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AB-378 Greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants, and toxic air contaminants.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 05/30/2017 02:00 PM
AB378:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 30, 2017
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 378

Introduced by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia, Holden, and Eduardo Garcia
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bloom, Bonta, Eggman, Friedman, Gomez, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, McCarty, Reyes, Mark Stone, Thurmond, and Ting)

February 09, 2017

An act to amend Section 38562.5 of, and to add Sections 38562.6 and 38567 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 378, as amended, Cristina Garcia. Greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants, and toxic air contaminants.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. The act requires the state board to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030.
The act requires the state board, when adopting rules and regulations to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions beyond the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit and to protect the state’s most impacted and disadvantaged communities, to follow specified requirements, consider the social costs of the emissions of greenhouse gases, and prioritize specified emission reduction rules and regulations.
This bill would additionally require the state board to consider and account for the social costs of the emissions and of greenhouse gases when adopting those rules and regulations. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt or amend regulations that establish a market-based compliance mechanism, applicable from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2030, to complement direct emissions reduction measures in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The bill would prohibit the state board from permitting a facility to increase its annual emissions of greenhouse gases compared to the annual average of emissions of greenhouse gases reported during specified years. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt no-trade zones or facility-specific declining greenhouse gas emissions limits where facilities’ emissions contribute to a cumulative pollution burden that creates a significant health impact.
This bill would require the state board, in consultation with affected air pollution control and air quality management districts, to adopt air pollutant emissions standards for emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants at industrial facilities that are subject to a market-based compliance mechanism. The bill would prohibit the state board from allocating allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to industrial facilities that do not meet the air pollutant emissions standards for criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants.
This bill would require the state board, in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030, to adopt the most effective and equitable mix of emissions reduction measures and ensure that emissions reduction measures collectively and individually support achieving air quality and other environmental and public health goals.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   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) It is a primary objective of the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is critical for the protection of all areas of the state but especially for the state’s most disadvantaged communities, which will be disproportionately impacted by climate change and emissions from sources of greenhouse gases, including short-lived climate pollutants, as well as criteria pollutants and toxic air contaminants.
(b) While low-income communities and communities of color in the state suffer from some of the worst air quality in the nation, the state has been and must continue to be a leader in making investments in historically disadvantaged communities.
(c) Achieving the state’s climate and air quality goals in an equitable and effective manner will require a mix of direct regulations and incentives that hold major emitters accountable for the social costs of their emissions, protect the state’s economy, and direct investments to communities across the state.

SEC. 2.

 Section 38562.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

38562.5.
 (a) When adopting rules and regulations pursuant to this division to achieve emissions reductions beyond the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit and to protect the state’s most impacted and disadvantaged communities, the state board shall follow the requirements in subdivision (b) of Section 38562, consider and account for the social costs of the emissions of greenhouse gases, and prioritize both of the following:
(1) Emission reduction rules and regulations that result in direct emission reductions at large stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions and direct emission reductions from mobile sources.
(2) Emission reduction rules and regulations that result in direct emission reductions from sources other than those specified in paragraph (1).
(b) To complement direct emissions reduction measures in ensuring the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required pursuant to Section 38566, the state board may adopt or amend regulations that establish a system of market-based declining annual aggregate emissions limits for sources or categories of sources that emit greenhouse gases, applicable from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2030, inclusive, that the state board determines will achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases, in the aggregate, from sources or categories of sources.

(c)The state board shall not permit a facility to increase its annual emissions of greenhouse gases compared to the annual average of emissions of greenhouse gases reported from 2014 to 2016, inclusive.

(d)

(c) The state board may adopt no-trade zones or facility-specific declining greenhouse gas emissions limits where facilities’ emissions contribute to a cumulative pollution burden that creates a significant health impact.

SEC. 3.

 Section 38562.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

38562.6.
 (a) For purposes of this section, “district” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 39025.
(b) (1) On or before January 1, 2019, the state board, in consultation with each affected district, shall adopt air pollutant emissions standards applicable to industrial facilities subject to a regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 38562.5 or Part 5 (commencing with Section 38570).
(2) In adopting the air pollutant emissions standards pursuant to this subdivision, the state board shall evaluate the air pollutant emissions of each industrial facility subject to the regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 38562. The state board’s evaluation shall be based on the most recent available data on industrial facilities gathered from districts, facility operators, public comments, and other research as necessary, and shall examine all of the following:
(A) Permitted and actual emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants.
(B) Date of the most recent new source review conducted pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401, et seq.) for each emission unit.
(C) Emissions control measures for each criteria air pollutant and toxic air contaminant, including, but not limited to, emissions control technology for each emission unit.
(D) Whether each emission unit meets best available control technology, as defined in Section 40405, or best available retrofit control technology, as defined in Section 40406, as applicable.
(E) The performance of similar industrial facilities.
(F) District records of complaints, enforcement actions, and penalties.
(c) On and after January 1, 2021, the state board shall not allocate allowances pursuant to a regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 38652.5 or Part 5 (commencing with Section 38570) to an industrial facility that does not meet the air pollutant emissions standards for criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants adopted pursuant to subdivision (b).

SEC. 4.

 Section 38567 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

38567.
 In furtherance of ensuring the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required pursuant to Section 38566 and consistent with this division, the state board shall do all of the following:
(a) Adopt the most effective and equitable mix of emissions reduction measures to achieve the 2030 goal.
(b) Ensure that emissions reduction measures collectively and individually support achieving air quality and other environmental and public health goals.