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The Legislature finds and declares as follows:(a) In November 2006, the voters approved the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, also known as Proposition 1B, that, among other things, provided one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) to reduce emissions associated with the movement of freight along California’s trade corridors.
(b) Proposition 1B requires these funds to be made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the conditions and criteria provided by the Legislature, to the State Air Resources Board in order to reduce the emissions associated with goods movement.
(c) Proposition 1B further required these funds to be made available for emission reductions not otherwise required by law or regulation. These funds are intended to supplement existing funds used to finance strategies that reduce emissions and public health risk associated with the movement of freight commencing at the state’s seaports and land ports of entry and transported through California’s trade corridors.
(d) Tremendous growth in goods movement activity has created a public health crisis in communities located adjacent to ports and along trade corridors. It is the intent of the Legislature that these funds be expended in a manner that reduces the health risk associated with the movement of freight along California’s trade corridors.
(e) (1) The building and completion of shoreside
electrical power infrastructure at California’s public ports is an important component of reducing air pollution emissions caused by important maritime activities.
(2) The building and completion of shoreside electrical power infrastructure at California’s public ports will create new construction jobs and other employment opportunities for the California workforce.
(3) Using public funds for the building and completion of shoreside electrical power infrastructure represents a responsible use of publicly financed bond funds because the investment will be made in property owned by a public entity, with long-term emission benefits that will last for the duration of the anticipated payback period for the bonds.
(4) California leads the world in the use of shoreside electrical power infrastructure and will continue to do
so once regulations adopted by the State Air Resources Board take full effect in 2014. These regulations are the most comprehensive set of shorepower regulations in the world and mandate that all regulated oceangoing vessels that are equipped and able to use shoreside power do so, and that, at a minimum, at least 50 percent of all vessels in a regulated fleet use shoreside power beginning in 2014, 70 percent in 2017, and 80 percent in 2020.
(5) The total costs of shoreside electrical power operation to the operators of the regulated fleets of container vessels, cruise liners, and refrigerated vessels, that must retrofit their vessels and equipment in order to use the shorepower systems at berth and comply with the California regulations, were estimated by the State Air Resources Board to be approximately $1.8 billion. This expense is a substantial investment and must be made by those oceangoing vessel owners and their customers.
(6) Because of the unique nature of shorepower, where emissions will be reduced only when a privately owned vessel operates with public infrastructure, the private investment in the vessel is a direct matching source for public dollars invested in electrification of the public property.
(7) California’s public seaports and the international trade that they facilitate are critical components of the state economy, directly or indirectly employing millions of Californians, contributing billions of dollars in economic activity, and generating local and state tax revenues. Therefore, California’s ports should be given the ability to successfully compete for cargo volume, attract new trade, and continue to grow.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state board maximize the emission reduction benefits, achieve the
earliest possible health risk reduction in heavily impacted communities, and provide incentives for the control of emission sources that contribute to increased health risk in the future.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state board develop partnerships between federal, state, and private entities involved in goods movement to reduce emissions.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature to streamline government operations and overhead, spur new employment opportunities, and improve port competitiveness while also reducing port-related emissions, and therefore, it is imperative that all incentive programs and investment opportunities available to the state be implemented in the most aggressive, responsible, and effective manner.
(i) The purpose of this chapter is to establish standards and procedures for
the expenditure of these funds.