Bill Text: CA AB1496 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Methane emissions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 604, Statutes of 2015. [AB1496 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1496-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1496	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Thurmond
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Williams   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add  Article 10 (commencing with Section 42100)
to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of   Section 39731
to  the Health and Safety Code, relating to 
nonvehicular air pollution   greenhouse gases  .


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1496, as amended, Thurmond. Methane emissions. 
   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. Existing
law requires the state board to complete a comprehensive strategy to
reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, as defined, in
the state.  
   This bill would require the state board to take specified actions
and conduct specified analyses with respect to methane emissions.
 
   (1) Existing law generally vests the State Air Resources Board
with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air
pollution, and air pollution control and air quality management
districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air
pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. 

   This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the
air districts, to adopt a program to measure, monitor, regulate, and
reduce emissions of methane.  
   (2) Existing law makes a violation of any rule, regulation, or
order of the state board or an air district a misdemeanor. By
expanding the scope of a crime, this 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. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program:  yes   no  .


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

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) Methane is a gas that is emitted from both natural and human
sources. Its concentration in the global atmosphere has more than
doubled since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Methane is
a short-lived climate pollutant with a lifetime of only about 12
years when released into the atmosphere. It is an extremely potent
greenhouse gas, with 20 to 30 times the warming power of carbon
dioxide over a 100-year period and more than 80 times over a 20-year
period.  
   (b) The life-cycle greenhouse gas emission from the drilling,
production, and transportation of natural gas can result in methane
leaks, and there is a need for much better information on the
life-cycle methane emissions resulting from California's imports of
natural gas.  
   (c) Recent satellite studies have shown methane hot spots in the
San Joaquin Valley and higher levels of emissions than were
previously estimated from the principal sources of methane in
California. There is an urgent need to improve the monitoring and
measurement of methane emissions from the major sources in
California. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 39731 is added to the  
Health and Safety Code   , to read:  
   39731.  The state board shall do all of the following:
   (a) Undertake, in consultation with districts that monitor
methane, monitoring and measurements of high-emission methane hot
spots in the state using the best available scientific and technical
methods.
   (b) Carry out a life-cycle greenhouse gas emission analysis of
natural gas produced and imported into the state using the best
available scientific and technical methods.
   (c) Update greenhouse gas emission factors for electric generation
with natural gas and the use of natural gas as a transportation
fuel.
   (d) Review, in consultation with independent scientific experts,
the most recent available scientific data and reports on the
atmospheric reactivity of methane as a precursor to the formation of
photochemical oxidants and evaluate whether methane should be
reclassified as a contributor to the formation of air pollution.
 
  SECTION 1.    Article 10 (commencing with Section
42100) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of the Health
and Safety Code, to read:

      Article 10.  Methane


   42100.  No later than January 1, 2017, the state board, in
consultation with the districts, shall adopt a program to measure,
monitor, regulate, and reduce emissions of methane in order to
protect air quality and public health and reduce global warming.
 
  SEC. 2.    No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution. 
                   
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