Bill Text: CA SB1261 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Energy: low-emissions buildings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-27 - Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. [SB1261 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SB1261-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  June 15, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  May 19, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  April 27, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  April 04, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1261

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Introduced by Senator Stern
(Coauthor: Senator Hertzberg)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Eduardo Garcia, Mullin, and Luz Rivas)

February 17, 2022

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An act to add Section 25402.16 to the Public Resources Code, relating to energy assistance. An act to add Section 12087.12 to the Government Code, and to amend Section 748.6 of, and to add Section 922.5 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1261, as amended, Stern. Energy assistance: residential building extreme heat zone mitigation grant program. Energy: low-emissions buildings.

Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to develop and administer the Energy Efficiency Low-Income Weatherization Program.

This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to develop and administer the Multifamily Rapid Deployment Building Decarbonization and Extreme Heat Program to identify and deploy replicable, scalable, and affordable upgrades for multifamily building types that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and improve the health and comfort of residents in multifamily buildings, as provided. The bill would require the department to develop the guidelines for the program on or before April 1, 2023, and to begin implementing the program on or before September 30, 2023.

The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission, until June 30, 2023, to annually allocate $50,000,000 of revenues received by gas corporations as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas emissions allowances provided to gas corporations to fund the Building Initiative for Low-Emissions Development Program and the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) Initiative.

This bill would extend the annual allocation of the $50,000,000 from those moneys to fund the TECH Initiative until June 30, 2030. The bill would specify that moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the TECH Initiative are available to provide statewide incentives.

Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement is a crime.

Because a violation of an order of the commission implementing the allocation would be a crime, this bill would impose 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.

Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to receive and administer the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Block Grant. Existing law prescribes amounts to be applied to certain services under the program, including for weatherization and related services and the reduction of home energy needs, among other things. Existing law establishes programs designed to provide long-term reductions in energy consumption by low-income household dwelling units, including assistance for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances. The Energy Conservation Act of 2001 requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to establish a grant program to provide financial assistance to eligible low-income individuals for constructing and retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient by using design elements, including, among other things, the use of products certified by the commission as energy-efficient zone heating products.

This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the commission, in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency, to develop a residential building extreme heat zone mitigation grant program to provide grants to residents to mitigate extreme heat-related impacts, as provided. The bill would require the commission, beginning February 1 of the year following the first year in which grants are awarded and annually thereafter, to report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature a summary of the grants awarded under the program, as specified.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 12087.12 is added to the Government Code, to read:

12087.12.

 (a) The Department of Community Services and Development shall establish and implement a Multifamily Rapid Deployment Building Decarbonization and Extreme Heat Program that is designed to identify and deploy replicable, scalable, and affordable upgrades for multifamily building types that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and improve the health and comfort of residents of multifamily buildings.

(b) The program shall include tenant protections for participating rental properties. The protections may include requiring the consent of tenants impacted by the work, tenant education provided by community-based organizations, protections against short- and long-term displacement, and limits on increases in rent after the upgrades.

(c) Eligible upgrades shall include installation of efficient electric appliances, and may include energy efficiency, demand flexibility solutions, wiring and panel upgrades, habitability improvements, repairs, and health-related improvements. The improvements shall include measures to protect against extreme heat.

(d) The department shall administer the program or contract with a third-party administrator, and shall coordinate the implementation of the program with the Energy Efficiency Low-Income Weatherization Program for low-income multifamily residents, where feasible.

(e) The department shall coordinate with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Department of Public Health to identify best practices in the design and deployment of the Multifamily Rapid Deployment Building Decarbonization and Extreme Heat Program.

(f) (1) On or before April 1, 2023, the department shall develop guidelines for the program.

(2) On or before September 30, 2023, the department shall begin implementing the program.

(g) The Department of Community Services and Development shall implement this section only upon appropriation by the Legislature.

SEC. 2.

 Section 748.6 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

748.6.

 (a) Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2019, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the commission shall annually allocate fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by a gas corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas emissions allowances provided to gas corporations as part of a market-based compliance mechanism adopted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 38562 of the Health and Safety Code to fund the Building Initiative for Low-Emissions Development (BUILD) Program (Article 12 (commencing with Section 921)) and the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) Initiative (Article 13 (commencing with Section 922)).

(b) (1) Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2023, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2030, the commission shall annually allocate fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) of the revenues, including any accrued interest, received by a gas corporation as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas emissions allowances provided to gas corporations as part of a market-based compliance mechanism adopted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 38562 of the Health and Safety Code to fund the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) Initiative (Article 13 (commencing with Section 922)). These funds may be allocated for targeted electrification projects that reduce gas system investment costs.

(2) At least 50 percent of the funds identified pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be allocated for the benefit of residents living in a disadvantaged community, a low-income community, or low-income residential housing, as those terms are defined in Section 921.

SEC. 3.

 Section 922.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

922.5.

 Notwithstanding Section 922, moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of this article shall be available statewide as incentives through the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) Initiative and shall not be limited to the service territories of gas corporations.

SEC. 4.

 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 25402.16 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

25402.16.

(a)The commission, in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency, shall develop a residential building extreme heat zone mitigation grant program to provide grants to residents to mitigate extreme heat-related impacts on health or economics and to mitigate extreme heat-related impacts of climate risk.

(b)(1)The grant program shall provide grants in areas that include, but are not limited to, weatherization, energy and water efficiency, and net-zero retrofits for heating and cooling, including electric heat pumps.

(2)Where appropriate and feasible, the commission may fund nature-based solutions that will help to cool residential buildings or mitigate extreme heat impacts to residential buildings, including, but not limited to, planting trees, increasing vegetation coverage, and increasing awareness of best practices to green urban residential areas. Nature-based solutions funded by the commission shall be consistent with the final version, when issued, of the draft report entitled “Protecting Californians Amidst Extreme Heat: A State Action Plan to Build Community Resilience” issued by the Natural Resources Agency on January 10, 2022.

(c)In developing the guidelines and application process for the grant program, the commission shall do all of the following:

(1)Provide applications for low-income residents that are vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat.

(2)Conduct no less than two public meetings to receive and consider public comment before approving the guidelines and application process.

(3)Ensure that the grant program complements and, where possible, maximizes the reach of existing related programs.

(d)(1)Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, beginning February 1 of the year following the first year in which grants are awarded, the commission shall annually report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature a summary of the grants awarded, including populations and geographic communities served, funds awarded, and challenges and opportunities of the program.

(2)The report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(e)The commission shall implement this section only upon appropriation by the Legislature.