California Assembly Bill AB33 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 33AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Quirk DECEMBER 1, 2014 An act to add  Sections   Section  38561.5  and 38561.7  to the Health and Safety Code, relating to greenhouse gases. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 33, as amended, Quirk. California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006:  Climate Change   Energy Integration  Advisory Council. 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.  The act requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, to be achieved by 2020 equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions levels in 1990.  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 California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission to implement annual procurement targets for the procurement of eligible   renewable energy resources for all retail sellers to achieve the targets and goals of the program.  This bill would establish the  Climate Change   Energy Integration  Advisory Council in state government and would  assign   require  the council  specified duties, including, among others, developing   to develop recommendations for inclusion in the scoping plan prepared by the state board,   including, among others,  an analysis of  the  various strategies  to achieve the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit. The bill also would require the state board to establish consistent metrics to accurately quantify reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, quantify public health benefits, and measure the cost-effectiveness of the various strategies identified by the council.   necessary for the energy grid to integrate specified annual procurement targets as part of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program.  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) Climate change is a global emissions problem. (b) California is responsible for approximately 1 percent of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions and, thus, needs to address the problem of climate change with a global perspective. (c) Significant technological advances and major policy initiatives that can be deployed at scale in developed and developing countries will be necessary to transition away from fossil fuel as the primary fuel source to allow the developed and developing countries of the world to achieve low-carbon economic growth. (d) It is in the best interest of the state to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals are achievable by strategies that other states and countries could reasonably adopt. (e) Demonstrating effective climate change policy can increase the likelihood that other states and countries will follow California's lead, which is necessary for the state to have a significant effect on the global climate change problem.   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.  Section 38561.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 38561.5. (a) The  Climate Change   Energy Integration  Advisory Council is hereby established in state government, and it shall consist of all of the  following:   following members:   (1) The chair of the state board, or his or her designee.   (1) The chair of the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, or his or her designee.  (2) The president of the Public Utilities Commission, or his or her designee. (3) The  chair of the governing board   president  of the California Independent System Operator, or his or her designee. (4) The chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, or his or her designee.  (5) The chair of the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, or his or her designee.   (5) The chair of the state board, or his or her designee.  (b) The council, as recommendations for inclusion in the scoping plan developed pursuant to Section 38561, shall complete all of the following: (1) Develop an analysis of  the  various  strategies to achieve the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, including, but not limited to, all of the following:   (A)     Strategies   strategies  necessary for the energy grid to integrate a 40-percent, a 50-percent, and a greater than 50-percent standard as part of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code) in order to minimize and eliminate over-generation and the need for curtailment, including, but not limited to, all of the following:  (i)   (A)  Deepening regional coordination in the western interconnection.  (ii)   (B)  Increasing energy storage.  (iii)   (C)  Retrofitting existing baseload electrical generation facilities in order that they may perform as peaking electrical generation facilities.  (iv)   (D)  Using renewable energy generation facilities as peaking electrical generation facilities.  (v)   (E)  Allowing for very  low-carbon-fossil-fuel   low-carbon fossil fuel  peaking electrical generation facilities by deploying carbon capture and storage.  (vi)   (F)  Encouraging demand response through both of the following:  (I)   (i)  Transitioning to time-of-use pricing for residential buildings.  (II)   (ii)  Increasing customer access to real-time or near-real-time energy usage data.  (B) Strategies to increase energy efficiency in both commercial and residential buildings, including, but not limited to, all of the following:   (i) Validating existing energy efficiency programs against actual energy usage data.   (ii) Optimizing heating and cooling systems.   (iii) Transitioning to the electrification of buildings.   (C) Strategies to advance the transportation sector, including, but not limited to, all of the following:   (i) Increasing the fuel economy of light-duty vehicles.   (ii) Examining strategies for reducing emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, such as through the use of natural gas, biogas, and biodiesel.   (iii) Increasing the market for low-carbon and very low-carbon fuels.   (iv) Building electric vehicle infrastructure and low-carbon and very low-carbon vehicle infrastructure.  (2) Develop an economic assessment using the best available economic models and data of the various  greenhouse gas emissions reduction  strategies required  to achieve the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit.   to be analyzed pursuant to paragraph (1).  (3) Develop an analysis of the benefits to the health, safety, and welfare of state residents, worker safety, the state's environment and quality of life, and any other benefits associated with the various greenhouse gas emissions reduction  strategies  to achieve the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit.   required to be analyzed pursuant to paragraph (1).  (c) The information developed pursuant to subdivision (b) is intended to assist in establishing state policy and does not change any statute, regulation, or regulatory decision.  SEC. 3.   Section 38561.7 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 38561.7. The state board shall establish consistent metrics to accurately quantify reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, quantify public health benefits, and measure the cost-effectiveness of the various strategies identified by the Climate Change Advisory Council pursuant to Section 38561.5 in order to achieve the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit.