BILL NUMBER: AB 1030AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 4, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Blumenfield FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to add Section 14017 to the Government Code, relating to renewable energy systems. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1030, as amended, Blumenfield. Renewable energysystems:projects: Department of Transportation. Existing law provides for the Department of Transportation in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which is administered by the Director of Transportation. Existing law requires the director to perform all duties, exercise all powers and jurisdiction, assume and discharge all responsibilities, and carry out and effect all purposes vested by law in the department, except as otherwise expressly provided by law. This bill would require the director, on and after May 1, 2010, to compile and maintain an inventory list of state-owned real property under the direction or control of the Department of Transportation that may be available for lease for the installation and operation of solar, wind, piezoelectric, or other renewable energy systems for power generation. The bill would require the director to consult with the California Energy Commission in developing criteria for property to be placed on the inventory list, as specifiedto furnish data required by the Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles, for mapping the renewable energy development potential of state-owned real property under the direction and control of the department, as specified. The bill would also require the director to respond within 30 days to any proposal to develop a renewable energy project on state-owned real property as to whether the property is available for sale, lease, or encroachment permit, and whether the project would be compatible with the current and projected use of that property . Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated 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) Solar energy is one of California's most abundant renewable resources that can help reduce demand in the state for electricity during peak consumption periods. (b) Renewable energy promotes economic development and provides opportunities to stimulate the creation of jobs for Californians. (c) Accelerating the use of renewable energy resources wherever feasible, such as open space along transportation corridors, can help to achieve the state's climate change goals required by the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code). (d) Aesthetically integrated solar and other renewable energy systems on the more than 150 miles of highway sound walls already built and potentially more associated with new transportation projects are untapped resources that could be put to beneficial uses in generating electricity for neighboring residential areas, reducing energy costs to government, and promoting the installation of additional sound walls for neighborhoods. (e) Unlike most transportation capital outlays that result in increased maintenance costs, investments in renewable energy production and promoting public-private partnerships to use untapped sound walls and other transit property would generate revenues that could be used to offset maintenance costs. (f) Piezoelectric and other renewable energy technology offer increasing opportunities for creative beneficial mixed uses of transportation properties. SEC. 2. Section 14017 is added to the Government Code, to read:14017. (a) The director shall compile and maintain an inventory list of state-owned real property under the direction or control of the department that may be available for lease for the installation and operation of solar, wind, piezoelectric, or other renewable energy systems for power generation. This list shall be the sole list for the department's property available for this purpose. (b) The director shall make the inventory list available, upon request, in a cost-effective manner. (c) The director shall consult with the California Energy Commission to develop criteria for property to be placed on the inventory list. State-owned real property to be considered shall include, but not be limited to, department maintenance yards, rooftops, freeway sound barriers, and highway rights-of-way. (d) This section shall become operative on May 1, 2010.14017. (a) The director shall furnish data required by the Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles, for mapping the renewable energy development potential of state-owned real property under the direction and control of the department. The mapping project shall include, but not be limited to, global positioning mapping to be available for public use that indicates the solar and wind renewable energy potential for state-owned real property owned or controlled by the department. (b) The director shall respond within 30 days to any proposal to develop a renewable energy project as to whether the property is available for sale, lease, or encroachment permit, and whether the project would be compatible with the current and projected use of that property.