California Assembly Bill AB1496 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1496AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Thurmond  (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member   Williams   )  FEBRUARY 27, 2015 An act to add  Article 10 (commencing with Section 42100) to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of   Section 39731 to  the Health and Safety Code, relating to  nonvehicular air pollution   greenhouse gases  . LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1496, as amended, Thurmond. Methane emissions.  The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. Existing law requires the state board to complete a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, as defined, in the state.   This bill would require the state board to take specified actions and conduct specified analyses with respect to methane emissions.   (1) Existing law generally vests the State Air Resources Board with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources.   This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the air districts, to adopt a program to measure, monitor, regulate, and reduce emissions of methane.   (2) Existing law makes a violation of any rule, regulation, or order of the state board or an air district a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of 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.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  yes   no  . THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:   (a) Methane is a gas that is emitted from both natural and human sources. Its concentration in the global atmosphere has more than doubled since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Methane is a short-lived climate pollutant with a lifetime of only about 12 years when released into the atmosphere. It is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, with 20 to 30 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period and more than 80 times over a 20-year period.   (b) The life-cycle greenhouse gas emission from the drilling, production, and transportation of natural gas can result in methane leaks, and there is a need for much better information on the life-cycle methane emissions resulting from California's imports of natural gas.   (c) Recent satellite studies have shown methane hot spots in the San Joaquin Valley and higher levels of emissions than were previously estimated from the principal sources of methane in California. There is an urgent need to improve the monitoring and measurement of methane emissions from the major sources in California.   SEC. 2.   Section 39731 is added to the   Health and Safety Code   , to read:   39731. The state board shall do all of the following: (a) Undertake, in consultation with districts that monitor methane, monitoring and measurements of high-emission methane hot spots in the state using the best available scientific and technical methods. (b) Carry out a life-cycle greenhouse gas emission analysis of natural gas produced and imported into the state using the best available scientific and technical methods. (c) Update greenhouse gas emission factors for electric generation with natural gas and the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. (d) Review, in consultation with independent scientific experts, the most recent available scientific data and reports on the atmospheric reactivity of methane as a precursor to the formation of photochemical oxidants and evaluate whether methane should be reclassified as a contributor to the formation of air pollution.   SECTION 1.   Article 10 (commencing with Section 42100) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: Article 10. Methane 42100. No later than January 1, 2017, the state board, in consultation with the districts, shall adopt a program to measure, monitor, regulate, and reduce emissions of methane in order to protect air quality and public health and reduce global warming.   SEC. 2.   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.