Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to establish the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that includes the direct install program and the statewide incentive program for low-carbon building technologies, as provided. This bill would require the Energy Commission to establish a mechanism to notify applicants to the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that they may also be eligible for building energy efficiency and decarbonization incentives authorized by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) . Existing law vests the PUC with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Existing law establishes an 11-member Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the PUC on low-income electrical, gas, and water customer issues, as specified. This bill would add to the Low-Income Oversight Board a member to be selected by the Executive Director of the Energy Commission.
The Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981 requires the State Fire Marshal to administer provisions regulating the inspection of intrastate pipelines that transport hazardous liquids. A person who willfully and knowingly violates the act or a regulation issued pursuant to the act is, upon conviction, subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment, as provided. 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 ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would revise the definition of "pipeline," for purposes of the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981, to include intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal, by July 1, 2026, to adopt regulations governing the safe transportation of carbon dioxide in pipelines that, at a minimum, are as protective as certain draft regulations issued by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on January 10, 2025. The bill would authorize the State Fire Marshal to amend those regulations, as provided. The bill would prohibit the approval of a pipeline for use in transporting carbon dioxide if the pipeline is originally constructed to transport any other liquid or gas, and would prohibit the construction of those pipelines using previously used pipe or components. The bill would prohibit an operator from constructing a pipeline transporting carbon dioxide in a location where one or more sensitive receptors, as defined, are located within the emergency planning zone of the pipeline, which is defined as an area within 2 miles of either side of the pipeline, except as provided. The bill would require an operator of a pipeline transporting carbon dioxide to submit to the State Fire Marshal and the public agency that is the lead agency for the project that includes the pipeline an emergency planning zone inventory and map, as provided, and would require the State Fire Marshal and the lead agency to review, at least once every 3 years, the inventory and map for completeness and accuracy. The bill would require the operator, at least once every 3 years, to provide to local governments providing emergency response services to sensitive receptors within an emergency planning zone the inventory and map determined by the State Fire Marshal and the lead agency to be complete and accurate and any updates to the inventory and map. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal and the lead agency to make publicly available on its internet website all inventories and maps determined to be current, complete, and accurate and would require the State Fire Marshal and the lead agency to redact any personally identifiable information from the publicly available inventories and maps. To the extent this requirement imposes additional duties on a local agency regarding the posting of, and the redaction of information from, the inventories and maps, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the operator to annually provide the map to sensitive receptors within the emergency planning zone of the pipeline. The bill would authorize the State Fire Marshal, for a pipeline transporting carbon dioxide, to order a pipeline shutdown for violations of state or federal laws, or if continued pipeline operations present an immediate danger to health, welfare, or the environment. The bill would, in the event of a pipeline rupture, require the pipeline to remain nonoperational until an investigation into the pipeline rupture is completed and the origin and cause of the pipeline rupture is determined. Because the bill would expand the application of a crime to pipelines transporting carbon dioxide and because a violation of the regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal related to pipelines transporting carbon dioxide would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that to be recognized by the state board for meeting any requirement under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, carbon dioxide transported by pipeline be transported only by pipelines meeting or exceeding the standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal. This bill would, for a project that includes the construction of a pipeline transporting carbon dioxide subject to the requirements of the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981, require the lead agency to prepare or cause to be prepared an EIR or equivalent documentation, as defined, and to certify or adopt those documents for the project. The bill would require the lead agency, upon the completion of a draft EIR or draft equivalent documentation, to notify owners and operators of sensitive receptors within 14 mile of the proposed pipeline and the State Fire Marshal, as provided. The bill would require the lead agency, at least 60 days before the certification of the EIR or the adoption of the equivalent documentation, to notify the State Fire Marshal of the project. By imposing additional duties on a lead agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that the State Fire Marshal provide to the lead agency, in writing, its confirmation that the pipeline is constructed consistent with the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981 and to make the determination publicly available on its internet website. Existing law requires that pipelines only be used to transport carbon dioxide to or from a carbon dioxide capture, removal, or sequestration project once the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has concluded its rulemaking regarding minimum federal safety standards for transportation of carbon dioxide by pipeline. This bill would limit the language restricting the transportation of carbon dioxide by pipeline to apply only to federally regulated interstate pipelines, and would require that intrastate pipelines be used to transport carbon dioxide to or from a carbon dioxide capture, removal, or sequestration project only after the State Fire Marshal adopts its regulations pursuant to the bill and only once the project operator demonstrates that the pipelines meet the standards in those regulations. Existing law assesses a civil penalty for a violation of the act or regulations adopted pursuant to the act. Existing law requires civil penalties assessed for violation, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be available to the State Fire Marshal to provide hazardous liquid fire suppression training to local fire departments. This bill would additionally authorize the assessed civil penalties to be used to provide fire responder training for hazardous gas response and suppression training to local fire departments. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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.
Existing law provides various provisions applicable to all public transit and transit districts and includes specific requirements applicable to public entities that operate commuter rail or rail transit systems. This bill would prohibit a public entity that owns diesel-powered on-track equipment from selling, donating, or otherwise transferring ownership of that equipment for continued use after the public entity decommissions the equipment. The bill would exempt the sale, donation, or transfer of the ownership of that equipment from the prohibition if the equipment is deemed to be in one of specified categories of emissions standards designated by the federal government for locomotives, the equipment produces emissions equivalent to any equipment within any of those federal categories, or the diesel engine is removed from the equipment, as specified.
Existing law prohibits requiring a person desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station that requires payment of a fee from paying a subscription fee in order to use the station, or requiring the person to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. Existing law authorizes an electric vehicle charging station to offer services on a subscription- or membership-only basis, if the station provides nonsubscribers or nonmembers the ability to use the station through a contactless payment method that accepts major credit and debit cards, as specified, and either an automated toll-free telephone number or a short message system (SMS) that provides the electric vehicle charging customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment. Existing law requires a direct current fast charging station that is first installed or made publicly available on or after July 10, 2023, to also include Plug and Charge payment capabilities, as specified. Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to add to or subtract from these payment methods by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, as provided. This bill would create an exception to the above-described provisions to authorize an electric vehicle charging station to require that payment for charging services be made through the use of an internet-based application if the charging station is on the premises of an arena that has a seating capacity of at least 15,000 seats and can only be accessed through the use of that internet-based application. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44268.2 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1423 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1423 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, until January 1, 2028, authorizes the establishment of a Green Empowerment Zone for the Northern Waterfront area of the County of Contra Costa for the purpose of building upon the comparative advantage provided by the regional concentration of highly skilled energy industry workers by prioritizing access to tax incentives, grants, and loan programs, among other incentives. Existing law authorizes the Green Empowerment Zone to be composed of 9 specified cities and the County of Contra Costa, upon adoption of a resolution by the city or county, and provides for the Green Empowerment Zone to be governed by a board of directors comprised of representatives from 7 stakeholder groups, as specified. This bill would extend the authorization for the Green Empowerment Zone to January 1, 2040, and would authorize the expansion of the Green Empowerment Zone to include 4 additional cities, including the Cities of El Cerrito, Pinole, Richmond, and San Pablo, upon adoption of a resolution by each city. The bill would make changes to the stakeholder groups who serve on the board of directors, including increasing the number of stakeholder groups to 8 by adding a category for 7 directors who live or work in the Green Empowerment Zone and who represent environmental or environmental justice organizations or interests.The bill would also provide a process for a legislative body of a city or county included within the Green Empowerment Zone to remove the land within its jurisdiction from the empowerment zone. Existing law requires a board chair and 2 deputy chairs to be selected by majority vote of the board of directors to serve 2-year terms. Existing law authorizes an individual to serve as chair or deputy chair more than once, but prohibits an individual from serving consecutive terms. This bill, instead, would authorize an individual selected to serve a 2-year term to be re-selected by a majority vote of the board of directors for up to three additional terms. Existing law requires the board to appoint a steering committee, and required the steering committee, on or before January 1, 2023, to develop metrics to be reported to the Legislature and state departments and agencies to gauge the progress of the Green Empowerment Zone, as specified. Existing law requires the Green Empowerment Zone to annually post information on those metrics on its internet website, as specified. This bill would change the name of the steering committee to the executive committee and would prescribe the membership of the executive committee. The bill would eliminate the deadline for the executive committee to develop and report the metrics described above, but would require the Green Empowerment Zone, commencing July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to post information on those metrics on its internet website, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Contra Costa. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if the lead agency finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells so as to permit the owners or operators of those wells to use all methods and practices known to the industry for the purpose of increasing the ultimate recovery of geothermal resources, as provided. Existing law requires the division to be the lead agency for all geothermal exploratory projects for purposes of CEQA, as specified, and authorizes the division to delegate its lead agency responsibility for geothermal exploratory projects to a county that has adopted a geothermal element for its general plan. Existing law also requires the county in which a geothermal project is located to assume the responsibilities of a lead agency for a geothermal exploratory project upon the request of an applicant, as specified. Existing law defines "geothermal exploratory project" in part as a project composed of not more than 6 wells and associated drilling and testing equipment whose chief and original purpose is to evaluate the presence and characteristics of geothermal resources. Existing law requires wells included within a geothermal exploratory project to be located at least one-half mile from geothermal development wells that are capable of producing geothermal resources in commercial quantities. Existing law requires the owner or operator of a well to keep, or to cause to be kept, a careful and accurate log, core record, and history of drilling the well and requires the log to show, among other things, the character and depth of the formation passed through or encountered in the drilling of the well. Upon completion or abandonment of a well, or upon the suspension of operations of a well, existing law requires true copies of the log, core record, and history to be filed with the district deputy of an oil and gas district, as specified. This bill would expressly include as part of a geothermal exploratory project, among other things, equipment and activities necessary to establish interconnectivity between wells and reservoirs. The bill would exclude certain wells connecting to geothermal reservoirs from the one-half mile limit described above. The bill would require the log for a well that is part of a geothermal exploratory project that is exempt from CEQA, as described below, to include the chemical and physical characteristics of well stimulation fluids. Upon completion or abandonment of a well, or upon the suspension of operations of a well, that is part of a geothermal exploratory project that is exempt from CEQA, as described below, the bill would require a project developer to disclose the composition of fluids used in all relevant hydraulic fracturing operations with the log for a well and would require the project developer to file a copy of the disclosure with the lead agency. This bill would, until January 1, 2031, exempt from CEQA geothermal exploratory projects that meet specified conditions and for which the county or the Geologic Energy Management Division is the lead agency. The bill would require a project developer to conduct a reconnaissance survey, that includes certain information, and to supply the lead agency with the reconnaissance survey when applying for an exemption from CEQA. The bill would require the lead agency to engage in a scoping consultation with any California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the geographic area of the proposed project, as provided. The bill would authorize the lead agency to require the project applicant to file an indemnity bond, as specified, before the lead agency determines that a geothermal exploratory project is exempt from CEQA. The bill would require a geothermal exploratory project that is exempt from CEQA to include full reclamation of the project site, as provided. The bill would require the lead agency, at least 30 days before making a determination to approve a geothermal exploratory project as exempt from CEQA pursuant to this exemption, to post a written notice of the intent to apply the exemption at the project site and to post a written notice of the intent to apply the exemption and the entire project application on its internet website. If the lead agency determines that the project is exempt from CEQA, the bill would require the lead agency to file a notice with the State Clearinghouse in the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and with the county clerk of the county in which the project is located, as provided, and to provide a copy of the notice to specified entities. Because the exemption would apply to projects where the county is the lead agency and the county would be required to engage in a scoping consultation and determine if a project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a geothermal field development project located on a site where a geothermal exploratory project was deployed pursuant to the above-described CEQA exemption to use a baseline for CEQA review that reflects the site before the geothermal exploratory project occurred. Existing law requires the owner or operator of a well to file a written notice of intention to commence drilling with, and prohibits any drilling until approval is given by, the supervisor or district deputy. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2029, the Geologic Energy Management Division to promulgate regulations for enhanced geothermal system wells, as provided. Before the promulgation and implementation of those regulations, the bill would require an operator to provide specified information to the supervisor when the operator files the notice of intent to commence drilling for a well in a CEQA-exempt geothermal exploratory project that employs enhanced geothermal system technology. 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.
The California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (act) , otherwise known as the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to contract with a landowner to limit the use of agricultural land to agricultural use if the land is located in an agricultural preserve designated by the city or county, as specified. Existing law authorizes the county or city to cancel a contract under certain circumstances and conditions. Existing law requires the city or county to determine the amount of the cancellation fee, based on the assessor's determination of the fair market value of the land as though it were free of the contractual restriction, that the landowner shall pay if the city and county approves a cancellation of a contract, as specified. Existing law authorizes the city or county to waive the payment or extend the time for making payment if the cancellation is caused by an involuntary transfer or change in the use which may be made of land, the county or city has determined that it is in the best interest of the program to conserve agricultural land use that the payment be either deferred or not required, and the extension is approved by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, as provided. This bill would remove the ability of a city or county to waive payment or extend the time for making payment, as described above. The bill would instead authorize the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, upon application by the landowner, to waive payment or extend the time for making payment, as described above, if either the cancellation is caused by an involuntary transfer or change in the use which may be made of the land, as described above, or the cancellation is to facilitate a photovoltaic solar facility that meets specified conditions. The bill, until January 1, 2037, would require the secretary to approve a completed application for extension of making the payment by a landowner if it includes certain items, as provided, and would require the secretary to waive payment if the landowner attests and provides proof to the secretary that a solar project has been constructed on the property. The act deems a contract null and void upon acquisition of the land subject to the contract in an eminent domain action or upon acquisition of land in lieu of eminent domain, as provided. The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2032, to certify, among other projects, a clean renewable energy project that generates electricity exclusively through wind or solar, as specified, for certain streamlining benefits. This bill would additionally deem a contract null and void when that land is approved for use as a photovoltaic solar facility certified under the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021, as provided.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 generally regulates solid waste disposal, management, and recycling. The act requires each city, county, and regional agency to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan. The act requires that element to include a 50% solid waste diversion requirement, as specified, and provides that up to 10% may be achieved through biomass conversion under certain conditions, with biomass conversion defined as the production of heat, fuels, or electricity by certain means from specified materials. One of the conditions for using biomass conversion to satisfy a portion of the solid waste diversion requirement is that pyrolysis not be included in the source reduction and recycling element. Pyrolysis is not defined for that purpose or for other purposes in the act. This bill would define pyrolysis for purposes of the act as the thermal decomposition of material at elevated temperatures in the absence or near absence of oxygen. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to adopt regulations, as specified, to achieve specified reductions in the organic waste disposed of in landfills. The department's regulations provide for, among other things, the calculation by the department of recovered organic waste product procurement targets for each local jurisdiction and a list of eligible recovered organic waste products for purposes of the procurement targets. This bill would require the department, no later than January 1, 2027, to amend those regulations to include, as a recovered organic waste product attributable to a local jurisdiction's procurement target, pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 42652.5 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 786 to be operative only if this bill and AB 786 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
