BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2304
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 21, 2004

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                AB 2304 (Richman) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2004 

          Policy Committee:                               
          UtilitiesVote:12-0 (Consent)
                        Natural Resources                       9-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill deletes several obsolete provisions related to the  
          California Energy Commission (CEC).  Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Deletes the following reporting requirements:  

             a)   A quarterly report on the amount of MTBE used in  
               gasoline by each refinery in the state.  

             b)   An annual report on account transfers and repayments  
               within the Renewable Resources Trust Fund.  

             c)   A quarterly status report on implementation of the  
               renewable energy resources program, (and instead requires  
               one annual report).

          2)Repeals a provision creating the Clean Fuels Account and  
            mandating that $7 million of funds in the account be expended  
            to advance the use of methanol fuel.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor special fund savings to the CEC.

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  According to the author's office, this is a clean-up  
          measure designed to consolidate CEC reporting requirements, thus  
          freeing staff for other higher priority tasks. In addition, the  
          bill repeals the Clean Fuels Account within the General Fund.   








                                                                  AB 2304
                                                                  Page  2

          AB 1147 (Presley)-Chapter 1340/ Statutes of 1986, created the  
          Clean Fuels Account and allocated $7 million to the account to  
          fund programs promoting the use of methanol. According to the  
          CEC, the program has been completed, the funds have been fully  
          expended, and no additional activity is planned with methanol  
          vehicles or as a follow-up to the already completed projects.
            
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081