Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to convene the Lithium-Ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group to review, and advise the Legislature on, policies pertaining to the recovery and recycling of lithium-ion vehicle batteries sold with motor vehicles in the state. Existing law also requires the advisory group to submit policy recommendations to the Legislature aimed at ensuring that as close to 100% as possible of lithium-ion vehicle batteries in the state are reused or recycled at end of life in a safe and cost-effective manner. Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with coordinating efforts to attain and maintain ambient air quality standards and to regulate emissions from motor vehicles. Existing state board regulations require certain new motor vehicles to be equipped with specified traction battery labels. This bill would require, commencing July 1, 2028, a battery supplier, as defined, to equip a new vehicle traction battery sold in the state with a permanent label containing only specified information, as provided. The bill would require a remanufacturer to rebrand and relabel a remanufactured vehicle traction battery, as provided. The bill would require each battery supplier and remanufacturer, no later than 90 days after the chaptering of the act, to register with the state board and provide the state board with specified information. The bill would require those entities to update that registration and information annually and upon request of the board, as provided. The bill would require the state board to adopt regulations no later than July 1, 2031, to implement and enforce these provisions and would require the state board to determine the most cost-effective means to accept required electronic submissions, as provided. This bill would require battery suppliers, beginning July 1, 2029, and annually thereafter, to pay the state board a fee sufficient to cover the state board's full personnel, administrative, regulatory, and loan and interest costs related to implementing and enforcing these provisions. The bill would require the state board to create a tiered fee schedule based on each battery supplier's share of total in-state vehicle registrations with vehicle traction batteries 10 years prior, and would exempt establishment of and updates to that schedule from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would establish the Vehicle Traction Battery Recovery Fund (fund) in the State Treasury and would require the state board to deposit all fee moneys into the fund, as specified. Moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, only to implement and enforce these provisions, and to reimburse specified loans and interest. The bill would authorize, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Director of Finance to make a loan from an unspecified fund to the fund to meet regulatory and startup costs of the state board's activities pursuant to these provisions. The state board's duties under the bill would be contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes.
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.
Existing law, until June 30, 2029, authorizes a person proposing an eligible facility, including an energy storage system capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy, to submit an application for certification with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission of the site and related facility. Existing law specifies that the issuance by the commission of the certificate is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by any state, local, or regional agency, or federal agency to the extent permitted by federal law, except as provided. Existing law establishes the procedures by which the commission is to review the application. This bill would specify that energy storage systems do not include battery energy storage systems for the above-described purposes. The bill would require the commission to deny applications for a battery energy storage system that are pending as of the effective date of the bill. Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, sets forth various requirements relating to the review of development project permit applications and the issuance of development permits for specified classes of development projects. This bill would prohibit the authorization of a development project that includes a battery energy storage system capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy if the development project is located within 3,200 feet of a sensitive receptor or is located on an environmentally sensitive site, as specified. By modifying the duties of local agencies with regard to the approval of development projects that include a battery energy storage system, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorize a person proposing an eligible facility, including an energy storage system that is capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy, to file with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission an application for certification for the site and related facility, as provided. Existing law provides that the certification issued by the commission is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by a state, local, or regional agency for the use of the site and related facility. This bill would exclude energy storage facilities that use batteries as a storage medium from the above-described provisions. This bill would prohibit, until January 1, 2028, a public agency from authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility, as defined. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt guidelines and minimum standards for the construction of a battery energy storage facility to prevent fires and protect nearby communities from any fire hazard posed by the facility. The bill would require a public agency, when authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility on or after January 1, 2028, to require the facility to meet the guidelines and minimum standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal or more stringent guidelines and minimum standards as determined appropriate by the public agency. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local agencies in authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility, 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 Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, local publicly owned electric utilities, and interested members of the public, to establish eligibility criteria for solar energy systems receiving ratepayer-funded incentives, as specified. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to adopt guidelines for solar energy systems receiving ratepayer-funded incentives, as provided. This bill would authorize the Energy Commission to establish distributed energy resource equipment lists with rating standards for equipment and components for solar energy systems, distributed energy storage systems, and electric vehicle service equipment, as specified. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would require the Energy Commission to also adopt guidelines for the distributed energy resource equipment lists, as provided.
Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells so as to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources, damage to underground oil and gas deposits from infiltrating water and other causes, loss of oil, gas, or reservoir of energy, and damage to underground and surface waters suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes by the infiltration of, or the addition of, detrimental substances. Existing law defines "wells" to mean oil or gas wells or other wells related to oil or gas production. Under existing law, a person who fails to comply with the requirements relating to the regulation of wells is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would, until January 1, 2035, establish the Gravity-Based Energy Storage Well Pilot Program and would authorize the supervisor to authorize the conversion of not more than 250 wells for use as gravity-based energy storage wells, as defined, to evaluate their use, including the establishment of appropriate operating conditions and physical parameters to safely generate energy, as provided. The bill would authorize the supervisor, the State Water Resources Control Board, or an appropriate regional water quality control board, before authorizing the use of a well as a gravity-based energy storage well, to require the operator to provide certain information demonstrating the suitability of the well for use as a gravity-based energy storage well. The bill would require idle wells that are authorized for use as gravity-based energy storage wells to be identified as gravity-based energy storage wells in a plan for the management and elimination of idle wells or updates to the plan required to be filed with the supervisor. The bill would require the Geologic Energy Management Division to require mechanical integrity testing of wells before conversion to gravity-based energy storage wells and not less than annually thereafter. The bill would require an operator of a gravity-based energy storage well, in the event of a loss of mechanical integrity of the well or a leak to the environment, to notify the division, the State Air Resources Board, the appropriate regional water quality control board, and schools and community members within 3,200 feet of the well and to cease operation until the mechanical integrity is restored or to plug and abandon the well, as provided. The bill would require gravity-based energy storage wells to be continuously monitored for leaks. The bill would require operators of gravity-based energy storage wells to annually report to the division certain information regarding their operation of the gravity-based energy storage wells. The bill would specify that the authorization for wells to be used as gravity-based energy storage wells ends at the termination of the pilot program. The bill would, by January 1, 2033, require the division, in consultation with certain entities, to evaluate the pilot program and make recommendations to the Legislature for a framework to implement an ongoing Gravity-Based Energy Storage Well Program to regulate the operation of gravity-based energy storage wells, as provided. The bill would, until January 1, 2035, impose an annual charge on operators of gravity-based energy storage wells, as provided, to defray the regulatory costs incurred by the state in maintaining surveillance of those wells, ensuring that testing is conducted properly, and ensuring no damage occurs to the environment by reason of the conversion. Because a violation of the requirements of the Gravity-Based Energy Storage Well Pilot Program 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 authorizes a person proposing an eligible facility, including an energy storage system that is capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy, to file with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) an application for certification for the site and related facility, as provided. Existing law provides that the certification issued by the Energy Commission is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by a state, local, or regional agency for the use of the site and related facility. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to direct the state's 3 largest electrical corporations to file applications for programs and investments to accelerate widespread deployment of distributed energy storage systems for specified purposes and authorizes the PUC to approve, or modify and approve, programs and investments of an electrical corporation in distributed energy storage systems with appropriate energy storage management systems, as defined. This bill would require that an application submitted to the Energy Commission after January 1, 2026, in accordance with the above-described provisions relating to certification of facilities by the Energy Commission, and an application submitted to a local jurisdiction, as defined, for an energy storage system, include the applicant's certification that, at least 30 days before submitting the application, the applicant met and conferred with the authority that has jurisdiction over fire suppression in the area where the energy storage system is proposed, as provided. The bill would also prohibit the Energy Commission certification or local approval unless, after installation is complete, but before commencing operations or use of the batteries, the energy storage system is inspected by the authority that has jurisdiction over fire suppression. The bill would require that the applicant bear the cost of the inspection, as specified. The bill would require, as part of the next update to the California Building Standards Code considered after July 1, 2026, the Office of the State Fire Marshal to review and consider proposing provisions that restrict the location of energy storage systems to dedicated-use noncombustible buildings or outdoor installations, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local officers, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. 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 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.
(1) Existing law requires each electrical utility or other entity that offers electrical service, except as specified, to develop a standard contract or tariff that provides for net energy metering (NEM) , that, among other things, compensates each eligible customer-generator, as defined, for the electricity it generated, as provided. Existing law requires each electrical utility to make the contract or tariff, commonly known as NEM 1.0, available to eligible customer-generators, upon request, as specified. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop an additional standard contract or tariff, and requires each large electrical corporation to offer that standard contract or tariff, commonly known as NEM 2.0, to its eligible customer-generators, as provided. Existing law authorizes the commission to revise the standard contract or tariff, as specified. Pursuant to its authority, the commission adopted Decision 22-12-056 (December 19, 2022) , commonly known as the net billing tariff, which creates a successor tariff to NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 and includes specified elements. Existing law requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, determined by the Director of Industrial Relations, be paid to workers employed on public works projects. Existing law defines "public works" for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages to include construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for using public funds, except as specified. Existing law requires the awarding body, as defined, of a contract for public work to do specified things, including to withhold and retain all amounts required to satisfy any civil wage and penalty assessments issued by the Labor Commissioner from payments made to the contractor, as specified. Existing law requires an awarding body to provide notice, containing certain information, to the Department of Industrial Relations of any public works contract subject to the public works requirements, within 30 days of the award, as provided. Existing law constitutes, beginning December 31, 2023, the construction of any renewable electrical generation facility and any associated battery storage that receives service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff, except as specified, as a public works project. This bill would specify that an entity that engaged a contractor for construction of a renewable electrical generation facility and associated battery storage, as described above, is not an awarding body and that certain public works project requirements do not apply to that entity. The bill would also specify that the contractor who enters into a contract with that entity for those construction services is the awarding body only for purposes of the above-described requirement to provide notice to the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law provides for various enforcement mechanisms related to ensuring a contractor pays each construction worker the prevailing rate of per diem wages, and provides that enforcement of a willful violation of any of these mechanisms against a contractor for the construction of a renewable electrical generation facility disqualifies that facility from being eligible to receive service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff. This bill instead would specify that a renewable electrical generation facility remains eligible to receive service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff despite enforcement of a willful violation against a contractor for the construction of the facility, as described above, if restitution has been made to the affected workers and all associated penalties and fines have been paid. (2) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above-described provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the 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.
(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.
