BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1529
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Date of Hearing: January 29, 2002
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Howard Wayne, Chair
AB 1529 (Wyman) - As Amended: January 10, 2002
SUBJECT : Transmission and gas lines.
SUMMARY : This bill requires the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) to act as expeditiously as possible, but in no
event to exceed the timelines provided in current law, when
reviewing or acting upon an application for a Certificate of
Public Convenience and Necessity (Certificate) authorizing
construction of any electric plant, line, or extension, or gas
plant, line, or extension.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires electrical and gas corporations to obtain, from the
CPUC, a Certificate prior to construction of any electrical
plant, line, or extension, or gas plant, line, or extension.
2)Requires the CPUC, when granting a Certificate, to give
consideration to the following factors:
a) Community values
b) Recreational and park areas
c) Historical and aesthetic values
d) Influence on environment
3)Requires the CPUC, pursuant to the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code 21000, et seq.), to
prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or receive a
negative declaration prior to the construction of an electric
plant, line, or extension, or gas plant, line, or extension.
4)Requires the CPUC to certify the EIR on the construction of a
transmission line or pipeline within 12 months.
5)Requires the CPUC, pursuant to the Permit Streamlining Act
(PSA) (Government Code Section 65920 et seq.) to approve or
disapprove the project within 180 days from the certification
AB 1529
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of an EIR, or within 60 days if a negative declaration is
completed and adopted for the project or a determination that
the project is exempt from CEQA.
6)Requires the CPUC to establish reasonable time periods for the
resolution of proceedings, not to exceed 18 months and to be
consistent with the rate case plans, whichever is shorter.
7)Allows additional time if there are compelling circumstances
and the project applicant consents.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
1)The Certificate Process
During the Certificate process, the CPUC considers an array of
factors, including cost, reliability, need, and environmental
impact. The process can generally be broken down into two parts.
In the first part, environmental issues are addressed pursuant
to CEQA. CEQA requires the CPUC to prepare an initial study to
assess the projects impact on the environment, and to issue a
negative declaration if the initial study shows no significant
effects.
Most electric transmission and gas distribution line projects
are large in scale and cause significant environmental impacts,
in which case the CPUC is required to prepare an EIR. Under
current law, the CPUC generally has 12 months (from the time the
initial application for the Certificate is filed, until the EIR
is certified) for the CEQA portion of the Certificate process.
After the certification of the EIR, if the Certificate has not
been issued, the CPUC begins the second part of the process to
determine the final cost of the sale of an asset or any
additional work that may still be needed for rate recovery. In
the majority of cases, the Certificate is issued at the same
time the EIR is certified by the CPUC. For any proceeding of
this portion of the Certificate process, the CPUC may not exceed
18 months. Generally, in the last few years the only delays
have been in the sale of generation assets when the financial
markets have needed time to determine the actual market value of
the asset.
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2)What is the purpose of the bill ?
According to the author's office, the CPUC generally takes
between 16 and 24 months in their post-EIR Certificate
proceedings. This bill would require all of the work on the
Certificate process (both CEQA and non-CEQA portions) to be
completed as expeditiously as possible in reviewing and acting
upon electric and gas related Certificates, but in no way exceed
the 18-month PSA timeline.
However, because the PSA and the existing statutory deadlines
are both equal to 18 months in length, the bill does not change
any of the statutory deadlines. Therefore, this bill only
appears to encourage the CPUC to act as expeditiously as
possible.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Kyra Ross / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092