Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan for the city's or county's physical development that includes various elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land in specified categories, and a circulation element that identifies the location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, as specified. This bill, the Local Electrification Planning Act, would require each city, county, or city and county, on or after January 1, 2027, but no later than January 1, 2030, to prepare and adopt a specified plan, or integrate a plan in the next adoption or revision of the general plan, that includes locally based goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures that include, among other things, the identification of opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging and other zero-emission vehicle fueling infrastructure, as specified, and includes policies and implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups. For these purposes, the bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to designate a previously adopted similar plan that meets the above-described requirements, as specified. By increasing the duties of local public officials, the bill would establish a state-mandated local program. The bill would deem a plan adopted pursuant to these provisions as a regional plan for specified purposes. The bill would require that the above-described provisions only apply to a city, county, or city and county with a population greater than 75,000 residents. The bill would define terms for these purposes. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. 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.
Existing law establishes and vests in the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) various responsibilities with respect to developing and implementing the state's energy policies. Existing law authorizes persons proposing specified electrical generation, electrical transmission, hydrogen production, and energy storage projects to apply, on or before June 30, 2029, to the Energy Commission to certify sites and related facilities as environmental leadership development projects, as specified. Existing law makes a site and related facility certified by the Energy Commission subject to streamlining benefits related to CEQA with no further action by the applicant or the Governor. Under existing law, the Energy Commission's certification is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by any governmental agency and supersedes any applicable statute, ordinance, or regulation, except as specified. This bill would expand the types of facilities eligible to be certified as environmental leadership development projects by the Energy Commission to include geothermal powerplants and projects that comprise multiple geothermal powerplants on a single site. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 25545 of the Public Resources Code proposed by SB 254 to be operative only if this bill and SB 254 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law establishes the Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Program, which is administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for the purpose of supporting state activities that complement and are in furtherance of federal laws related to the development of offshore wind facilities. Existing law creates, and continuously appropriates moneys in, the Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Fund in the State Treasury for purposes of the program and the Private Donations Account, which is created in the fund. Existing law authorizes the commission to accept federal and private sector moneys for purposes of the program and requires the private sector moneys to be deposited into the donations account and the federal moneys to be deposited into the fund. Existing law makes records of the donations received subject to public disclosure. Existing law requires the commission to post a report on its internet website, within 30 days of receiving a donation, with specified information regarding each donation received. Existing law authorizes the commission to allocate moneys in the fund or donations account for specified purposes, including workforce development grants. This bill would additionally authorize the commission to allocate moneys in the fund or account for capacity funding activities and grants within local communities and tribal communities for purposes of the program. The bill would make only a local community, a local government, a California tribe, a nonprofit organization selected by California tribes to represent their interests, or a coalition of these entities eligible for these capacity funding activities and grants. By expanding the purposes for which continuously appropriated moneys may be allocated, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would make the public disclosure requirement described above applicable to donations received by an eligible entity from an offshore wind entity, as defined, and would require an offshore wind entity to report, every 90 days, specified information concerning these donations to the commission. The bill would delete the requirement for the commission to post a report on its internet website for donations received by the commission, as described above, and would instead require the commission to annually post a report on its internet website related to donations made by offshore wind entities to eligible entities, as specified. The bill would require the commission to annually prepare and submit a report, on or before March 1 of each year, to the Legislature on the implementation and effectiveness of the activities and grants funded pursuant to the bill.
(1) The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, governed by a board of directors. The act, among other things, authorizes the I-Bank to make loans, issue bonds, and provide financial assistance for various types of projects that qualify as economic development or public development facilities. The Climate Catalyst Revolving Fund Act of 2020 authorizes the I-bank, under the Climate Catalyst Revolving Fund Program, to provide financial assistance to any eligible sponsor or participating party in connection with the financing or refinancing of a climate catalyst project, either directly to the sponsor or participating party or to a lending or financial institution, as provided. The act requires the I-Bank to adopt climate catalyst financing plans for specified categories of climate catalyst projects, as specified, after meeting and conferring with the appropriate consulting agencies for those specified categories of climate catalyst projects. This bill would authorize the I-bank to provide financial assistance in connection with the financing or refinancing of a new category of climate catalyst projects, those that enable the decarbonization of industrial facilities' use of heat and power, including, but not limited to, industrial heat pump and thermal energy storage projects, as specified, with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board as consulting agencies. The bill would specify conditions to be satisfied regarding these projects. The bill would make implementation of the financial assistance for this new category of climate catalyst projects contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature. (2) Existing law requires the commission to establish and implement the Long-Duration Energy Storage Program to provide financial incentives for eligible projects, including thermal storage, that have power ratings of at least one megawatt and are capable of reaching a target of at least 8 hours of continuous discharge of electricity in order to deploy innovative energy storage systems to the electrical grid for purposes of providing critical capacity and grid services. Existing law requires the commission to give preference to eligible projects that have certain impacts, including those that increase the use of renewable energy. This bill would establish and implement an Industrial Facilities Thermal Energy Storage Program within the Long-Duration Energy Storage Program to provide financial incentives for eligible projects to decarbonize industrial facilities' use of heat and power, as specified. The bill would include thermal energy storage, as defined, rather than thermal storage, as an eligible project. The bill would require the commission to give preference to eligible projects that increase the use of renewable energy through reducing curtailment and shifting power usage from peak to off-peak times, rather than to all projects that increase the use of renewable energy. The bill would prohibit, after January 1, 2027, the commission from providing these financial incentives to projects that involve the performance of work by contractors in the construction industry unless that work is performed under a project labor agreement, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the commission to establish and administer the Industrial Grid Support and Decarbonization Program to provide financial incentives for the implementation of eligible projects at eligible industrial facilities to provide significant benefits to the electrical grid, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, achieve the state's clean energy goals, and exceed compliance requirements. Existing law subjects projects to certain conditions of eligibility for these financial incentives. Existing law requires the commission, in providing financial incentives, to give preference to certain types of projects. This bill would rename the program the Industrial Decarbonization and Improvement of Grid Operations Program and would add, among its purposes, reducing emissions of health-harming pollutants. The bill would revise some of the conditions for eligible projects. The bill would make, after January 1, 2027, projects that involve the performance of work by contractors in the construction industry ineligible for these financial incentives unless the work is performed under a project labor agreement, as provided. The bill would require, after January 1, 2027, an eligible project for a facility that has a record of air permit violations to separately develop a plan for pollution remediation, including for ecological and public health harms. The bill would require the commission to also give preference, in providing financial incentives, to an eligible project that is located in an under-resourced community, as defined, and an eligible project that develops a community benefit fund or agrees to pursue a community benefits agreement with the surrounding community and other affected stakeholders.
Existing law establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, with various responsibilities with respect to developing and implementing the state's energy policies. Existing law requires, as part of the 2027 edition of the integrated energy policy report, the commission to include an assessment of the potential for fusion energy to contribute to California's power supply. Existing law requires the commission to carry out technical assessment studies on all forms of energy, including, among others, advanced nuclear powerplant concepts, fusion, and fuel cells. This bill would establish the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Initiative within the commission to accelerate the development and growth of fusion energy by advancing fusion science and technology. The bill would require the commission to administer the initiative and provide financial incentives for projects that, among other things, advance research and development into fusion energy, accelerate the deployment of new research and technology capabilities that support the commercialization of fusion energy, or achieve the initiative's goal of delivering the world's first fusion energy pilot project in the state by the 2040s, as specified. The bill would make its provisions operative, and implementation of its provisions contingent, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for the initiative. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2028.
The California Constitution generally limits the maximum rate of ad valorem tax on real property to 1% of the full cash value of the property and defines "full cash value" for these purposes as the appraised value of real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred after the 1975 assessment. Pursuant to constitutional authorization, existing property tax law excludes from the definition of "newly constructed" for these purposes the construction or addition of any active solar energy system, as defined, through the 2025–26 fiscal year. Under existing property tax law, this exclusion remains in effect only until there is a subsequent change in ownership, but an active solar energy system that qualifies for the exclusion before January 1, 2027, continues to receive the exclusion until there is a subsequent change in ownership. Existing law repeals these exclusion provisions on January 1, 2027. This bill would make a technical change to the existing active solar energy system exclusion by instead making the repeal date of January 1, 2027, the date the exclusion becomes inoperative. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 73 of the Revenue and Taxation Code proposed by AB 1516 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1516 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, or the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative, to require an energy supplier, defined as an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, or electrical cooperative, administering a decarbonization upgrade program or initiative, to record, no later than 30 days after funding a decarbonization upgrade, a notice of decarbonization charge, as defined, with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located, as specified. Existing law requires, among other things, an energy supplier, within 30 days of full cost recovery of the outstanding charges related to the recorded notice of decarbonization charge, to record a notice of the full cost recovery and removal of the decarbonization charge with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located. This bill would add gas corporations to the definition of "energy supplier" for purposes of the above-described provisions and make conforming changes. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing the above provisions would be 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.
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants and sources of air pollution. Existing law prohibits the state board from adopting any regulation that establishes a specification for motor vehicle fuel unless that regulation, and a multimedia evaluation conducted by affected agencies and coordinated by the state board, are reviewed by the California Environmental Policy Council. This bill would, notwithstanding that prohibition, authorize blends of gasoline containing 10.5% to 15% ethanol by volume to be sold in the state for use as a transportation fuel until (1) the California Environmental Policy Council completes its review of those blends and (2) the state board either adopts a regulation establishing a specification for those blends or posts an assessment on its internet website demonstrating that it is not possible for a regulation establishing a specification for those blends to meet specified requirements. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes the formation of reclamation districts by owners of swamp and overflowed lands, salt-marsh, or tidelands, or other lands subject to flood or overflow, and by owners of land already reclaimed, or in progress of reclamation, and not included in a reclamation district. Existing law authorizes Reclamation District No. 1004, in conjunction with the County of Colusa, to construct, maintain, and operate a plant, transmission lines, and other necessary or appropriate facilities for the generation of hydroelectric power, as prescribed. Existing law requires proceeds from the sale of electricity to be used to retire any time warrants issued for construction of the facilities and otherwise for the powers and purposes for which the district was formed. Existing law authorizes Reclamation District No. 108 to exercise this hydroelectric power authority until January 1, 2026. This bill would authorize Reclamation District No. 108 to continue to exercise the above-described hydroelectric power authority after January 1, 2026. The bill would require Reclamation District No. 108 to submit a report to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Local Government on or before January 1, 2031, and between January 1, 2035, and January 1, 2036, containing certain information, including, among other things, whether the district has obtained permission from the Colusa Local Agency Formation Commission to enact its hydroelectric authority. The bill would also require the report to include the reasons the district is currently not exercising its hydroelectric authority and an estimated date by which the district expects to begin exercising that authority. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing sales and use tax laws impose taxes on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act establishes the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. The act authorizes, until January 1, 2026, the authority to provide financial assistance to a participating party by authorizing exclusions from sales and use tax for certain projects, including those that promote California-based manufacturing, California-based jobs, advanced manufacturing, the reduction of greenhouse gases, or a reduction in air and water pollution or energy consumption. The Sales and Use Tax Law, for the purposes of the taxes imposed pursuant to that law, until January 1, 2026, excludes the lease or transfer of title of tangible personal property constituting one of those projects to any contractor for use in the performance of a construction contract for a participating party that will use that property as an integral part of the approved project. This bill would extend to January 1, 2028, the authorization to provide financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion for projects approved by the authority. The bill would add electrical generation facilities using nuclear fusion technology to the types of projects qualifying for this sales and use tax exclusion. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2026, for an applicant that, together with its parent corporation and subsidiaries, employs 500 or more employees, prohibit the authority from approving a project unless the applicant certifies that the applicant and its subcontractors will comply with certain labor requirements. The bill would make other conforming changes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
