BILL NUMBER: AB 306ENROLLED BILL TEXT PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 13, 2011 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto (Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins, Blumenfield, Galgiani, Gordon, Nestande, Wagner, and Williams) (Coauthors: Senators Pavley and Strickland) FEBRUARY 9, 2011 An act to add and repeal Section 25325 of the Public Resources Code, relating to energy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 306, Gatto. Energy: piezoelectric transducers: study. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), on a biennial basis beginning in 2003, to adopt an integrated energy policy report providing information on specified subjects related to energy. Existing law establishes the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund appropriated to the Energy Commission, for the purposes of funding programs designed to foster the development of new in-state renewable electricity generation technology facilities. This bill would require the Energy Commission to conduct research on generating electricity using piezoelectric transducers under roadways or railways. The bill would require the Energy Commission to establish pilot projects that would employ piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology, if the Energy Commission determines that the technology has the potential to generate electricity with performance, reliability, and cost projections that are comparable to existing or emerging renewable energy sources. The bill would require the Energy Commission to collaborate with the Department of Transportation and would require the department to conduct research on the piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology according to the department's usual research protocol if the pilot project is conducted in a facility that is part of the state highway or rail system under the department's jurisdiction. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to expend the moneys in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement this research. The Energy Commission would be required to report its findings in the integrated energy policy report adopted in 2013. These provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2015. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 25325 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 25325. (a) The commission shall conduct research on generating electricity using piezoelectric technology under roadways and railways. The commission shall award the research projects under this section through competitive solicitations, interagency agreements, or agreements with other governmental entities. (b) (1) If the commission finds, based on initial research, that the piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology has the potential to generate electricity with the performance, reliability, and cost projections that are comparable to existing or emerging renewable energy sources, then the commission shall establish a pilot project or projects to employ piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology. The commission shall collaborate with the Department of Transportation if the pilot project is conducted in a facility that is part of the state highway or rail system under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. (2) The Department of Transportation shall conduct research on the piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology according to its usual research protocol if the pilot project established pursuant to paragraph (1) is conducted in a facility that is part of the state highway or rail system under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. (c) The commission may expend the moneys in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement this section. (d) As a part of the integrated energy policy report that is adopted in 2013, the commission shall report the findings of the research performed pursuant to subdivision (a). (e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends that date.