Bill Text: CA AB2878 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Program.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2878 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB2878-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 24, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2878

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Introduced by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry

February 18, 2022

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An act to amend Section 21000 of Sections 38535, 38561, and 39607.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and to add Section 25302.3 to, and to add Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 4139) to Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality. public resources.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2878, as amended, Aguiar-Curry. California Environmental Quality Act. Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Program.

(1) Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), and requires CalFire to be responsible for, among other things, fire protection and prevention, as provided. Existing law establishes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection in CalFire to represent the state’s interest in the acquisition and management of state forests and requires the board to maintain an adequate forest policy. The former Governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr., issued Executive Order No. B-52-18 that, among other things, established a Forest Management Task Force, now known as the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, involving specified state agencies to create the action plan for wildfire and forest resilience. The executive order also established a Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation, to be located within the state board.

This bill would establish the Forest Waste Biomass Utilization Program to be administered by the state board’s Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation to develop an implementation plan to meet the goals and recommendations of specified statewide forest management plans and to develop a workforce training program to complement workforce needs associated with the implementation plan. The bill would require the state board, in coordination with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to submit an annual report to the Legislature, beginning January 1, 2024, on the progress made on implementing the implementation plan.

This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in furtherance of the program, to facilitate the inclusion of recommendations for forest biomass waste utilization in state climate adaptation plans. The bill would require the agency, in coordination with specified state entities, to prepare and publish, on or before July 1, 2024, and at least once every 5 years thereafter, updates to certain plans related to forests.

(2) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the commission to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, defined as including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieves 44% of retail sales by December 31, 2024, 52% by December 31, 2027, and 60% by December 31, 2030.

This bill would require the commission, on or before an unspecified date, to adopt measures that facilitate the use of forest biomass waste to support rural microgrids and provide other grid support. The bill would also require the commission, on or before an unspecified date, to develop and adopt a plan requiring substation and other power infrastructure to be updated in forested regions to reduce the risk of wildfires and support the integration of biomass power. The bill would require the commission, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, on or before an unspecified date, to adopt and periodically update, pipeline biogas standards for biomethane generated from noncombustion thermal conversion of forest biomass waste. The bill would require the commission to provide incentives for electricity and pipeline interconnection for projects that use forest biomass waste removed for wildfire mitigation or forest restoration projects.

The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires every electrical corporation to file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity generated by an electric generation facility, as defined. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff, which, in part, requires the commission to direct the electrical corporations, collectively, to procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. Pursuant to this requirement, the commission has established and revised the Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff (BioMAT) program, which is extended through 2025.

This bill would require the commission to extend the BioMAT program to 2030. The bill would also require the commission to increase the megawatt requirement established for forest biomass in the BioMAT program.

Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

Because a violation of a commission action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board (state air board) as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act requires the state air board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as specified, and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The act requires the state air board to prepare, approve, and update at least once every 5 years, beginning on January 1, 2009, a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from sources or categories of sources of greenhouse gases under the act. The act also requires the state air board, in consultation with CalFire, to develop a report on or before December 31, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter, that assesses greenhouse gas emissions associated with wildfire and forest management activities. Existing law requires the state air board to prepare, adopt, and update an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from all sources located in the state, as specified.

This bill would require the state air board to incorporate the recommendations from a specified plan relating to forests into the next update of the scoping plan. The bill would also require the state air board to include, as part of the 2025 update to the greenhouse gas emissions report, an inventory of short-lived climate pollutants and an assessment of anthropogenic black carbon emissions associated with wildfire, controlled burns, and pile and burn of forest biomass waste. The bill would require the state air board to include the updates to the greenhouse gas emissions report and short-lived climate pollutants inventory into subsequent updates of the greenhouse gas emissions inventory.

(4) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission). Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with specified state and federal agencies and at least every 2 years, to conduct assessments and forecasts of all aspects of energy industry supply, production, transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with specified entities, to adopt a biennial integrated energy policy report containing certain information.

This bill would require the Energy Commission to include, as part of the 2023 edition of the integrated policy report, and each report adopted biennially thereafter, an assessment of the potential for forest biomass waste energy to provide firm renewable power.

(5) 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.

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 makes various legislative findings and declarations regarding the maintenance of a quality environment for the people of this state and states the intent of the Legislature for state agencies to regulate activities so that major consideration is given to preventing environmental damage.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those findings and declarations, and to the statement of intent.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Reducing wildfire severity and restoring healthy and resilient forests requires active forest management, including forest thinning and fuel removal in high fire hazard severity zones.

(b) Senate Bill 901 (Chapter 626 of the Statutes of 2018) calls upon California to significantly increase the amount of forest fuel removal for wildfire mitigation.

(c) The 2020 Forest Stewardship Agreement between California and the United States Forest Service requires forest fuel removal on 1,000,000 acres per year.

(d) The “Joint Institute Recommendations to Expand Wood and Biomass Utilization in California” issued by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation in November 2020, found that meeting fuel removal requirements would generate tens of millions of tons of dry forest waste annually, and provided recommendations for the beneficial use of forest biomass waste.

(e) Implementing the recommendations of the “Joint Institute Recommendations to Expand Wood and Biomass Utilization in California” will reduce the need for the piling and burning of forest waste, and would instead generate useful wood products, renewable energy, low carbon fuels, biochar and other soil amendments, while reducing wildfire risk.

(f) “California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan” issued by the Governor’s Forest Management Task Force in January 2021, requires the Office of Planning and Research, among other state agencies, to develop a comprehensive framework to align the state’s wood utilization policies and priorities, including creating a focused market strategy and comprehensive set of metrics to evaluate biomass availability, usage, investments, and workforce levels to create a sustainable wood products market in the state.

(g) According to the “California Forest Carbon Plan: Managing our Forest Landscapes in a Changing Climate” issued by the Forest Climate Action Team in 2018 and adopted by the California Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Agency, and Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, converting waste biomass to energy cuts black carbon, particulate matter, methane, and carbon monoxide by 98 percent, in comparison to controlled burns or wildfire.

(h) Converting forest waste to hydrogen, electricity, and other renewable fuels can provide significant carbon negative emissions needed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

(i) Forest biomass waste utilization will create jobs and economic development in many of the poorest regions of the state, increase energy resilience in the communities that are most vulnerable to power disruptions, and help to create a circular economy in California’s forested communities.

SEC. 2.

 Section 38535 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

38535.

 The state board, in consultation with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, shall develop all of the following:

(a) A standardized system for quantifying the direct carbon emissions and decay from fuel reduction activities for purposes of meeting the accounting requirements for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund expenditures. This system may include standardized lookup tables by forest stand type, including for oak woodland forests, and harvest or other management prescriptions. The system shall acknowledge that certain expenditures, such as for planning, analysis, modeling, or outreach, will not have a direct greenhouse gas reduction benefit, but will facilitate necessary climate preparedness activities that will have direct greenhouse gas benefits.

(b) In consultation with academic experts, a historic baseline of greenhouse gas emissions from California’s natural fire regime reflecting conditions before modern fire suppression. This shall be completed on or before December 31, 2020. The baseline may be included within the state board’s natural working lands inventory.

(c) (1) On or before December 31, 2020, and every five years thereafter, a report that assesses greenhouse gas emissions associated with wildfire and forest management activities.

(2) As part of the 2025 update to the report developed pursuant to paragraph (1), and every update thereafter, the state board shall include both of the following:

(A) An inventory of short-lived climate pollutants associated with wildfire, controlled burns, and pile and burn of forest biomass waste.

(B) An assessment of anthropogenic black carbon emissions associated with wildfire, controlled burns, and pile and burn to further the goals of Section 39730.5.

SEC. 3.

 Section 38561 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

38561.

 (a) On or before January 1, 2009, the state board shall prepare and approve a scoping plan, as that term is understood by the state board, for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from sources or categories of sources of greenhouse gases by 2020 under this division. The state board shall consult with all state agencies with jurisdiction over sources of greenhouse gases, including the Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, on all elements of its plan that pertain to energy-related matters including, but not limited to, electrical generation, load based-standards or requirements, the provision of reliable and affordable electrical service, petroleum refining, and statewide fuel supplies to ensure the greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities to be adopted and implemented by the state board are complementary, nonduplicative, and can be implemented in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

(b) The plan shall identify and make recommendations on direct emissions reduction measures, alternative compliance mechanisms, market-based compliance mechanisms, and potential monetary and nonmonetary incentives for sources and categories of sources that the state board finds are necessary or desirable to facilitate the achievement of the maximum feasible and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

(c) In making the determinations required by subdivision (b), the state board shall consider all relevant information pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions reduction programs in other states, localities, and nations, including the northeastern states of the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

(d) The state board shall evaluate the total potential costs and total potential economic and noneconomic benefits of the plan for reducing greenhouse gases to California’s economy, environment, and public health, using the best available economic models, emission estimation techniques, and other scientific methods.

(e) In developing its plan, the state board shall take into account the relative contribution of each source or source category to statewide greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for adverse effects on small businesses, and shall recommend a de minimis threshold of greenhouse gas emissions below which emissions reduction requirements will not apply.

(f) In developing its plan, the state board shall identify opportunities for emissions reduction measures from all verifiable and enforceable voluntary actions, including, but not limited to, carbon sequestration projects and best management practices.

(g) The state board shall incorporate the recommendations from the most recent “California Forest Carbon Plan: Managing our Forest Landscapes in a Changing Climate” into the plan.

(g)

(h) The state board shall conduct a series of public workshops to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the plan. The state board shall conduct a portion of these workshops in regions of the state that have the most significant exposure to air pollutants, including, but not limited to, communities with minority populations, communities with low-income populations, or both.

(h)

(i) The state board shall update its plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gas emissions at least once every five years.

SEC. 4.

 Section 39607.4 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

39607.4.

 (a) On and after January 1, 2007, as part of its responsibilities under Section 39607, and in order to streamline, consolidate, and unify the inventory of air emissions under one agency in state government, the state board shall prepare, adopt, and update the inventory formerly required to be adopted and updated by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 25730) of Division 15 of the Public Resources Code.

(b) The state board shall include the greenhouse gas and short-lived climate pollutants inventories developed pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 38535 in any updates to the inventory prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) after January 1, 2023.

SEC. 5.

 Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 4139) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

Article  3.5. Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Program

4139.

 For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) “California Forest Carbon Plan” means the “California Forest Carbon Plan: Managing our Forest Landscapes in a Changing Climate” issued by the Forest Climate Action team in May 2018.

(b) “Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Plan” means the “Joint Institute Recommendations to Expand Wood and Biomass Utilization in California” report issued by the board’s Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation in November 2020.

(c) “Forest biomass waste” is forest biomass that is removed for wildfire mitigation, to reduce the risks to public safety or infrastructure from falling trees, creation of defensible space, or for forest restoration projects.

(d) “Forest Climate Action Team” means the team established as part of the 2014 update to the scoping plan pursuant to Section 38561 of the Health and Safety Code.

(e) “Program” means the Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Program established pursuant to Section 4140.

(f) “Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan” means the “California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan” issued by the Governor’s Forest Management Task Force in January 2021.

4140.

 (a) The Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Program is hereby established in the board’s Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation. The program shall do all of the following:

(1) Develop an implementation plan, in coordination with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, Office of Planning and Research, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, department, Department of Conservation, State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and Public Utilities Commission, to meet the goals and recommendations of the Forest Biomass Waste Utilization Plan and the comprehensive wood utilization strategy and market framework required by the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. The implementation plan shall do both of the following:

(A) Identify funding needs, gaps in research and demonstration, necessary regulatory changes, and other needs.

(B) Include a state procurement plan for energy, wood products, biochar, and other uses of forest biomass waste.

(2) In collaboration with governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit entities that have expertise in workforce development, including, but not limited to, the California Workforce Development Board, develop a workforce training program that will complement the workforce needs associated with implementation of the biomass utilization program.

(b) Beginning January 1, 2024, and on or before every January 1 thereafter, the board, in coordination with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, shall prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature on the progress made on implementing the implementation plan developed pursuant to subparagraph (1) of subdivision (a).

(c) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

4140.1.

 In furtherance of the program, the Natural Resources Agency shall do all of the following:

(a) Facilitate the inclusion of recommendations for forest biomass waste utilization in relevant, state climate adaptation plans, including, but not limited to, recommendations for biomass energy to increase energy reliability and community resilience.

(b) In coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Climate Action Team, and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, prepare and publish an update on or before July 1, 2024, and at least once every five years thereafter, of both of the following plans:

(1) The California Forest Carbon Plan. The update to the California Forest Carbon Plan shall include an inventory of black carbon and other climate pollutants emitted by wildfires, controlled burns, and pile and burn of forest waste to further the goals of Section 39730.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) The Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.

4140.2.

 In furtherance of the program, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall consider funding qualifying projects pursuant to the Clean Transportation Program (Article 2 (commencing with Section 44272) of Chapter 8.9 or Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code) that use forest biomass waste for advanced biofuel technology development including, but not limited to, projects that use noncombustion conversion technologies for electrical vehicle charging or hydrogen vehicle fueling.

4140.3.

 In furtherance of the program, the Public Utilities Commission shall do all of the following:

(a) On or before____, adopt measures to facilitate the use of forest biomass waste to support rural microgrids and provide other grid support.

(b) On or before____, develop and adopt a plan requiring substations and other power infrastructure to be upgraded in forested regions to reduce the risk of causing wildfires and to support integration of biomass power.

(c) In coordination with the State Air Resources Board and Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, on or before____, adopt pipeline biogas standards for biomethane generated from the noncombustion thermal conversion of forest biomass waste, and periodically update those standards as required by subdivision (e) of Section 25421 of the Health and Safety Code.

(d) Provide incentives for electricity and pipeline interconnection for projects that use forest biomass waste removed for wildfire mitigation or forest restoration projects.

(e) (1) Extend the end date of the Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff program, established by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code, to 2030.

(2) In coordination with the Natural Resources Agency and the department, increase the megawatt requirement established pursuant to clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 399.20 of the Public Utilities Code for distributed generation projects that use forest biomass waste in the Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff program.

SEC. 6.

 Section 25302.3 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

25302.3.

 (a) As part of the 2023 edition of the integrated energy policy report, and as part of each integrated energy policy report adopted biennially thereafter, the commission shall include an assessment of the potential for forest biomass waste energy to provide firm renewable power.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “forest biomass waste” means the same as defined in Section 4139 of the Public Resources Code.

SEC. 7.

 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.

SECTION 1.Section 21000 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

21000.

The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a)The maintenance of a quality environment for the people of this state now and in the future is a matter of statewide concern.

(b)It is necessary to provide a high-quality environment that at all times is healthful and pleasing to the senses and intellect of people.

(c)There is a need to understand the relationship between the maintenance of high-quality ecological systems and the general welfare of the people of the state, including their enjoyment of the natural resources of the state.

(d)The capacity of the environment is limited, and it is the intent of the Legislature that the government of the state take immediate steps to identify critical thresholds for the health and safety of the people of the state and take all coordinated actions necessary to prevent those thresholds being reached.

(e)Every citizen has a responsibility to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the environment.

(f)The interrelationship of policies and practices in the management of natural resources and waste disposal requires systematic and concerted efforts by public and private interests to enhance environmental quality and to control environmental pollution.

(g)It is the intent of the Legislature that all agencies of the state government that regulate activities of private individuals, corporations, and public agencies that are found to affect the quality of the environment shall regulate those activities so that major consideration is given to preventing environmental damage, while providing a decent home and satisfying living environment for every Californian.