BILL NUMBER: SB 1388 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 12, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Peace
JANUARY 24, 2000
An act to amend Sections 25519 and 25523 of, and to repeal
Section 25524 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to public
utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1388, as amended, Peace. Electrical restructuring
power facilities .
The Public Utilities Act provides for the restructuring of the
electrical industry in this state, including specific provisions with
regard to the reliability and cost of electric transmission and
distribution services.
(1) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Act requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission to certify sufficient sites and related
facilities that are required to provide a supply of electric power
sufficient to accommodate projected demand for power statewide. The
act requires that the commission forward an application for
certification of a power facility to local governmental agencies
having land use and related jurisdiction in the area of the proposed
site and related facility, and requires those local agencies to
review the application and submit comments, as prescribed. The act
requires the commission to transmit a copy of the application to each
federal and state agency having jurisdiction or special interest in
matters pertinent to the proposed site and related facilities and to
the Attorney General.
This bill would require local and state agencies having
jurisdiction or special interest in matters pertinent to the proposed
site and related facilities to provide their comments and
recommendations on the project within 180 days of the date of filing
of an application.
(2) The act requires that the commission prepare a written
decision after a public hearing on an application for certification,
containing specified information, including, with respect to a
geothermal site and related facility, findings on whether there are
sufficient commercial quantities of geothermal resources available to
operate the proposed facility for its planned life. The act
prohibits the commission from certifying any geothermal site and
related facility unless it finds that the geothermal field dedicated
to the proposed powerplant is reasonably capable of providing
geothermal resources in sufficient commercial quantities to supply
the powerplant over its planned life.
This bill would delete the above prohibition relating to
certifying geothermal sites and related facilities.
(3) The bill would make legislative findings and
declarations with regard to the reliability and cost of electricity
service.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:
no yes . State-mandated local program:
no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Reliable, reasonably priced electricity service is and always
has been essential for California's economic growth and for the
health and welfare of its citizens.
(b) To improve the reliability and cost of electricity service in
California, Chapter 854 of the Statutes of 1996 (hereafter AB 1890)
restructured the state's electricity industry to allow market-based
competition in the supply of electric power and created the
Independent System Operator to ensure reliability, efficiently
operate the statewide transmission system, and ensure that necessary
new transmission capacity was planned for and constructed.
(c) Prior to electric industry restructuring, California had
experienced a decade-long hiatus in powerplant construction that, in
conjunction with strong, population-driven electricity demand growth,
had begun to jeopardize electric system reliability.
(d) The passage of AB 1890 ended this construction hiatus and
stimulated private developers to file an unprecedented number of
applications to build new, environmentally superior merchant
powerplants in California.
(e) However, because these new powerplants will not be completed
until 2002 or 2003, the state's electric system reliability will
remain vulnerable during the next few years during periods when
California and its neighboring states simultaneously experience very
hot weather.
(f) This vulnerability will be exacerbated, in the event of a
drought, by California's dependence on rainfall-driven hydroelectric
power for over 20 percent of its annual electricity requirements.
(g) Adequate generation, transmission, and consumer-demand
responsiveness alternatives are critical to managing the
vulnerability of the state's electric system and ensuring reliable,
reasonably priced, electricity.
(h) Therefore all of the following are necessary:
(1) Timely and efficient public processes for siting, licensing,
and interconnecting new generation and transmission facilities.
(2) Providing tools and information to the state's electricity
consumers to enable them to manage their energy use during periods
when electricity is most costly.
(3) Equipping public and private institutions that protect the
interests of California's citizens with the tools and authority they
need to facilitate the timely development of required physical and
policy infrastructure.
(i) This act is intended to ensure that needed processes and
institutional capabilities are in place so California's citizens and
businesses will continue to be assured reliable, reasonably priced,
electricity service. Specifically, this bill is intended to do all
of the following:
(1) Expedite the deployment of new in-state electric generation
capacity.
(2) Expedite the development of necessary transmission capacity
identified by the Independent System Operator.
(3) Expedite the development of necessary distribution capacity
identified by the Public Utilities Commission.
(4) Maximize the potential benefits of energy conservation by
facilitating the deployment of appropriate metering and communication
and control technologies through the distribution system.
SEC. 2. Section 25519 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
25519. (a) In order to obtain certification for a site and
related facility, an application for certification of such
the site and related facility shall be filed
with the commission. Such The
application shall be in a form prescribed by the commission and shall
be for a site and related facility which
that has been found to be acceptable by the commission pursuant
to Section 25516, or for an additional facility at a site
which that has been designated a potential
multiple-facility site pursuant to Section 25514.5 and found to be
acceptable pursuant to Sections 25516 and 25516.5. An application
for an additional facility at a potential multiple-facility site
shall be subject to the conditions and review specified in Section
25520.5. An application may not be filed for a site and related
facility, if there is no suitable alternative for the site and
related facility which that was
previously found to be acceptable by the commission, unless the
commission has approved the notice based on the one site as specified
in Section 25516.
(b) The commission, upon its own motion or in response to the
request of any party, may require the applicant to submit any
information, document, or data, in addition to the attachments
required by subdivision (i), which that
it determines is reasonably necessary to make any decision on the
application.
(c) The commission shall be the lead agency as provided in Section
21165 for all projects which that
require certification pursuant to this chapter and for projects
which that are exempted from such
certification pursuant to Section 25541. Unless the commission's
regulatory program governing site and facility certification and
related proceedings are certified by the Resources Agency pursuant to
Section 21080.5, an environmental impact report shall be completed
within one year after receipt of the application. If the commission
prepares a document or documents in the place of an environmental
impact report or negative declaration under a regulatory program
certified pursuant to Section 21080.5, any other public agency
which that must make a decision
which that is subject to the California
Environmental Quality Act, Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000), on a site or related facility, shall use the document or
documents prepared by the commission in the same manner as they would
use an environmental impact report or negative declaration prepared
by a lead agency.
(d) If the site and related facility specified in the application
is proposed to be located in the coastal zone, the commission shall
transmit a copy of the application to the California Coastal
Commission for its review and comments.
(e) If the site and related facility specified in the application
is proposed to be located in the Suisun Marsh or the jurisdiction of
the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the
commission shall transmit a copy of the application to the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission for its review
and comments.
(f) Upon receipt of an application, the commission shall forward
the application to local governmental agencies having land use and
related jurisdiction in the area of the proposed site and related
facility. Such Those local agencies
shall review the application and submit comments on, among other
things, the design of the facility, architectural and aesthetic
features of the facility, access to highways, landscaping and
grading, public use of lands in the area of the facility, and other
appropriate aspects of the design, construction, or operation of the
proposed site and related facility.
(g) Upon receipt of an application, the commission shall cause a
summary of the application to be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county in which the site and related facilities,
or any part thereof, designated in the application, is proposed to be
located. The commission shall transmit a copy of the application to
each federal and state agency having jurisdiction or special
interest in matters pertinent to the proposed site and related
facilities and to the Attorney General.
(h) Local and state agencies having jurisdiction or special
interest in matters pertinent to the proposed site and related
facilities shall provide their comments and recommendations on the
project within 180 days of the date of filing of an application.
(i) The adviser shall require that adequate notice is given
to the public and that the procedures specified by this division are
complied with.
(i)
(j) For any proposed site and related facility requiring a
certificate of public convenience and necessity, the commission shall
transmit a copy of the application to the Public Utilities
Commission and request the comments and recommendations of the Public
Utilities Commission on the economic, financial, rate, system
reliability, and service implications of the proposed site and
related facility. In the event If the
commission requires modification of the proposed facility, the
commission shall consult with the Public Utilities Commission
regarding the economic, financial, rate, system reliability, and
service implications of such those
modifications.
(j)
(k) The commission shall transmit a copy of the application
to any governmental agency not specifically mentioned in this act,
but which it finds has any information or interest in the proposed
site and related facilities, and shall invite the comments and
recommendations of each such agency. The
commission shall request any relevant laws, ordinances, or
regulations which any such that an
agency has promulgated or administered.
(k)
(l) An application for certification of any site and related
facilities shall contain a listing of every federal agency from
which any approval or authorization concerning the proposed site is
required, specifying the approvals or authorizations obtained at the
time of the application and the schedule for obtaining any approvals
or authorizations pending.
SEC. 3. Section 25523 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
25523. The commission shall prepare a written decision after the
public hearing on an application, which includes all of the
following:
(a) Specific provisions relating to the manner in which the
proposed facility is to be designed, sited, and operated in order to
protect environmental quality and assure public health and safety.
(b) In the case of a site to be located in the coastal zone,
specific provisions to meet the objectives of Division 20 (commencing
with Section 30000) as may be specified in the report submitted by
the California Coastal Commission pursuant to subdivision (d) of
Section 30413, unless the commission specifically finds that the
adoption of the provisions specified in the report would result in
greater adverse effect on the environment or that the provisions
proposed in the report would not be feasible.
(c) In the case of a site to be located in the Suisun Marsh or in
the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission, specific provisions to meet the requirements
of Division 19 (commencing with Section 29000) of this code or Title
7.2 (commencing with Section 66600) of the Government Code as may be
specified in the report submitted by the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission pursuant to subdivision (d)
of Section 66645 of the Government Code, unless the commission
specifically finds that the adoption of the provisions specified in
the report would result in greater adverse effect on the environment
or the provisions proposed in the report would not be feasible.
(d) (1) Findings regarding the conformity of the proposed site and
related facilities with standards adopted by the commission pursuant
to Section 25216.3 and subdivision (d) of Section 25402, with public
safety standards and the applicable air and water quality standards,
and with other relevant local, regional, state, and federal
standards, ordinances, or laws. If the commission finds that there
is noncompliance with any state, local, or regional ordinance or
regulation in the application, it shall consult and meet with the
state, local, or regional governmental agency concerned to attempt to
correct or eliminate the noncompliance. If the noncompliance cannot
be corrected or eliminated, the commission shall inform the state,
local, or regional governmental agency if it makes the findings
required by Section 25525.
(2) The commission shall may not find
that the proposed facility conforms with applicable air quality
standards pursuant to paragraph (1) unless the applicable air
pollution control district or air quality management district
certifies that complete emissions offsets for the proposed facility
have been identified and will be obtained by the applicant prior to
the commission's licensing of the project, to the extent that the
proposed facility requires emission offsets to comply with local,
regional, state, or federal air quality standards.
(e) Provision for restoring the site as necessary to protect the
environment, if the commission denies approval of the application.
(f) In the case of a geothermal site and related
facility, findings on whether there are sufficient commercial
quantities of geothermal resources available to operate the proposed
facility for its planned life.
(g) In the case of a site and related facility using
resource recovery (waste-to-energy) technology, specific conditions
requiring that the facility be monitored to ensure compliance with
paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 42315
of the Health and Safety Code.
(h)
(g) In the case of a facility, other than a resource
recovery facility subject to subdivision (g)
(f) , specific conditions requiring the facility to be
monitored to ensure compliance with toxic air contaminant control
measures adopted by an air pollution control district or air quality
management district pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 39666 or
Section 41700 of the Health and Safety Code, whether the measures
were adopted before or after issuance of a determination of
compliance by the district.
SEC. 4. Section 25524 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
25524. The commission shall not certify any geothermal site and
related facility unless it finds that the geothermal field dedicated
to the proposed powerplant is reasonably capable of providing
geothermal resources in sufficient commercial quantities to supply
the powerplant over its planned life.