Bill Text: CA AB585 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Climate change: infrastructure and clean energy projects: assessments.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-07 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 336, Statutes of 2023. [AB585 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB585-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  June 14, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 18, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 585

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Introduced by Assembly Members Robert Rivas and Petrie-Norris

February 09, 2023

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An act to add Section 38592.1 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to greenhouse gases, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 585, as amended, Robert Rivas. California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: literature review and progress report.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake specified actions to advance the state’s clean energy and pollution reduction objectives. Existing law also establishes an Independent System Operator (ISO) as a nonprofit public benefit corporation and requires the ISO to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the electrical transmission grid, as specified.

Existing law requires various state entities responsible for the state’s energy, climate change, and air quality goals to produce various reports relating to those duties.

Existing law finds and declares that the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) was organized as a nonprofit corporation at the request of the Legislature for the specific purpose of offering expert advice to the state government on public policy issues significantly related to science and technology.

This bill would request the CCST, in its discretion, every 2 years, to perform a literature review, review as an ongoing series of systematic reviews, including source materials, to assess the infrastructure project types, scale, and pace necessary to achieve the state’s energy, climate change, and air quality goals, as specified. The bill would also require, on an annual basis, the Office of Planning and Research to provide to the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, in consultation with the Energy Commission, the PUC, the state board, and the ISO, a progress report regarding the number of permit applications, the number of permitted projects approved, and the number of projects commissioned, for each of the infrastructure categories identified in the most recent literature review, as provided. The bill would provide that the funding required for these purposes would be provided upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Digest Key

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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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) The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) was organized as a nonpartisan nonprofit corporation at the request of the Legislature for the specific purpose of offering expert advice to the state government on public policy issues significantly related to science and technology.

(b) CCST works across institutions, partnering with academic, research, governmental, and other communities to leverage their collective expertise and perspectives in order to increase collaboration among agencies and scientists and to ensure that California policy is strengthened and informed by scientific knowledge, research, and innovation.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Section 38592.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

38592.1.

 (a) (1) Every two years, the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) (CCST), in its mission to increase collaboration among agencies and scientists and convene stakeholders across institutions, is requested, at its discretion, to perform a literature review, review as an ongoing series of systematic reviews, including source materials, to assess the infrastructure project types, scale, and pace necessary to achieve the state’s energy, climate change, and air quality goals, including, but not limited to, the goals established pursuant to Sections 38561.5, 38562.2, 38566, 39730.5, 39730.6, and 39730.7 of this code, and the goals established pursuant to Sections 399.11, 399.15, 399.16, 454.53, and 454.59 of the Public Utilities Code. In preparing the literature review, the materials CCST reviews shall include, but not be limited to, the most current versions of all of the following reports:

(A) The integrated energy policy report prepared pursuant to Section 25302 of the Public Resources Code.

(B) The integrated resource plans filed pursuant to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code.

(C) The joint reliability progress report pursuant to Section 454.53 of the Public Utilities Code.

(D) The report produced by the Independent System Operator pursuant to Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 188 of the 2021–22 Regular Session.

(E) The reports prepared by the state board pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of, and paragraph (6) of subdivision (e) of, Section 43018.9, and paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 44274.

(F) The scoping plan prepared pursuant to Section 38561.

(G) The progress report prepared pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2) The list of infrastructure projects the literature review shall assess shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following project types:

(A) Deployment of, or upgrades to, utility-scale and distributed renewable and carbon-free energy capacity, substations, transformers, transmission and distribution lines, and renewable hydrogen production and distribution.

(B) Deployment of, or upgrades to, electric vehicle charging stations, hydrogen refueling stations, refinery conversions, sustainable aviation fuels, and other low-carbon and carbon-free transportation fuels projects.

(C) Deployment and retrofitting of buildings to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(D) Deployment of, or upgrades to, industrial processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(E) Projects for the reduction and mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants, including, but not limited to, methane, hydrofluorocarbon gases, and anthropogenic black carbon.

(F) Natural carbon sequestration and nature-based climate solutions.

(G) Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration projects.

(H) Projects for the reduction and mitigation of criteria air pollutants.

(I) Any other project types necessary to achieve the state’s energy, climate change, and air quality goals, including, but not limited to, the goals established pursuant to Sections 38561.5, 38562.2, 38566, 39730.5, 39730.6, and 39730.7 of this code, and the goals established pursuant to Sections 399.11, 399.15, 399.16, 454.53, and 454.59 of the Public Utilities Code.

(3) CCST is requested, at its discretion, to commit to regular updates of the literature review and to rapidly incorporate new research into the literature review using established methods for high-quality evidence synthesis.

(b) (1) On an annual basis, the Office of Planning and Research, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Public Utilities Commission, the state board, and the Independent System Operator, shall provide a progress report to the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies regarding all of the following:

(A) The number of permit applications in each of the infrastructure categories identified in the most recent literature review prepared pursuant to subdivision (a).

(B) The number of permitted projects approved in each of the infrastructure categories identified in the most recent literature review prepared pursuant to subdivision (a).

(C) The number of projects commissioned in each of the infrastructure categories identified in the most recent literature review prepared pursuant to subdivision (a).

(2) The report described in paragraph (1) shall analyze within the context of the state’s energy, climate change, and air quality goals, including, but not limited to, the goals established pursuant to Sections 38561.5, 38562.2, 38566, 39730.5, 39730.6, and 39730.7 of this code, and the goals established pursuant to Sections 399.11, 399.15, 399.16, 454.53, and 454.59 of the Public Utilities Code, the annual progress being made toward the deployment of infrastructure that will result in emission reductions, including findings about whether the scale and pace of construction in the previous calendar year align with the infrastructure commissioned.

(3) If the report described in paragraph (1) indicates that the scale and pace of construction in the previous calendar year did not align with the infrastructure commissioned, the report shall indicate whether that failure was due to insufficient permit applications, insufficient permit approvals, delayed construction approvals, delayed commissioning approvals, or other factors.

(c) The funding required for the purposes of this section shall be provided upon appropriation by the Legislature pursuant to Section 38597, to the extent permitted by law.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to provide policymakers and the people of California with crucial information regarding progress toward meeting the state’s ambitious climate goals as soon as possible, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.