Bill Text: CA SB1072 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 1072 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Bill Title: Regional Climate Collaborative Program: technical assistance.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-09-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 377, Statutes of 2018. [SB1072 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SB1072-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate April 25, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1072

Introduced by Senator Leyva

February 12, 2018

An act to add Part 3.6 (commencing with Section 71130) to Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, relating to climate change.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1072, as amended, Leyva. Regional Climate Collaborative Program: technical assistance.

Existing law creates the Transformative Climate Communities Program, which is administered by the Strategic Growth Council. Existing law requires the council to award competitive grants to specified eligible entities for the development and implementation of neighborhood-level transformative climate community plans that include greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects that provide local economic, environmental, and health benefits to disadvantaged communities, as defined. Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to provide assistance in performing outreach to disadvantaged communities and assessing the environmental justice benefits of project awards.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation.

This bill would establish ~~the Regional Climate Collaborative Program,~~ a regional climate collaborative program, to be administered by the council, to assist under-resourced ~~communities~~ communities, as defined, in a region to access statewide public and other grant moneys, as specified, for climate mitigation and adaptation projects by establishing ~~regional climate~~ collaboratives, as specified. The bill would authorize the council to award specified grants to collaboratives for specified activities. ~~The bill would authorize moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be used to implement the program.~~

This bill also would require a state agency or department that administers a funding program that contains a targeted mechanism for funding under-resourced communities to develop policies and standards for technical assistance, as defined, according to specified guidelines developed and adopted by the council.

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

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

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The state is creating a national model for prioritizing investments in communities most impacted by pollution and poverty.

(b) The state recognizes that under-resourced communities, rural, urban, and suburban, have a large potential to contribute to the state’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning away from fossil fuels, and reaping economic development and jobs through renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable infrastructure investments.

(c) As the state pursues multiple strategies to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals while advancing social equity, it becomes necessary to coordinate and align technical assistance resources to ensure that every community has the same opportunity to compete for the funding that is available to meet those goals.

(d) Local municipalities, nonprofits, and other eligible entities in under-resourced communities often lack the resources, staff capacity, implementation experience, and technical expertise to apply to for and secure competitive statewide targeted grant funding.

(e) In managing programs that allocate funding to under-resourced communities, state agencies and departments often lack the budget, ~~staff~~ staff, or guidance to provide the technical assistance necessary to support funding applications from under-resourced communities. Under-resourced communities should have access to capacity building and technical assistance to develop competitive funding proposals that will maximize multiple benefits, including climate adaptation benefits, for each dollar requested.

(f) Some regions and jurisdictions have existing programs and organizations in place to build local capacity, leadership, and technical expertise for multibenefit community projects, and any additional investments should support and leverage existing efforts to be effective and efficient.

SEC. 2.

Part 3.6 (commencing with Section 71130) is added to Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

PART 3.6. Regional Climate Collaborative Program

71130.

For purposes of this part, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a)“Capacity building” is the process of communities identifying, obtaining, strengthening, and maintaining the capabilities to set and achieve development objectives over time, including the growth of leadership, knowledge, skills, experience, and resources.
(a) “Capacity building” is the process of strengthening local coordination between multiple stakeholders within a region to better access and develop applications for and receive grant funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation-related projects that serve the communities within that region, and helping to develop or increase the ability of that community to compete for grants and conduct projects in the future on its own.
~~(b)~~
(b) (1) “Collaborative” means a coordinated body of regional stakeholder groups that are located in, serve, and represent the needs of the under-resourced communities within that region.
(2) For the purpose of the part, each collaborative shall have a least one local government from within the region to receive and be accountable for funds provided pursuant to the chapter.

(c) “Council” means the Strategic Growth Council.

~~(c)~~

(d) “Nonprofit organization” means a nonprofit corporation qualified to do business in the state and qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

~~(d)“Collaborative” means a regional climate collaborative selected pursuant to this part.~~

(e) “Stakeholder” includes, among others, community-based organizations, nonprofits, businesses, faith-based organizations, interested individuals, elected officials, and local government agencies.

(f)“Technical assistance” means the process of sharing information and connecting groups to expertise, instruction, skills training, transmission of working knowledge, and resources for application completion, project planning, development, delivery, and evaluation.
(f) “Technical assistance” means the process of providing the necessary education and resources for climate mitigation and adaptation projects for any of the following:
(1) Project development.
(2) Grant development and writing for state and federal grant programs.
(3) The successful and appropriate expenditure of grant moneys for those projects.
(g) “Under-resourced community” means a community identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code or subdivision (g) of Section 75005.

71131.

(a) ~~(1)The Regional Climate Collaborative Program~~ A regional climate collaborative program is hereby established to be administered by the ~~Strategic Growth Council~~ council to assist under-resourced communities within a region to access statewide public and other grant moneys. A collaborative may be, but need not be limited to, a community-based partnership providing capacity-building to under-resourced communities to access statewide public and other grant moneys for sustainable and equitable multibenefit infrastructure projects. A collaborative, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 71130, is a coordinated body of regional stakeholder groups that provides capacity-building to those under-resourced communities within its region to access statewide public and other grant moneys for climate mitigation and adaptation projects that maximize the benefits for the region.

~~(2)Moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement the program.~~

(b) The council shall do all of the following in selecting communities in the state to place a collaborative:

~~(1)Develop a policy for selecting communities.~~
(1) Adopt a regulation that establishes criteria for the selection of communities eligible for assistance in developing a collaborative.

(2) Post the ~~policy~~ regulation outlining the criteria on the council’s Internet Web site and solicit public comment.

(3) Hold at least one public hearing before selecting a collaborative.

(c) After selecting communities for collaboratives, the council shall ~~annually award between three million dollars ($3,000,000) and five million dollars ($5,000,000) in grants to eligible collaboratives through a competitive application process.~~ award annual grants as moneys are appropriated for by the Legislature to the council for the purposes of this part.

(d) Eligible applicants for a collaborative include, but need not be limited to, any of the following:

(1) Community-based organizations.

(2) Nonprofits.

(3) Small businesses.

(4) Local government agencies.

(5) Joint powers authorities.

(6) Tribal governments.

(7) Other organizations with a history of providing community-based outreach and technical assistance.

(e) In selecting a collaborative, the council shall give priority to proposals that demonstrate strong and diverse partnerships, including with community-based organizations and other stakeholder groups.

(f) After being selected by the council, a collaborative shall provide capacity-building services to assist in building the community-driven leadership, knowledge, skills, experience, and resources to access public funding for sustainable and equitable infrastructure investments. A collaborative shall ~~conduct at least two of~~ conduct, as needed for the region in which it serves, at least all the following activities:

(1) Conduct outreach and spread awareness of statewide competitive grant program resources to stakeholders.

(2) Convene stakeholders to discuss community needs regarding potential climate projects and activities eligible for statewide competitive grant programs with specific allocations for under-resourced communities.

(3) Develop community and project plans, including climate action plans, demonstrating local needs and identifying multiple-benefit projects for implementation.

(4) Support the development of partnerships between stakeholders and potential public and private funding sources.

(5) Provide policy, program, and technical advice to stakeholders to develop and align multibenefit projects with local, statewide, and federal competitive grant programs.

(6) Serve as an intermediary between community stakeholders and technical assistance programs within relevant agencies and coordinate scientific and technical support from outside experts.

(7) Coordinate and implement assistance and training to stakeholders in grant application development, project management, implementation, and monitoring.

(8) Assist in the development of local job training and anti-displacement programs and policies. Where feasible, a collaborative will leverage, complement and build on existing regional efforts and resources for capacity building and technical assistance.

~~(g)(1)The council may award to a collaborative a grant not to exceed eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) a year over a period of not more than three years.~~
(g) (1) Grants awarded pursuant to this part shall provide moneys directly proportional to the activities for which the grants are awarded and shall not exceed a region’s per capita portion of the annual grant moneys appropriated by the Legislature.

(2) Before awarding a grant pursuant to this subdivision, the council shall develop and adopt a regulation for guidelines and selection criteria for program implementation. In adopting guidelines, the council shall solicit public comments and conduct outreach to under-resourced communities to encourage comments on the draft guidelines.

~~(h)Collaboratives shall submit to the council an annual report documenting quantitative assessments of individual collaborative effectiveness.~~
(h) (1) Collaboratives shall submit to the council an annual report that includes, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The members of the collaborative.
(B) An outline of all the activities conducted, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Technical assistance.
(ii) Capacity building.
(iii) Project and grant development, application, and completion.
(C) Meetings and actions taken by the collaborative.
(D) An accounting of the administration of and expenditures made by the collaborative.
(E) The outcome of each activity, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) The efficacy of capacity building within the region.
(ii) Technical assistance provided.
(iii) Success of grants applied for.
(iv) Projects commenced and completed.
(2) (A) The council shall post the annual reports on its Internet Web site and provide the reports to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(i) ~~(1)~~By July 1, 2019, the board shall adopt ~~emergency~~ regulations implementing this section.

(2)Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.

71132.

(a) (1) A state agency or department that administers a funding program that contains a targeted mechanism for funding under-resourced communities shall develop a technical assistance policies and standards, with activities to be funded with a minimum of three percent, not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) annually, of its grant program funding, according to the guidelines developed and adopted by the council pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2) A state agency or department that administers funding programs with allocations for under-resourced communities shall develop and adopt technical assistance guidelines consistent with the guidelines developed and adopted by the council pursuant to subdivision (b) after holding at least one public meeting to consider public comments.

(b) The council shall develop technical assistance guidelines that a state agency shall use in developing its internal technical assistance programs and policies. The council’s technical assistance guidelines shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Procedures and minimum standards for state agencies providing direct technical assistance to communities and collaboratives.

(2) Measures to streamline and align grant application requirements, where practicable, and provide efficient technical assistance across multiple programs, where applicable.

(3) Requirements for relevant state agencies and departments to annually report to the council on technical assistance activities, including identified quantitative performance measures and standards for sharing best practices with the council, across state agencies, and nationally.

(c) For the purposes of this section, state agencies and departments that administer funding programs with allocations for under-resourced communities include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) The council.

(2) Natural Resources Agency.

(3) Department of Conservation.

(4) Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

(5) Department of Transportation.

(6) State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.

(7) State Air Resources Board.

(8) Department of Water Resources.

(9) State Water Resources Control Board.

(d) Activities conducted by state agencies and departments in implementing technical assistance for under-resourced communities and collaboratives pursuant to this section may include, but need not be limited to, any of the following:

(1) Outreach and awareness of the state agency’s and department’s competitive grant program resources.

(2) Direct technical assistance to applicants in the development of eligible projects and the completion of grant applications.

(3) Support to successful applicants in project management, implementation, and evaluation.

(4) Engagement with collaboratives to share best practices, outreach materials, and policy knowledge and to receive referrals.