Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1023 Air resources: greenhouse gas emissions.(2013-2014)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Recycling is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gases, and often ranks as “cost-negative” in analyses evaluating cost effectiveness of various greenhouse gas reduction strategies.
(b) Investing in the burgeoning anaerobic digestion industry reduces emissions from landfills, creates a low-carbon fuel that reduces emissions in the transportation sector, and generates renewable energy.
(c) In addition to reducing landfill emission, the application of compost saves .42 net tons of CO2 for each ton composted through soil carbon storage, and decreases water use, fertilizer use, and soil erosion, according to data prepared by the State Air Resources Board.
(d) The State Air Resources Board has identified California’s energy-intensive glass container manufacturing sector as a leading generator of greenhouse gas emissions and has included this sector as a “covered entity” under the “Cap and Trade Program” adopted pursuant to the market-based compliance mechanism authorized by Division 25 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) According to data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, for every 1 percent increase in recycled content in the manufacture of new glass containers, there is an approximate 1 percent decrease in total direct greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturer and there is also a comparable upstream benefit that results from not having to engage in mining or processing virgin inputs.
(f) According to a recent study from the Tellus Institute, the collection and processing of recyclables generates nearly four times as many jobs as compared to disposal, and domestic recycled content processing and manufacturing of these recycled materials adds an additional 2.5 to 18 jobs for every 1,000 tons recycled.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 4.2 (commencing with Section 39724) is added to Part 2 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

CHAPTER  4.2. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Through Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content Manufacturing Investment Program
39724.
 (a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Through Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content Manufacturing Investment Program.”
(b) For purposes of this chapter “department” means the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
39725.
 (a) The department shall implement this chapter, including developing standards and guidelines and implementing the market development program required by Section 39726, by expending funds appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of this chapter.
(b) The department, in coordination with the state board, as appropriate, shall establish the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content Manufacturing Investment Program pursuant to this chapter to provide incentives or grants for waste reduction, recycling, composting, and recycled content manufacturing projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this state.
39726.
 (a) The department, in consultation with the state board, shall annually identify industry sectors that can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the increased use of recycled content or by recovering putrescible materials that would have emitted greenhouse gases if disposed.
(b) The eligible industry sectors that the department may identify pursuant to subdivision (a) may include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Composting and anaerobic digestion.
(2) Recycled container glass manufacturing.
(3) Food processing.
(4) Recycled paper and paperboard manufacturing.
(5) Recycled plastic manufacturing.
(c) Upon identifying the eligible industry sectors pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall develop a market development program that would provide incentives for those eligible industry sectors to make investments for waste reduction, recycling, composting, and recycled content manufacturing projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(d) The department shall implement the market development program by disbursing funds to private or public entities in the form of incentive payments or grants for capital equipment.
(e) The funds disbursed as investments by the department pursuant to subdivision (d) shall not exceed thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) per year.
(f) The department shall give priority, when disbursing funds for investments pursuant to this chapter, to projects benefiting or located within the same disadvantaged communities that are identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 39711, for purposes of Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 39710). The department shall disburse not less than 25 percent of the funds disbursed pursuant to this chapter for projects benefiting these communities and not less than 10 percent of the funds disbursed pursuant to this chapter shall be allocated for projects located within these communities.
39727.
 It is the intent of the Legislature that moneys shall be appropriated for this chapter only in a manner consistent with the requirements of this part, including Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 39710), and Article 9.7 (commencing with Section 16428.8) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.