School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act: grants.

Existing law creates the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as a special fund in the State Treasury and requires any moneys collected by the State Air Resources Board under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 from the auction or sale of allowances pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited into the fund and available for appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires a state agency, prior to expending any moneys appropriated to it by the Legislature from the fund, to prepare a record consisting of a description of proposed expenditures and how they will further the regulatory purposes of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, how they will achieve specified greenhouse gas emissions reductions, how the agency considered other objectives of that act, and how the agency will document expenditure results. This bill would enact the School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act. The bill would create the School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as a special fund in the State Treasury. The bill would make moneys in the School Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund available to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of implementing the program. The bill states the intent of the Legislature that the commission administer the fund and implement the program in coordination with the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide grants to eligible institutions for building retrofits to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce the demand for energy. The bill would require the commission to award grants through the Bright Schools Program, as specified, and require the commission, in consultation with the Superintendent, to establish a system to prioritize eligible institutions for grants.