California Senate Bill SB295 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 295AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator Dutton  (   Coauthors:   Senators   Cox   and Runner   )   (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members   Bill Berryhill,   DeVore,   Fuller,   Hagman,   Jeffries,   Niello,   and Silva   )  FEBRUARY 25, 2009 An act to amend Section 38563 of, and to add Section 38561.5 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 295, as amended, Dutton. California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of emissions of greenhouse gases and to monitor and enforce compliance with the reporting and verification program, and requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions  levels   level  in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The state board is required to evaluate the total potential costs and total potential economic and noneconomic benefits of the plan. The state board is required by January 1, 2011, to adopt greenhouse gas emissions limits and emission reduction measures by regulation to achieve the prescribed emission reductions. This bill, notwithstanding this provision or any other provision of law, would prohibit the state board or its staff from beginning to develop these regulations until  June   July  1, 2009, and until the state board reevaluates the evaluation of costs discussed above. The bill would prohibit the state board from implementing those regulations until the unemployment rate in the state is below 5.8% for 3 consecutive months. The bill would also require the state board to evaluate, and make public, the costs of those regulations. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. 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) The State Air Resources Board is required by the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 to design emission reduction measures to meet a statewide emissions limit for greenhouse gases in a manner that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits for California's economy.   (b) The State Air Resources Board is required to consider the economic impacts of the measures identified in its scoping plan through an economic analysis.   (c) The Legislative Analyst found that the economic analysis of the scoping plan adopted on December 11, 2008, was inconsistent and incomplete. Peer reviewers also criticized the economic analysis.   (d) The State Air Resources Board has committed to perform a new economic analysis by December 31, 2009.   (e) In February 2009, the California unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent. State budget revenues are declining and California, as well as the nation, is in the midst of a significant recession.   (f) Given the severity of the current economic situation, and the lack of reliable economic analysis of the impacts of the measures in the scoping plan, the State Air Resources Board should perform a useful and complete economic analysis of the scoping plan as soon as possible to inform policymakers about the economic impact of the plan.  (g) The State Air Resources Board has the resources and information needed to perform a valid economic analysis by July 1, 2009.   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.  Section 38561.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 38561.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 38562 or any other provision of law, the state board or its staff shall not begin to develop the regulations described in Section 38562 until all of the following occur: (1)  June   July  1, 2009, at the earliest. (2) The state board has completed an additional peer-reviewed study to reevaluate the evaluations made pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 38561 that takes into consideration any peer-reviewed comments on the original evaluations. This additional study shall include all of the following: (A) Estimates of the actual costs in every year, and for every sector of the economy, of the recommendations identified in the scoping plan adopted pursuant to Section 38561, and shall not include only annual averaged costs. (B) Estimates of overall costs and savings and the cost-effectiveness of the reductions identified in the scoping plan adopted pursuant to Section 38561, including appropriate inclusion of reductions in copollutants. (C) Estimates of the timing of capital investments, annual expenditures to repay those investments, and the resulting cost savings. (D) Sensitivity of the results to changes in key inputs, including energy price forecasts and estimates of measure costs and savings. (E) Impacts on small businesses. (3) The Legislative Analyst has certified that the study required by paragraph (2) has been completed. (b) Notwithstanding Section 38562 or any other provision of law, the state board shall not implement the regulations described in Section 38562 until the unemployment rate in the state is below 5.8 percent for three consecutive months. The state board shall not be required to suspend regulations implemented after the unemployment rate in the state is below 5.8 percent for three consecutive months, if the unemployment rate again rises to 5.8 percent or greater. (c) The state board shall evaluate, and make public, the costs of each regulation adopted pursuant to Section 38562.  SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.  Section 38563 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 38563. Except as provided in Section 38561.5, nothing in this division restricts the state board from adopting greenhouse gas emission limits or emission reduction measures prior to January 1, 2011, imposing those limits or measures prior to January 1, 2012, or providing early reduction credit where appropriate.  SEC. 3.   SEC. 4.  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 Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to ensure that the adoption of greenhouse gas emission reduction regulations does not negatively impact the state's economy, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.