BILL NUMBER: AB 594 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 3, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leno
FEBRUARY 18, 2003
An act to add Section 21080.31 to the Public Resources
Code, relating to environmental protection. 2828 to
the Public Utilities Code, relating to solar energy systems, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 594, as amended, Leno. California Environmental
Quality Act: bicycle lanes Solar energy systems:
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power solar generation .
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is vested with
regulatory authority over public utilities and is required to
establish requirements for the administration of power purchase
contracts between electrical corporations and private energy
producers. Existing law authorizes the City of Davis to receive a
bill credit, as defined, to a benefiting account, as defined, for
electricity supplied to the electrical grid by a photovoltaic
facility located within and partially owned by the city and requires
the commission to adopt a rate tariff for the benefiting account.
This bill would authorize the City and County of San Francisco to
elect to designate specific photovoltaic generation facilities
meeting specified conditions as Hetch Hetchy Water and Power (HHWP)
solar generation facilities and upon election and the filing and
acceptance of an advice letter with the commission establishing
rates, Pacific Gas and Electric Company would be required on a
monthly basis, to pay the City and County of San Francisco for the
electricity generated and delivered to the electric grid at the
established time-of-use rate.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act, a
filed tariff, or an order of the commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of the bill would be a part of the act and
would require an order or other action of the commission to implement
those provisions, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program by creating a new crime.
The bill would declare that, due to the special circumstances
applicable only to HHWP solar generation facilities, a general
statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of
Article IV of the California Constitution, and the enactment of a
special statute is therefore necessary.
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 bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
The existing 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 it finds that the project will not have that effect.
Existing law requires the Office of Planning and Research to prepare
and develop guidelines for the implementation of CEQA by public
agencies, and requires those guidelines to include a list of classes
of projects that have been determined not to have a significant
effect on the environment. Existing regulations adopted by the
office include in that list projects known as "Class 4" projects that
consist of minor public or private alterations in the condition of
land, water, and vegetation that do not involve the removal of
healthy, mature, or scenic trees, except as specified, and
specifically include the creation of a bicycle lane on an existing
right-of-way as an example of a "Class 4" project.
This bill would exempt from CEQA a project that consists of
restriping an existing paved right-of-way for bicycle lanes, under
specified conditions.
Vote: majority 2/3 .
Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local
program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 21080.31 is added to the Public
The Legislature finds and declares each of the
following:
(a) Increasing California's use of solar generated electricity
promotes stable electricity prices, protects public health, improves
environmental quality, stimulates sustainable economic development,
creates new employment opportunities, and reduces reliance on fossil
fuels.
(b) Electricity for municipal facilities of the City and County of
San Francisco is provided by Hetch Hetchy Water and Power through
electric transmission and distribution lines owned by Pacific Gas and
Electric Company. This situation is unique to the City and County
of San Francisco. Because of this situation solar electric
generation on municipal facilities are prevented from exporting
electricity to the grid. For all other cities and counties that have
electricity distributed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, solar
electric facilities on municipal facilities are permitted to export
electricity to the grid under net metering.
(c) San Francisco is among the most vulnerable areas of California
for electricity blackouts because of transmission constraints that
prevent electricity from coming into the city and aging powerplants
located in the city. Development of solar electric facilities in San
Francisco can improve electric service reliability and contribute to
the retirement of the aging fossil fuel generating facilities.
(d) Payments for the electricity produced from Hetch Hetchy Water
and Power solar generation facilities are in the public interest in
order to value the production of a unique, wholly renewable resource
for electricity generation located in, and owned by, the City and
County of San Francisco.
SEC. 2. Section 2828 is added to Chapter 9 of Part 1 of Division 1
of the Public Utilities Code, to read:
2828. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Environmental attributes" associated with the Hetch Hetchy
Water and Power (HHWP) solar generation include, but are not limited
to, the credits, benefits, emissions reductions, environmental air
quality credits, and emissions reduction credits, offsets, and
allowances, however entitled, resulting from the avoidance of the
emission of any gas, chemical, or other substance attributable to the
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic electricity generation
facility owned by the City and County of San Francisco.
(2) "HHWP solar generation" means the electricity generated by
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power photovoltaic electricity generation
facilities owned by the City and County of San Francisco, not to
exceed five megawatts of peak generation capacity in total.
(b) The City and County of San Francisco may elect to designate
specific photovoltaic electricity generation facilities as HHWP solar
generation, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) No single photovoltaic generation project exceeds one megawatt
of peak generation capacity.
(2) The electricity generated by the photovoltaic facility is
metered for time of use.
(3) All costs associated with equipping the facility with time of
use metering pursuant to paragraph (2) are the responsibility of the
City and County of San Francisco.
(4) All electricity delivered to the electric grid by the HHWP
solar generation is the property of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
(5) The City and County of San Francisco does not sell electricity
delivered to the electric grid from HHWP solar generation to a third
party.
(6) The right, title, and interest in the environmental attributes
associated with the electricity delivered to the electric grid by
the HHWP solar generation are the property of the City and County of
San Francisco.
(c) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall pay the City and County
of San Francisco, on a monthly basis, an amount equal to the
applicable time-of-use rate for the electricity generated by the HHWP
solar generation that is delivered to the electric grid.
(d) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall file an advice letter
with the commission, that complies with this section, not later than
10 days after the City and County of San Francisco first designates
the specific generation facilities that will comprise HHWP solar
generation, proposing a rate for the purchase of the electricity
generated by the HHWP solar generation. The commission, within 30
days of the date of filing of the advice letter, shall approve the
proposed rate or specify conforming changes to be made by Pacific Gas
and Electric Company to be filed in a new advice letter within 30
days.
(e) The City and County of San Francisco may terminate its
election pursuant to subdivision (b), upon providing Pacific Gas and
Electric Company with a minimum of 60 days' notice.
(f) Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the City and County of
San Francisco shall, no later than January 1, 2010, report to the
commission on the costs and benefits to Pacific Gas and Electric
Company ratepayers of the installed HHWP solar generation.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that, because of the
unique circumstances applicable only to Hetch Hetchy Water and Power
solar generation of electricity, a statute of general applicability
cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 16
of Article IV of the California Constitution. Therefore, this
special statute is necessary.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 5. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has several
opportunities to develop large-scale solar generation facilities in
San Francisco in the near future if the issue of exporting some of
the electricity to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company grid can be
resolved. These sites include the covered University Mound
Reservoir, which could accommodate a 1 megawatt project, and the new
Moscone West Convention Center, which could also support a 1 megawatt
project. Because the City of San Francisco is not currently
eligible for net metering at these sites, it is difficult to begin
planning for project development at these sites. Development of a
large-scale solar generation facility at either site would be one of
the premier solar electricity generation installations in the United
States, providing impetus for additional solar energy development in
California. It is necessary that this act take effect immediately to
enable SFPUC to prepare bid documents and to select a project
developer on an expedited basis in order to obtain the environmental
and public health advantages that these projects achieve.
Resources Code, to read:
21080.31. This division does not apply to a project consisting of
restriping an existing paved right-of-way for bicycle lanes provided
that all of the following conditions are met:
(a) The project is consistent with an applicable general plan,
including, but not limited to, the transportation element of the
general plan, specific plan, or local coastal program, and the
mitigation measures required by the plan or program.
(b) The director of public works of the local agency in which the
project is proposed to be located makes a written finding, supported
by substantial evidence, that the project will not create a
significant risk to either vehicle or pedestrian safety.
(c) The project does not affect wetlands or wildlife habitat. For
the purposes of this subdivision, "wetlands" has the same meaning as
in Section 328.3 of Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations and
"wildlife habitat" means the ecological communities upon which wild
animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, and invertebrates depend
for their conservation and protection.
(d) The project does not harm a species protected by the federal
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), the
Native Plant Protection Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
1900) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code), the California
Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code), or a species protected by a
local ordinance.
(e) The site of the project is not included on a list of
facilities or sites compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the
Government Code.
(f) (1) The site of the project is subject to a preliminary
endangerment assessment prepared by a registered environmental
assessor to determine if there has been a release of a hazardous
substance on the site and whether there is a potential for exposure
to a significant health hazard from a surrounding property or
activity.
(2) If a release of a hazardous substance is found to exist on the
site, the release is removed or the significant effects of the
release are mitigated to a level of insignificance in compliance with
state and federal requirements.
(3) If a potential for exposure to a significant hazard from a
surrounding property or activity is found to exist, the effect of the
potential exposure shall be mitigated to a level of insignificance
in compliance with state and federal requirements.
(g) The project does not have a significant effect on historical
resources.
(h) The project will not create a risk of a public health exposure
at a level that would exceed the standards established by a state or
federal agency.
(i) The project is not exposed to a landslide hazard or located
within a flood plain, flood way, or restriction zone, unless the
applicable general plan or zoning ordinance contains provisions to
mitigate the risk of a landslide or flood.
(j) The project is not located within the boundaries of a state
conservancy or a state or local park.