California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: market-based compliance mechanisms: Clean Technology Innovation Account.

Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and sets forth its powers and duties as the Governor's lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. The office makes recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature regarding policies, programs, and actions to advance statewide economic goals. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law permits moneys from the fund to be allocated for the research, development, and deployment of innovative technologies, measures, and practices related to programs and projects funded under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. This bill would create the Clean Technology Innovation Account within the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The bill would require the Legislature to annually appropriate moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund or other funds to the Clean Technology Innovation Account in the Budget Act. The bill would make the moneys in the Clean Technology Innovation Account available to the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development for the purposes of evaluating the efficacy of a new technology or product to potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide grants for activities in California for technologies or products that have been evaluated and confirmed to have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as specified. The bill would require the office to establish a Science and Business Review Committee, with a prescribed membership, to provide programmatic and technical expertise to the office.