BILL NUMBER: AB 151 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 25, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Vargas
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Firebaugh, Montanez, Mullin, and
Yee)
JANUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Section 41514.15 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to air pollution , and making an appropriation
therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 151, as amended, Vargas. Air pollution: importation of
electrical energy: mitigation fee.
(1) Existing law designates air pollution control districts and
air quality management districts as having the primary responsibility
for the control of air pollution from all sources other than
vehicular sources. Existing law also designates the State Air
Resources Board as the state entity responsible for the coordination
and review of all levels of government in their efforts to control
air pollution.
This bill would require any person that imports electrical energy
into the state, or causes electricity to be imported into the state,
to, commencing January 1, 2004, pay up to a $0.001 per kilowatthour
air contaminant emission mitigation fee for that electricity, but not
to exceed the cost of mitigation, as determined by the state board.
The bill would authorize the state board, commencing January 1,
2006, to reduce that fee to a lower amount, upon making a
determination that the lower fee amount would further enhance
reductions of emissions of air contaminants. The bill would impose
the fee only if the electricity is produced by an electrical
generating facility, as defined, that is located within an air basin
shared by a district and Mexico and located in Mexico within 100
kilometers of the United States border. Additionally, under the
bill, the fee would only apply if the electrical generating facility'
s initial production of electricity occurred after January 1, 2003,
and the state board determines that the electrical generating
facility was not constructed using the best available control
technology (BACT) for air contaminants.
The bill would establish the Imported Electricity Air Pollution
Mitigation Subaccount in the Air Pollution Control Fund, and would
require the air contaminant emission mitigation fees to be deposited
in that subaccount. The bill would make the moneys deposited in the
subaccount from the mitigation fees continuously
appropriated without regard to fiscal years, thereby making an
appropriation.
The bill would require the state board to distribute the revenues
generated from the mitigation fees available to the
state board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for distribution
to each district in the state that the state board determines
is directly impacted by emissions of air contaminants from those
electrical generating facilities , and . The
bill would require each district receiving those revenues to
fund projects within their jurisdiction to mitigate the environmental
or health impacts of electricity generation facilities. By
prescribing additional duties on districts, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(2) 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes no
. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 41514.15 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
41514.15. (a) Any person that who
imports electrical energy into the state, or causes
electricity to be imported into the state, shall the
state shall pay an electrical generation fee in the amount
described in subdivision (b) to the state board to mitigate the air
pollution caused by the generation of that electricity, if the
electrical generating facility that generated the electricity meets
all of the following criteria:
(1) Is located within an air basin shared by a district and
Mexico, as determined by the state board.
(2) Is located in Mexico.
(3) Is located within 100 kilometers of the United States border.
(4) First produced electricity after January 1, 2003.
(5) Was not constructed using the best available control
technology (BACT) for air contaminants, as determined by the state
board.
(b) Commencing January 1, 2004, the electricity generation
mitigation fee described in subdivision (a) shall be assessed by the
state board at a rate of not more than $0.001 per kilowatthour of
electricity that is imported into the state, but not to exceed the
cost that the state board determines is necessary to mitigate the
environmental or health impacts of electricity generation facilities
meeting the criteria described in subdivision (a) and any associated
administrative costs to each impacted district. Commencing January
1, 2006, the state board may impose a fee less than the
$0.01 $0.001 per kilowatthour of electricity
imposed by this subdivision, if the state board determines that the
lower fee amount would further enhance reductions of emissions of air
contaminants.
(c) The fees collected by the state board pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall be deposited into the Imported Electricity Air Pollution
Mitigation Subaccount, which is hereby established in the Air
Pollution Control Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, moneys deposited in the subaccount pursuant to this
section shall be continuously appropriated to the state board,
without regard to fiscal years, for the purposes described in
Pollution Control Fund. The moneys deposited in the
subaccount pursuant to this section shall be available to the state
board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes
described in subdivision (d).
(d) (1) The state board shall distribute the revenues that are
deposited in the subaccount pursuant to this section to each district
that the state board determines is directly impacted by emissions of
air contaminants from an electrical generating facility that meets
the criteria described in subdivision (a), in the proportion that the
state board determines the district is impacted.
(2) A district receiving revenues pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
utilize those moneys to fund projects within their jurisdiction that
the district determines will mitigate the environmental or health
impacts of electricity generation facilities meeting the criteria
described in subdivision (a). The district may not expend more
than 10 percent of the moneys it receives from the state board
pursuant to paragraph (1) for administrative costs.
(e) For the purposes of this section, "electrical generating
facility" means every electrical generating unit of a powerplant that
is located at a common site in Mexico. If more than one electrical
generating unit exists at a powerplant project, all of the electrical
generating units shall be deemed to be part of one electrical
generating facility.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.