Bill Text: CA AB546 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 546 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Bill Title: Land use: local ordinances: energy systems.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 380, Statutes of 2017. [AB546 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB546-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly May 30, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 546

Introduced by Assembly Member Chiu

February 14, 2017

An act to add Section 65850.8 to the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 546, as amended, Chiu. Land use: local ordinances: energy systems.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a general plan for the physical development of the county or city and authorizes the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations by counties and cities.

Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county to approve an application for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, as defined, through the issuance of specified permits unless the city or county makes specified written findings. Existing law provides that the implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle charging stations is a matter of statewide concern.

This bill would, on or before September 30, 2018, for a city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents, or January 31, 2019, for a city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents, require the city, county, or city and county to make all documentation and forms associated with the permitting of advanced energy storage, as defined, available on a publicly accessible Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to allow for the electronic submittal of a permit application and associated documentation, as specified. The bill would prohibit the calculation of a fee associated with the permitting or inspection of an advanced energy storage installation from being calculated based on the value of the installation or any other factor not directly associated with the cost to issue the permit and inspect the advanced energy storage installation.

The bill would ~~require~~ authorize the Governor’s Office of Planning and ~~Research, on or before January 1, 2020,~~ Research to ~~create a California Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook,~~ provide guidance on energy storage permitting, including streamlining, best practices, and potential factors for consideration by local government in establishing fees for permitting and inspection, as specified.

By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would create 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 Local Program: YES

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

SECTION 1.

Section 65850.8 is added to the Government Code, to read:

65850.8.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

(1) It is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the installation of advanced energy storage and to limit obstacles to its use.

(2) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the applicable state agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, extend and expand the existing initiative being conducted by the Public Utilities Commission to further note best practices in the safe permitting of advanced energy storage. That effort should ultimately produce an Advanced Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook, taking advantage of the efforts and lessons learned in creating the streamlined permitting processes and modeling in part after the California Solar Permitting Guidebook.

(b) On or before September 30, 2018, every city, county, or city and county with a population of 200,000 or more residents, and on or before January 31, 2019, every city, county, or city and county with a population of less than 200,000 residents, shall make all documentation and forms associated with the permitting of advanced energy storage available on a publicly accessible Internet Web site, if the city, county, or city and county has an Internet Web site. The city, county, or city and county shall allow for electronic submission of a permit application and associated documentation, and shall authorize the electronic signature on all forms, applications, and other documentation in lieu of a wet signature by an applicant.

(c)Any fee charged for the permitting or inspection of an advanced energy storage installation shall not be calculated based on the value of the installation or any other factor not directly associated with the cost to issue the permit and inspect the advanced energy storage installation.
~~(d)On or before January 1, 2020, the~~

(c) The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research ~~shall,~~ may, in consultation with local building officials, the State Fire Marshal, the storage industry, labor representatives from the utility and construction industries, licensed electrical contractors, electrical corporations, publicly owned utilities, the Public Utilities Commission, and other stakeholders, and through review of any existing streamlined permitting practices used by cities, counties, or city and counties, create a California Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook modeled substantially on the California Solar Permitting Guidebook. provide guidance on energy storage permitting, including streamlining, best practices, and potential factors for consideration by local government in establishing fees for permitting and inspection.

(e)In developing the California Energy Storage Permitting Guidebook, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research shall not include provisions that are in conflict with or are inconsistent with provisions of the California Building Standards Code, the California Electrical Code, or any other model code adopted by the California Building Standards Commission pursuant to the California Building Standards Law (Part 2.5 (commencing with Section 18901) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code).
~~(f)~~

(d) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) “Advanced energy storage” means an energy storage system, as defined in Section 2835 of the Public Utilities Code, as well as an energy storage system that is designed to provide backup energy services in the event of a grid outage, that is limited to both of the following:

(A) Electrochemical energy storage in nonventing packages.

(B) ~~Customer sited~~ Customer-sited installations.

(2) “Customer sited” means the system is interconnected to the electrical grid through an existing retail customer interconnection.

(3) “Electronic submittal” means the utilization of one or more of the following:

(A) Email.

(B) The Internet.

SEC. 2.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.