Bill Text: CA AB1087 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1087 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB1087-Amended.html
eligible entities for holistic community-driven critical community institutions for building upgrade projects that demonstrate community engagement in all phases, demonstrate multistakeholder partnerships, reflect the geographic diversity of the state, and are installed at eligible entities.
critical community institutions.
Bill Title: Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1087 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB1087-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 14, 2021 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1087
| Introduced by Assembly Member Chiu (Coauthor: Senator Becker) |
February 18, 2021 |
An act to amend Section 748.5 of, and to add Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 2845) to Part 2 of Division 1 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1087, as amended, Chiu.
Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The state board is authorized to include market-based compliance mechanisms to comply with the regulations. The implementing regulations adopted by the state board provide for the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical corporations pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the PUC to allocate 15% of the revenues received by the electrical corporations from that allocation of allowances for clean energy and energy efficiency projects established pursuant to statute that are administered by electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to direct the balance of the revenues to be credited directly to the residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporations, as specified.
This
Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1,
2022, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, except as provided, this bill would require the PUC to annually allocate 85% up to 5% of the revenues received by the electrical corporations from that allocation of allowances. The bill would exempt from those revenues those portions attributable to retail residential customers that opt out and participants in the California Alternate Rates for Energy
(CARE) program or the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program, as specified. The bill would create greenhouse gas allowances to the Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program, which would require each electrical corporation to award those allocated revenues as competitive grants to owners of critical community institutions and qualified housing for holistic community-driven institutions, meeting eligibility criteria established by the PUC, for building upgrade projects that demonstrate community engagement in all phases, demonstrate multistakeholder partnerships, reflect the geographic diversity of the state, and are installed on those properties.
at critical community institutions. The bill would require the PUC to determine whether each electrical corporation or a third party, including the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), will administer those competitive grants, and would require each administrator to provide technical assistance to customers. The bill would prohibit more than 10% of those allocated revenues from being used for administration, technical assistance, and outreach. The bill would require the PUC to establish requirements relating to hiring, wages, apprenticeship programs, and workforce standards for the program, and would require certain grant recipients to agree to specified tenant protections. program. The bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the
Energy Commission and the administrators, to ensure for greater cross-referral between eligible programs, as specified, share best practices, scale programming, establish a uniform application for multiple eligible programs, and provide comprehensive guidance and technical assistance for applicants to eligible programs.
Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because a violation of a PUC action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) It is the goal of the state to promote activities that eliminate climate pollution while ensuring the state’s disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations benefit from the state’s transition to a clean energy economy.
(b) Achieving community resilience in California demands that the state’s physical and social infrastructure be strengthened to cope with disruptions from wildfires, smoke waves, extreme heat, deenergization events, storms, and floods. These disruptions are occurring more frequently and with greater
severity due to climate change and repeated infrastructure failures, which is devastating
communities across California.
(c) Disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations disproportionately live and access services in older buildings, which contribute to higher energy burdens and poor health outcomes. High-performance well-insulated buildings can reduce these burdens and support residents’ health, comfort, and safety. This is especially important during shelter-in-place orders in a pandemic or during climate disasters, including heat waves, fires, and storms.
(d) Physical infrastructure that can advance community resilience includes investments in energy efficiency, solar installation and upgrades, energy storage technology, microgrid incentives, modernized heating, weatherization, cooling and air filtration equipment, electrical panel upgrades,
water heating and recycling systems, building decarbonization, and demand response strategies.
(e) Social infrastructure refers to the network of public and community-based services and facilities that secure the economic, health, cultural, and social well-being of the community, such as those provided through trusted community centers, schools, libraries, parks and recreation centers, places of worship, affordable housing, and mutual aid networks.
(f) The creation of community resilience hubs involves the integration of investments in physical and social infrastructure and offers opportunities for community members and residents to access economic and social support in addition to response and recovery services during disasters.
(g) It is the goal of the state to make clean, renewable, and resilient energy systems more accessible to disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations and to install those
systems in a manner that represents the geographic diversity of the state.
(h) There is a need to ensure that resilient energy systems and clean energy transitions lead to safe and high-quality jobs and improve access to career-track jobs, especially for populations that have been traditionally underrepresented, such as monolingual non-English speakers, formerly incarcerated people, and workers transitioning from the fossil fuel industry. A disorganized and unplanned transition from fossil fuels threatens the livelihoods of utility and skilled craft workers and other unionized workers in the energy industry. Discrete and directed policies should frame a just transition that involves industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships build skills for California’s “high road” employers that compete based on quality of product and
service achieved through innovation and investment in human capital, and can thus generate family-supporting jobs where workers have agency and voice. A goal of this measure is to provide high-quality jobs and opportunities as an integral part of delivering comprehensive building upgrades towards creating resilient communities.
SEC. 2.
Section 748.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:748.5.
(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (d), the commission shall require revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electric utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations to be credited directly to the residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers of the electrical corporation.(b) Not later than January 1, 2013, the commission shall require the adoption and implementation of a customer outreach plan for each electrical corporation, including, but not limited to, such measures
as notices in bills and through media outlets, for purposes of obtaining the maximum feasible public awareness of the crediting of greenhouse gas allowance revenues. Costs associated with the implementation of this plan are subject to recovery in rates pursuant to Section 454.
(c) The commission may allocate up to 15 percent of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, for clean energy and energy efficiency projects established pursuant to statute that are administered by the electrical corporation, or a qualified third-party administrator as approved by the commission, and that are not otherwise funded by
another funding source.
(d) (1) Except Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2022, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, except as specified in paragraph (2), the commission shall annually allocate 85
up to 5 percent of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, for the purposes eligible resiliency projects as described in Section 2847. The allocation pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed 5 percent, and the total combined allocations pursuant to this paragraph and subdivision (c) shall not exceed 20 percent of the total revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an electrical corporation as a result of
the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
(2) The commission shall not include in the allocation pursuant to paragraph (1) those portions of the revenues calculated pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (e), and any portion of the revenues
attributable to participants in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program, established continued pursuant to Section 739.1, or the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program, pursuant to Section 739.12.
(3) Those portions of the revenues excluded from the allocation pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be available to be credited directly to customers pursuant to subdivision (a).
(e)(1)The commission shall establish a process by which a residential retail customer of an electrical corporation may notify the customer’s electrical corporation of the customer’s intent that the electrical corporation not allocate pursuant to subdivision (d) the portion attributable to the customer of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by an
electrical corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to electrical distribution utilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 95890 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
(2)Upon an electrical corporation receiving notice pursuant to paragraph (1), the electrical corporation shall calculate the portion of the revenues attributable to the customer and share that calculation with the commission.
SEC. 3.
Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 2845) is added to Part 2 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:CHAPTER 8.5. Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program
2845.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:(a) “Administrator” means an administrator of the competitive grants awarded pursuant to Section 2847.
(b)“Area median income” means area median income as published by the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)
(b) “CARE program” means the California Alternate Rates for Energy program established continued pursuant to Section 739.1.
(d)
(c) “Critical community institutions” mean institutions necessary for providing vital community and individual functions,
including, but not limited to, schools, town halls, hospitals, health clinics, community centers, community nonprofit facilities providing essential services, libraries, homeless shelters, senior and youth centers, childcare facilities, food banks, parks and recreation sites, places of worship, community development corporations, and community land trusts. functions during states of emergency, as defined in Section 8558 of the Government Code, and natural disasters located in disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. The commission shall establish eligibility criteria for meeting the definition of this subdivision.
(e)
(d) “Disadvantaged community” means a community identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(f)“Eligible entity” means a critical community institution or qualified housing.
(g)“Just cause” has the same meaning as defined in either paragraph (1) of, or subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of, subdivision (b) of Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code.
(h)“Low-income residential
housing” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2852.
(i)
(e) “Program” means the Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program created pursuant to Section 2846.
(j)“Qualified housing” means either of the following:
(1)Low-income residential housing.
(2)A multifamily residential building of at least five rental housing units and meets one or more of the following requirements:
(A)The property provides low-income residential housing.
(B)The property is located in a disadvantaged community.
(C)At least 80 percent of the property’s households have
incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income.
(k)
(f) “Vulnerable community” has the same meaning as defined in Section 71340 of the Public Resources Code.
2846.
The Environmental Justice Community Resilience Hubs Program is hereby created, with the features and requirements described in this chapter.2847.
(a) (1) Upon the allocation of revenues pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 748.5, an electrical corporation shall cause those moneys to be awarded as competitive grants to owners of(2) An electrical corporation, or third-party administrator, may accept additional moneys from other sources for the purpose of funding the competitive grants.
(b) The commission shall establish eligibility criteria for building upgrades that meet the program goals to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants, and to enhance community resilience to climate change events in disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. The commission shall ensure eligible upgrades do not duplicate eligible projects and technologies under existing programs.
(b)
(c) (1) The commission shall determine whether each electrical corporation or a third party, including the Energy Commission, will administer the competitive grants awarded pursuant to this section.
(2) Not more than 10 percent of the funds allocated pursuant to this section shall be used for administration, technical assistance, and outreach.
(3) The administrator shall provide technical assistance to customers applying for the competitive grants and, to the extent possible, to customers applying for other
public benefit programs relating to energy, including those specified in Section 2848.
(4) The administrator shall consult with the commission pursuant to Section 2848 and implement, to the extent possible, the guidance, technical assistance, and streamlined processes made available through Section 2848.
(5) The administrator shall, to the extent possible,
shall ensure that the competitive grants are only awarded throughout the applicable electrical corporation’s service territory and within underfunded areas. territory.
(c)For a holistic community-driven building upgrade project installed at qualified housing, the commission shall require that the electricity generated by the project be primarily used to offset electricity usage by low-income tenants. The commission may enforce this requirement using covenants and restrictions in deeds.
(d) The commission shall establish local hiring requirements, wage requirements, requirements to partner with state-sanctioned apprenticeships programs, and strong workforce standards for the program in order to provide economic development benefits to disadvantaged communities.
(e)(1)Upon the owner of qualified housing being awarded a grant pursuant to this section, the owner shall operate the property as qualified housing for a period of not less than 10 years.
(2)In order to implement the requirement of paragraph (1), the Department of Housing and Community Development may require the owner to agree to one or more of the following tenant protections:
(A)Affordability contracts.
(B)Agreements to evict only for just cause.
(C)Department of Housing and Community Development preapproval of rent increases. The Department of Housing and Community Development shall only approve the rent increase if there is a reasonable justification, excluding the benefits of the holistic community-driven building upgrade project,
to do so.
(D)Restrictions on rent increases after the property is sold.
(3)The Department of Housing and Community Development may require the owner to annually submit rent rolls for inspection in order to certify compliance with this subdivision. The Department of Housing and Community Development shall make the submitted rent rolls available on its internet website.
2848.
(a) The commission, in consultation with the Energy Commission and administrators, shall ensure greater cross-referral between eligible programs, share best practices, scale programming, establish a uniform application for multiple eligible programs, and provide comprehensive guidance and technical assistance for applicants to eligible programs.(b) Eligible programs include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Home weatherization services pursuant to Section 2790.
(2) The Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar Roofs Program established
pursuant to Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 2870).
(3) The self-generation incentive program described in Section 379.6.
(4)The Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program created pursuant to Chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section 2831).
(5)
(4) The Disadvantaged Communities Single-Family Solar Homes Program, Disadvantaged Communities Green Tariff Program, and Community Solar Green Tariff Program adopted by
the commission in Decision 18-06-027 (June 21, 2018), Alternate Decision Adopting Alternatives to Promote Solare Solar Distributed Generation in Disadvantaged Communities.
(6)
(5) The microgrid incentive program adopted by the commission in Decision 21-01-018 (January 14, 2021), Decision Adopting Rates, Tariffs, and Rules Facilitating the Commercialization of Microgrids Pursuant to Senate Bill 1339 and Resiliency
Strategies. pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 8370) of Division 4.1.
(7)
(6) The Energy Savings Assistance Program established pursuant to Section 382.
(8)Programs implementing health protection measures, including air filtration, cooling access, personal protective equipment, medical supplies and screenings, and emergency resources, to mitigate the impacts of wildfires, extreme heat, and other climate change-induced harms.
(9)Programs to provide community emergency response training.
(10)
(7) Other programs identified by the commission that contribute to community resilience.
