California Air Resources Board

Summary

Among other things, the bill would continuously appropriate, from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, $480 million to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and $20 million to the California Conservation Corps for fire prevention activities, indefinitely extending existing law that allows the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt certain forest management activities from obtaining approval from CAL FIRE for a timber harvesting plan. Forest management activities eligible for exemption include cutting or removing trees on property that reduces flammable materials and maintains a fuelbreak for 300 feet on each side of a habitable structure. This bill would also extend the distance of the fuelbreak to 500 feet. Finally, this bill would exempt certain forest health and fuel reduction activities from the California Environmental Quality Act. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary

Would require CARB to identify and make recommendations for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions from wildfires in each update to the Scoping Plan after January 1, 2022. The bill also states the intent to make a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund appropriation for wildfire mitigation and prevention. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary

Among other things, this bill would suspend the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund appropriation to the High‑Speed Rail Authority for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 fiscal years and would transfer those amounts to the General Fund to augment funding for K–12 education and to support full-time in-person instruction for all students. Was not heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

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Summary

Authorizes a local jurisdiction facing continuous violations of organic waste regulations adopted by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) pursuant to Senate Bill 1383 (Lara, Chapter 385, Statutes of 2016), to submit a notice of intent to comply to CalRecycle. If approved by CalRecycle, the jurisdiction is eligible for administrative civil penalty relief for the 2022 calendar year and a corrective action plan.

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Summary

Beginning January 1, 2030, requires, to the extent allowed by federal law, any autonomous vehicle that is model year 2031 or later, has a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 8,501 pounds, and is equipped with Level 3, 4, or 5 automation (as defined by SAE International) to be a zero-emission vehicle, as defined, to be operated on California public roads.

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Summary

Makes technical and substantive changes to the Budget Act of 2021. Among other things, the budget bill includes the Climate Resilience Package, which appropriates $3.69 billion over three fiscal years, beginning in 2021-2022, to various climate priorities. It also includes the Wildfire Prevention and Resilience Package, which appropriates a total of $988 million from the General fund and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for wildfire prevention and resilience purposes. The bill also makes appropriations for CARB programs and re-appropriations to extend encumbrance and expenditure dates for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund appropriations.

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Summary

Contains statutory provisions necessary to implement the Budget Act of 2021. Among other things, the bill continuously appropriates $200 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) annually until the 2028-29 fiscal year for healthy forest and fire prevention programs and projects that improve forest health and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases caused by wildfires and for completion of prescribed fires and other fuel reduction projects. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the bill makes available $50 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year to the Department of Conservation, in coordination with CARB and the California Energy Commission, for pilot projects in the Sierra Nevada to create carbon-negative fuels from materials resulting from forest vegetation management. The bill also requires the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), upon appropriation by the Legislature, to administer a grant program through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Revolving Loan Program to provide financial assistance to promote in-state development of infrastructure, food waste prevention, or other projects to reduce organic waste or process organic and other recyclable materials into new, value-added products. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Revolving Loan Fund receives funding from GGRF. Additionally, this bill extends the eligibility for the existing fuel cell net energy metering tariff that utilities have filed with the California Public Utilities Commission from December 31, 2021 to December 31, 2023.

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Summary

Early action budget package that amends the 2020-21 Budget Act. Among other things, the bill appropriates money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) for wildfire prevention, natural resources, and forest resiliency. The bill also makes re-appropriations to extend encumbrance and expenditure dates for GGRF appropriations. 

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Summary

Early action budget package that amends the 2020-21 Budget Act. Among other things, the bill appropriates money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) for wildfire prevention, natural resources, and forest resiliency. The bill also makes re-appropriations to extend encumbrance and expenditure dates for GGRF appropriations. 

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Summary

Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), in consultation with CARB, to adopt regulations to reduce disposal of organic waste in landfills for the purpose of meeting methane emissions reduction goals. The bill would revise the existing requirement included in CalRecycle’s regulations that, by 2025, at least 20 percent of edible food, which would otherwise be disposed of, be recovered for human consumption. The bill would allow food recovered pursuant to this requirement to also be used for animal or livestock consumption. Additionally, the bill would establish a baseline of January 1, 2022 for the amount of edible food that must be recovered. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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