Greenhouse gases: investment plan: disadvantaged communities.

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. 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 fund. Existing law requires the investment plan to allocate a minimum of 25% of the available moneys in the fund to projects that provide benefits to disadvantaged communities, as defined, and a minimum of 10% to projects located in those disadvantaged communities. Existing law authorizes the allocation of 10% for projects located in disadvantaged communities to be used for projects included in the minimum allocation of 25% for projects that provide benefits to disadvantaged communities. This bill would instead require the investment plan to allocate (1) a minimum of 25% of the available moneys in the fund to projects located within, and benefiting individuals living in, disadvantaged communities, (2) an additional minimum of 5% to projects that benefit low-income households or to projects located within, and benefiting individuals living in, low-income communities located anywhere in the state, and (3) an additional minimum of 5% either to projects that benefit low-income households that are outside of, but within a 12 mile of, disadvantaged communities, or to projects located within the boundaries of, and benefiting individuals living in, low-income communities that are outside of, but within a 12 mile of, disadvantaged communities. The bill would become operative only if AB 1613 of the 2015–16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2017.