Bill Text: CA AB1720 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Energy: long-duration energy storage: procurement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-08-03 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB1720 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB1720-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
July 27, 2020 |
Amended
IN
Senate
June 29, 2020 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 25, 2019 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Carrillo |
February 22, 2019 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
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 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. CEQA establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA.
This bill would establish specified procedures for the administrative and judicial review of the environmental review and approvals granted for a pumped hydroelectric energy storage project undertaken by the San Diego County Water Authority in the vicinity of the San Vicente Reservoir in the County of San Diego that has a storage capacity rate not to exceed 4,000 megawatthour per day. The bill would apply certain rules of court establishing procedures requiring actions or proceedings seeking judicial review pursuant to CEQA or the granting of project approvals, including any appeals therefrom, to be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court to an action or proceeding seeking judicial review of the lead agency’s action related to the project. The bill would, except as provided, prohibit the San Diego County Water Authority from prequalifying or shortlisting or awarding a contract to perform any
portion of the project. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)“Project” means a pumped hydroelectric energy storage project undertaken by the San Diego County Water Authority in the vicinity of the San Vicente Reservoir in the County of San Diego that has a storage capacity rate not to exceed 4,000 megawatthour per day.
(2)“Project labor agreement” has the same meaning as in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code.
(3)“Skilled and trained workforce” has the same meaning as provided in Chapter 2.9 (commencing with Section 2600) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the
Public Contract Code.
(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), an entity shall not be prequalified or shortlisted or awarded a contract by the San Diego County Water Authority to perform any portion of the project unless the entity provides an enforceable commitment to the San Diego County Water Authority that the entity and its subcontractors at every tier will use a skilled and trained workforce to perform all work on the project or contract that falls within an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades.
(2)Paragraph (1) does not apply if any of the following requirements are met:
(A)The San Diego County Water Authority has entered into a project labor agreement that will bind all contractors and subcontractors performing work on the project or contract to use a skilled and trained
workforce, and the entity agrees to be bound by that project labor agreement.
(B)The project or contract is being performed under the extension or renewal of a project labor agreement that was entered into by the San Diego County Water Authority before January 1, 2021.
(C)The entity has entered into a project labor agreement that will bind the entity and all of its subcontractors at every tier performing the project or contract to use a skilled and trained workforce.
(c)Rules 3.2220 to 3.2237, inclusive, of the California Rules of Court, as may be amended by the Judicial Council, shall apply to any action or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the certification or adoption of any environmental impact report for the project or the granting of any project approvals, to require the action
or proceeding, including any potential appeals therefrom, to be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court. On or before September 1, 2021, the Judicial Council shall amend the California Rules of Court, as necessary, to implement this subdivision.
(d)(1) The draft and final environmental impact report shall include a notice in not less than 12-point type stating the following:
THIS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT IS SUBJECT TO SECTION 21168.6.20 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE, WHICH PROVIDES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT THE LEAD AGENCY NEED NOT CONSIDER CERTAIN COMMENTS FILED AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, IF ANY, FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT. ANY JUDICIAL ACTION CHALLENGING THE CERTIFICATION OR ADOPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT OR THE APPROVAL OF THE
PROJECT DESCRIBED IN SECTION 21168.6.20 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE IS SUBJECT TO THE PROCEDURES SET FORTH IN THAT SECTION. A COPY OF SECTION 21168.6.20 OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE IS INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIX TO THIS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT.
(2)The draft environmental impact report and final environmental impact report shall contain, as an appendix, the full text of this section.
(3)Within 10 days after the release of the draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall conduct an informational workshop to inform the public of the key analyses and conclusions of that document.
(4)Within 10 days before the close of the public comment period, the lead agency shall hold a public hearing to receive testimony on the draft environmental impact report. A transcript
of the hearing shall be included as an appendix to the final environmental impact report.
(5)(A) Within five days following the close of the public comment period, a commenter on the draft environmental impact report may submit to the lead agency a written request for nonbinding mediation. The lead agency shall participate in nonbinding mediation with all commenters who submitted timely comments on the draft environmental impact report and who requested the mediation. Mediation conducted pursuant to this paragraph shall end no later than 35 days after the close of the public comment period.
(B)A request for mediation shall identify all areas of dispute raised in the comment submitted by the commenter that are to be mediated.
(C)The lead agency shall select one or more mediators who shall be retired judges or
recognized experts with at least five years’ of experience in land use and environmental law or science, or mediation. The lead agency shall bear the costs of mediation.
(D)A mediation session shall be conducted on each area of dispute with the parties requesting mediation on that area of dispute.
(E)The lead agency shall adopt, as a condition of approval, any measures agreed upon by the lead agency and any commenter who requested mediation. A commenter who agrees to a measure pursuant to this subparagraph shall not raise the issue addressed by that measure as a basis for an action or proceeding challenging the lead agency’s decision to certify or to adopt the environmental impact report or to grant project approval.
(6)The lead agency need not consider written comments submitted after the close of the public
comment period, unless those comments address any of the following:
(A)New issues raised in the response to comments by the lead agency.
(B)New information released by the lead agency subsequent to the release of the draft environmental impact report, such as new information set forth or embodied in a staff report, proposed permit, proposed resolution, ordinance, or similar documents.
(C)Changes made to the project after the close of the public comment period.
(D)Proposed conditions for approval, mitigation measures, or proposed findings required by Section 21081 or a proposed reporting or monitoring program required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 21081.6, if the lead agency releases those documents subsequent to the release of the
draft environmental impact report.
(E)New information that was not reasonably known and could not have been reasonably known during the public comment period.
(7)The lead agency shall file the notice required by subdivision (a) of Section 21152 within five days after the last initial project approval.
(e)(1) The lead agency shall prepare and certify the record of the proceedings in accordance with this subdivision and in accordance with Rule 3.1365 of the California Rules of Court.
(2)No later than three business days following the date of the release of the draft environmental impact report, the lead agency shall make available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format the draft environmental impact report and all other documents
submitted to or relied on by the lead agency in the preparation of the draft environmental impact report. A document prepared by the lead agency after the date of the release of the draft environmental impact report that is a part of the record of the proceedings shall be made available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within five business days after the document is prepared by the lead agency.
(3)Notwithstanding paragraph (2), documents submitted to or relied on by the lead agency that were not prepared specifically for the project and are copyright protected are not required to be made readily accessible in an electronic format. For those copyright-protected documents, the lead agency shall make an index of the documents available in an electronic format no later than the date of the release of the draft environmental impact report, or within five business days if the document is received or relied on by the lead
agency after the release of the draft environmental impact report. The index shall specify the libraries or lead agency offices in which hardcopies of the copyrighted materials are available for public review.
(4)The lead agency shall encourage written comments on the project to be submitted in a readily accessible electronic format, and shall make any such comments available to the public in a readily accessible electronic format within five days of their receipt.
(5)Within seven business days after the receipt of any comment that is not in an electronic format, the lead agency shall convert that comment into a readily accessible electronic format and make it available to the public in that format.
(6)The lead agency shall indicate in the record of proceedings comments received that were not considered by the
lead agency pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (d) and need not include the content of the comments as a part of the record of proceedings.
(7)Within five days after the filing of the notice required by subdivision (a) of Section 21152, the lead agency shall certify the record of proceedings for the approval or determination and shall provide an electronic copy of the record of proceedings to a party that has submitted a written request for a copy. The lead agency may charge and collect a reasonable fee from a party requesting a copy of the record of proceedings for the electronic copy, which shall not exceed the reasonable cost of reproducing that copy.
(8)Within 10 days after being served with a complaint or a petition for a writ of mandate, the lead agency shall lodge a copy of the certified record of proceedings with the superior court.
(9)Any dispute over the content of the record of proceedings shall be resolved by the superior court. Unless the superior court directs otherwise, a party disputing the content of the record of proceedings shall file a motion to augment the record of proceedings at the time it files its initial brief.
(10)The contents of the record of proceedings shall be as set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 21167.6.
(f)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 3.SEC. 2.
Section 2837.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:2837.5.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(ii)An energy storage system whose construction is not subject to a project labor agreement as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code.
(1)
(2)
(3)
SEC. 3.
Section 2837.6 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:2837.6.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:SEC. 4.
Section 2837.7 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:2837.7.
(a) For purposes of this section, “long-duration energy storage system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2837.5.SEC. 5.
Section 80001 is added to the Water Code, to read:80001.
The Legislature further finds and declares that the effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases is essential for the safety, health, and well-being of the people of California. A number of factors create significant challenges to the Public Utilities Commission’s ability to meet the state’s need for large scale long-duration energy storage projects with multiple beneficiary system-side grid benefits in the timeframe identified by the Public Utilities Commission’s modeling in the 2019–2020 integrated resource planning proceeding and warrant requiring the department to undertake this effort should the commission not do so.SEC. 6.
Section 80002.6 is added to the Water Code, to read:80002.6.
It is the intent of the Legislature that electrical capacity and output acquired by the department pursuant to Section 2837.5 of the Public Utilities Code shall provide energy storage services that will, among other things, facilitate the integration of eligible renewable resources, enhance grid balancing, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and minimize curtailment of generation by eligible renewable energy resources and that these services are for the benefit of the retail end-use customers being served by load-serving entities in light of the system-wide benefits that will be realized. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the department may sellSEC. 7.
Section 80010 of the Water Code is amended to read:80010.
As used in this division, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms have the following meanings:SEC. 8.
Section 80013 is added to the Water Code, to read:80013.
The department shall do those things necessary and authorized pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 80125) to enter into long-duration energy storage agreements for electrical capacity and output pursuant to Section 2837.5 of Public Utilities Code.SEC. 9.
Article 2 (commencing with Section 80125) is added to Chapter 2 of Division 27 of the Water Code, to read:Article 2. Long-Duration Energy Storage
80125.
Except as provided in Section 80125.2, the department, pursuant to Section 2837.5 of the Public Utilities Code, shall enter into long-duration energy storage agreements on terms, conditions, and for time periods as the department prescribes, subject to the good faith of each party, and at prices the department deems appropriate, taking into account all of the following:80125.2.
(a) For purposes of this article, costs incurred pursuant to an agreement to procure long-duration energy storage shall be just and reasonable if either of the following is true:(c)The department shall not enter into a long-duration energy storage services contract under this section if the associated long-duration energy storage project is subject to review under Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code unless it finds that the project developer has agreed to
acceptable mitigation measures to avoid significant impact on any tribal cultural resource, as defined in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 21074 of Public Resources Code. The
department shall not make this finding unless the California Native American Tribe, if any, that is culturally and traditionally affiliated with the geographic area in which the project is located concurs in this finding.
80125.4.
(a) A long-duration energy storage agreement made pursuant to this article may provide for assignment on any terms and conditions as the agreement may specify. The agreements shall allow assignment to a central procurement authority, if one is created, so long as the payment and security provisions are comparable to those provided in this article.(c)Any long-duration energy storage agreement made pursuant to this article shall require that the developer of the long-duration energy storage system use or require its contractors to use a multicraft project labor agreement, as that term is defined paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code, for construction and contracted out maintenance of the long-duration energy storage system facility. The project labor agreements shall conform to the industry standard agreements recently used for private large thermal powerplant projects, including side letters for high-voltage transmission and related work.