilitate the
development of eligible renewable energy resources, and their
associated electric transmission facilities, on disturbed lands, as
defined. The bill would require a general plan element or zoning
ordinance that is adopted or revised pursuant to a grant to be
completed within 2 years of receipt of the grant and be consistent
with the conservation strategies of any natural community
conservation plan, if one had been approved or is under development
in the county.  
   (6) This bill would provide that it would be operative only if SB
722 of the 2009-10 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective
on or before January 1, 2011. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation:  no   yes
 . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 2069 of the   Fish and
Game Code   is amended to read: 
   2069.  (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
   (1) "Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan" means the
completed conservation plan in the Mojave and Colorado Desert regions
adopted pursuant to the Natural Community Conservation Planning Act
(Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800)), and covers the
geographical area described in Section 4 of, and depicted in Exhibit
A to, the "Draft Planning Agreement by and among California
Department of Fish and Game, California Energy Commission, United
States Bureau of Land Management, and United States Fish and Wildlife
Service for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan," document
REAT-1000-2009-034, dated October 2009.
   (2) "Energy Commission" means the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission.
   (b) The department, in consultation with the Energy Commission
and, to the extent practicable, the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service and the United States Bureau of Land Management, may design
and implement actions, including the purchase of land and
conservation easements, to protect, restore, or enhance the habitat
of plants and wildlife that can be used to fully mitigate the impacts
of the take of endangered species, threatened species, or candidate
species, for purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section
2081 and Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15 of
the Public Resources Code, resulting from solar thermal  and
  ,  photovoltaic  , wind, and geothermal 
powerplants in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
planning area that meet each of the following requirements:
   (1) Either the Energy Commission determines that the application
for certification was complete by February 1, 2010, or the local
government in which the project is located has determined the project
permit application is complete or has issued a notice of preparation
of an environmental impact statement pursuant to Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code by
February 1, 2010.
   (2) The developer or owner of the proposed powerplant or
generation facility has applied for, and would qualify for, funding
under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Public Law 111-5). For purposes of this  subparagraph
  paragraph  , "funding" means a loan guarantee
made pursuant to Section 406 of the act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16516) or a
grant for specified energy property in lieu of a tax credit provided
pursuant to Section 1603 of Division B of the act, which division is
titled the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009.
   (c) A mitigation action may only be used for the mitigation
purposes described in subdivision (b) if it meets one of the
following conditions:
   (1) The department has implemented the mitigation action and
determined that the action has resulted in the protection,
restoration, or enhancement of the habitat of one or more species
that are proposed to be covered by the Desert Renewable Energy
Conservation Plan, and that are located in the planning area, and,
based upon that determination, can be used, for purposes of paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 2081, to fully mitigate the
impacts of the take of the species from one or more projects
identified in subdivision (b).
   (2) The mitigation action is included in an interim mitigation
strategy for projects identified in subdivision (b). An interim
mitigation strategy pursuant to this paragraph shall be developed by
the department, in consultation with the Energy Commission and, to
the extent practicable, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
and the United States Bureau of Land Management, and shall include
all of the following:
   (A) A description of specific mitigation areas and specific
actions on public or private land within the Desert Renewable Energy
Conservation Plan planning area that are to be implemented, including
a focus on habitat preservation, while also including enhancement or
restoration actions that will do all of the following:
   (i) Contribute to the conservation of each candidate species,
threatened species, or endangered species for which a permit is
issued.
   (ii) Adopt a regional planning perspective that provides a
foundation for, or that will complement, any conservation strategy to
be developed for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
   (iii) Implement mitigation actions within a reasonable period of
time relative to the impact to the affected candidate species,
threatened species, or endangered species, including, where feasible,
advance mitigation. For purposes of this clause, "advance mitigation"
means mitigation implemented before, and in anticipation of, future
impacts to natural resources.
   (iv) Include a description of the species that would be benefited
by each mitigation action and how it would be benefited.
   (B) A cost estimate for each action, whether on public or private
land, using total cost accounting, including, as applicable, land
acquisition costs, conservation easement costs, monitoring costs,
transaction costs, restoration costs, the amount of a nonwasting
endowment account for land management or easement stewardship costs
by the department or other management entity, and administrative
costs.
   (d) The interim mitigation strategy shall be based on best
available science and shall be reviewed by the Desert Renewable
Energy Conservation Plan independent science advisors. The department
shall seek and consider comments from the Desert Renewable Energy
Conservation Plan independent science advisors in the design and
location of each mitigation action implemented pursuant to this
section. If the department elects to not incorporate comments of the
independent science advisors into mitigation actions, the department
shall explain the reasons for that decision in writing.
   (e) The interim mitigation strategy shall be completed by the
department no later than 60 days following the operative date of the
act adding this section.
   (f) (1)  Nothing in this   This  section
 shall   does not  modify the requirements
of Section 2081, including the requirement to  , where
feasible,  avoid and minimize impacts,  where feasible,
o   r  the requirements of Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000) of, or  the requirements of  Chapter
6 (commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15 of, the Public
Resources Code, or affect the existing authority of the department to
authorize mitigation actions to comply with this chapter.
   (2) With respect to the Energy Commission, in the case of an
applicant seeking certification for a solar thermal power plant
pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15
of the Public Resources Code, or a lead agency, as defined in Section
21067 of the Public Resources Code, in the case of an applicant
seeking approval of a photovoltaic  , wind, or geothermal 
powerplant  ,  the sole effect of a mitigation
action described in subdivision (c), and paid for through the deposit
of fees as described in Section 2099, is to relieve an applicant of
the obligation to directly take actions  which  
that  are taken instead by the department or its contractor or
designee pursuant to subdivision (b) to meet the applicant's
obligations with respect to the powerplant's impacts to species and
habitat. The mitigation action and deposit of fees shall not relieve
the applicant of any other obligation, or the Energy Commission or
the lead agency of any of its existing requirements of Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of, or the requirements of Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15 of, the Public
Resources Code to analyze, avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts to
species and habitat, or make the findings required by those statutes.

   (g) The mitigation actions implemented pursuant to this section
shall be incorporated into the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation
Plan upon the finalization of the plan, to the extent the mitigation
actions are consistent with the plan's conservation strategy.
   SEC. 2.    Section 2099 of the   Fish and
Game Code   is amended to read: 
   2099.  (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
   (1) "Eligible project" means a solar thermal powerplant 
or   ,  photovoltaic powerplant  , wind
powerplant, or geothermal powerplant  meeting the requirements
of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 2069.
   (2) "Energy Commission" means the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission.
   (b) (1) The Renewable Energy Resources Development Fee Trust Fund
is hereby established in the State Treasury. The department shall
collect a fee from the owner or developer of an eligible project that
elects to use mitigation actions developed and approved by the
department pursuant to Section 2069, and all moneys received for
purposes of mitigation actions pursuant to Section 2069 shall be
deposited in the fund and shall be held in trust and be expended
solely for the purposes of, and in conformity with, that section,
applicable permit or certification requirements for eligible
projects, and any contractual agreement between the Energy Commission
or department and the owner or developer of an eligible project. The
department may contract with, or award grants to, third parties to
implement mitigation actions in conformity with Section 2069 and this
section.
   (2) Upon direction by the department, the Controller shall create
any accounts or subaccounts within the fund that the department
determines are necessary or convenient to facilitate management of
the fund.
   (3) The fund shall serve, and be managed, as an optional,
voluntary method for developers or owners of eligible projects to
deposit fees to complete mitigation actions meeting the conditions of
subdivision (c) of Section 2069 and for the purpose of meeting the
requirements of this chapter or the requirements of Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15 of the Public
Resources Code. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code,
the money in the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department, without regard to fiscal years, for the purposes
enumerated in this section and Section 2069. An expenditure shall not
be made from the fund except as authorized by the department.
   (4) The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is hereby
transferred, as a loan, from the Renewable Resource Trust Fund to the
fund. This loan shall be repaid from the fund to the Renewable
Resource Trust Fund no later than December 31, 2012. The department
shall use these funds, pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c)
of Section 2069, to purchase mitigation lands or conservation
easements, and to cover related restoration, monitoring, and
transaction costs incurred in advance of the receipt of fees pursuant
to paragraph (5) and to cover the department's administrative costs
for the program.
   (5) A developer or owner of an eligible project that elects to use
mitigation actions developed and authorized by the department
pursuant to Section 2069 shall remit fees to the department for
deposit into the fund for those mitigation actions in an amount that
reflects the determination by the Energy Commission, with respect to
a solar thermal powerplant, or the department, with respect to a
solar photovoltaic powerplant,  wind powerplant, or geothermal
powerplant,  of the costs attributable to the mitigation actions
that meet the standards of this chapter. The amount of fees to be
paid by a developer or owner of an eligible project to meet the
standards of this chapter shall be calculated on a per acre basis,
using total cost accounting, and shall include, as applicable, land
acquisition or conservation easement costs, monitoring costs,
restoration costs, transaction costs, the amount of a nonwasting
endowment account for land management or easement stewardship costs
by the department or other management entity, and administrative
costs and funds sufficient to repay any expenditure of state funds
made pursuant to paragraph (4). To ensure the funds deposited
pursuant to this section are sufficient to meet the standards of this
chapter, the project developer or owner, in addition to payment of
those funds, shall provide security, in a form and amount, not to
exceed 5 percent of the amount of the funds, excluding any portion of
the funds to be used for a nonwasting endowment, to be determined by
the Energy Commission, with respect to a solar thermal powerplant,
or to be determined by the department, with respect to a solar
photovoltaic powerplant  , wind powerplant, or geothermal
powerplant  .
   (c) The department shall monitor the implementation of the
mitigation actions and the progress of the construction of the
eligible projects. The department shall report all deposits, and the
source of those deposits, on its Internet Web site. The department
shall also report all expenditures from the fund on its Internet Web
site and identify the mitigation activities or programs that each
expenditure funded and its relationship to the permitted project. The
Energy Commission, with respect to a solar thermal powerplant, and
the department, with respect to a solar photovoltaic powerplant, 
wind powerplant, or geothermal powerplant,  shall ensure that
moneys paid pursuant to this section are used only for purposes of
satisfying the standards of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 2081. Where moneys are used to fund mitigation actions,
including the acquisition of lands or conservation easements, or the
restoration of lands, that use shall be in addition to, and not
duplicative of, mitigation obtained through any other means.
   (d) The department and the Energy Commission shall not allow any
use of the interim mitigation strategy subsequent to a determination
by the department that the time and extent of mitigation actions are
not being implemented in rough proportion to the impacts of those
projects. The department shall reinstitute the use of the interim
mitigation strategy when the department determines the rough
proportionality between mitigation actions and impacts of eligible
projects has been reestablished by the completion of additional
mitigation actions.
   SEC. 3.    Section 2840 is added to the  
Fish and Game Code   , to read:  
   2840.  (a) Consistent with this chapter and to the extent
practicable, the department shall enter into one or more planning
agreements with appropriate plan participants, including, but not
limited to, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission (Energy Commission), one or more counties within the San
Joaquin Valley, and other persons or public entities for the purpose
of preparing one or more natural community conservation plans, if all
of the following conditions are met:
   (1) The plan meets all the requirements of this chapter and
appropriate financial assurances for adequate funding for those
plans, as required by this chapter, is provided to the department.
   (2) The parties to the planning agreement include both of the
following:
   (A) One or more local agencies with land use permit authority
sufficient to allow for comprehensive management and conservation of
multiple wildlife species.
   (B) One or more parties that are renewable energy developers
proposing to construct, in total, at least 2,000 megawatts of
eligible renewable energy resources, as defined in the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard (Article 16 (commencing with Section
399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code).
   (b) "San Joaquin Valley," for purposes of this section, means
lands within the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San
Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare, as determined by each county in
consultation with the department. 
   SEC. 4.    Section 21081.8 is added to the  
Public Resources Code   , to read:  
   21081.8.  (a) If an environmental effect for an eligible renewable
energy resource, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 399.12 of
the Public Utilities Code, is found not to be significant pursuant to
this division, the environmental impact report for the resource
shall not be required to analyze, or mitigate where feasible, that
environmental effect, including, but not limited to, greenhouse gas
emissions.
   (b) An environmental impact report for an eligible renewable
resource shall contain a statement briefly indication the reasons the
potentially significant effects of a project were determined not to
be significant and sere therefore not discussed in detail in the
environmental impact report.
   (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date. 
   SEC. 5.    Section 21097.6 is added to the  
Public Resources Code   , to read:  
   21097.6.  (a) An applicant for a project to construct an eligible
renewable energy resource, as defined in the California Renewables
Portfolio Standard (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of
Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code),
that has an electricity purchase agreement that has been approved by
the Public Utilities Commission or a local publicly owned utility may
provide information to the lead agency regarding the environmental
benefits of the project when comments may be received by the lead
agency on a draft environmental impact report or negative
declaration, as specified in the notice required pursuant to Section
21092. The lead agency, in making a finding pursuant to Section
21081, may consider information submitted pursuant to this division.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this section does
not interfere with or prevent the existing authority of an agency or
department to carry out its programs, projects, or responsibilities
to identify, review, approve, deny, or implement any mitigation
requirements, and this section shall not be construed as a limitation
on mitigation requirements for the project, or a limitation on
compliance with requirements under this division or any other
provision of law.
   (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date. 
   SEC. 6.    Section 25524 of the   Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   25524.  (a) "Qualified applicant"  for purposes of this
section  means an applicant for certification of  a
solar thermal powerplant that meets each of the following
requirements:  
   (1) The commission has determined that the application for
certification was completed by February 1, 2010.  
   (2) The solar thermal powerplant is proposed to be constructed in
the planning area for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan,
as defined in Section 2069 of the Fish and Game Code. 
    (3)     The developer
or owner of the proposed solar thermal powerplant has applied for,
and would qualify for funding under the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). For purposes of this
paragraph, "funding" includes a loan guarantee made pursuant to
Section 406 of the act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16516) or a grant for
specified energy property in lieu of a tax credit provided pursuant
to Section 1603 of Division B of the act, which division is titled
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009. 
 an eligible renewable energy resource as defined in the
California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16
(commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division
1 of the Public Utilities Code). 
   (b) The commission shall establish a process to allow a qualified
applicant to elect to pay additional fees to be used by the
commission to contract with a third party, or more than one third
party, to assist commission staff in performing the analysis
otherwise performed by commission staff in determining whether or not
to issue a certification. The commission shall retain discretion as
to when this option will be offered to a qualified applicant.
   (c) The amount of the fees charged by the commission pursuant to
this section shall be conditioned upon the qualified applicant
agreeing to that amount and electing to proceed with the retention of
the third party or parties pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (d) All fees paid by a qualified applicant shall be used
exclusively for analysis of that applicant's application for
certification.
   SEC. 7.    Section 25619 is added to the  
Public Resources Code   , to read:  
   25619.  (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
   (1) "Disturbed lands" means lands that have been mechanically
disturbed, including lands that have been converted from native
vegetation through plowing, bulldozing, or other mechanical means in
support of activities that change the land cover, including, but not
limited to, agriculture, mining, and clearance for development
purposes. These lands, based on appropriate biological surveys, may
also have diminished value as habitat or mitigation purposes for
endangered, threatened, candidate, and other sensitive species.
   (2) "Qualified counties" means the Counties of Fresno, Imperial,
Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Riverside, San
Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare.
   (b)  The commission shall provide, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, up to seven million dollars ($7,000,000) in grants to
qualified counties for the development or revision of rules and
policies, including general plan elements, zoning ordinances, and a
natural community conservation plan as a plan participant, that
facilitate the development of eligible renewable energy resources,
and their associated electric transmission facilities, on disturbed
lands. A general plan element or zoning ordinance that is adopted or
revised pursuant to this section shall be completed within two years
of receipt of the grant and shall be consistent with the conservation
strategies of any natural community conservation plan, if one had
been approved or is under development in the county, pursuant to the
Natural Community Conservation Planning Act (Chapter 10 (commencing
with Section 2800) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code). 
   SEC. 8.    This bill shall become operative only if
Senate Bill 722 is enacted and becomes effective on or before January
1, 2011.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 2099.10 is added to the Fish
and Game Code, to read:
   2099.10.  (a) The department shall collect a permit application
fee from the owner or developer of an eligible project to support its
permitting of eligible projects pursuant to this chapter. The owner
or developer of a proposed eligible project shall pay a one-time
permit application fee of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) to
the department. For purposes of this section, an "eligible project"
means an eligible renewable energy resource as defined in the
California Renewables Portfolio Standard (Article 16 (commencing with
Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code).
   (b) The department shall collect the permit application fee, at
the time the owner or developer submits its permit application or,
for eligible projects for which an application has already been
submitted, within 30 days of the operative date of this section. The
department shall utilize the permit application fee to pay for all or
a portion of the department's cost of processing incidental take
permit applications pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2081 and
Section 2080.1. If the permit application fee is insufficient to
complete permitting work due to the complexity of a project or
timeline delays, the department may collect an additional fee from
the owner or developer to pay for its actual costs, not to exceed an
additional seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000).
   (c) For an eligible project seeking site certification, pursuant
to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 25500) of Division 1 of the
Public Resources Code, by the Energy Commission, the owner or
developer shall pay the permit application fee directly to the
department. The permit application fee paid to the department shall
fund the department's participation in the Energy Commission's site
certification process as the state's trustee for natural resources.
The permit application fee shall be in addition to any application
fees collected by the Energy Commission. The permit application fee
shall be due and payable within 30 days of the operative date of this
section. As used in this subdivision, "Energy Commission" has the
same meaning as defined in Section 2099.
   (d) The permit application fees paid pursuant to this section
shall be proportional to the cost incurred by the department, and
shall be annually reviewed and adjustments recommended to the
Legislature in an amount necessary to pay the full costs of
department programs as specified. The fees shall be deposited in the
Fish and Game
Preservation Fund, and shall be eligible for expenditure by the
department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2081 and Section
2080.1.
   (e) If an owner or developer withdraws a project within 30 days
after paying the permit application fee, the department shall refund
any unused portion of the fee to the owner or developer.