BOARD MEETING DATE: November 6, 2009
AGENDA NO. 24
REPORT:
Legislative Committee
SYNOPSIS:
The Legislative Committee held a special meeting on Friday, October 23, 2009. The next Legislative Committee meeting is scheduled for November 13, 2009 at 8:00 am in Conference Room CC8. The Committee deliberated on the following items for Board consideration:
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
Receive, file this report, and approve agenda items as specified in this letter.
Jane W. Carney, Chair
Legislative Committee
Attendance [Attachment 1] The Legislative Committee met on October 23, 2009. Committee Chair Jane Carney was present. Committee Members Michael Antonovich, Michael A. Cacciotti, and Tonia Reyes Uranga were present via videoconference, and Marion Ashley was present via telephone conference.
Update on Federal Legislative Issues
Chris Kierig, AQMD federal legislative consultant, reported that Senator Boxer introduced her climate change bill earlier last month and plans to have the first hearing the week of October 26. Mr. Kierig reported that the current surface transportation bill has been extended for thirty days and will probably be extended again. Conversations continue with U.S. EPA and the staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee regarding marine vessel regulations. DERA funding is in conference committee and the funding amount for AQMD will likely be $5 million or $7.5 million. Mr. Kierig further stated that there was discussion about marine vessel emissions, with reference to fuel sulfur content, where AQMD staff has provided input.
Mr. Peter Greenwald, Senior Policy Advisor, added that Congressman Obey proposed a rider to the U.S. EPA Appropriations bill that would prohibit U.S. EPA from limiting fuel sulfur content for the large marine diesel engines used on vessels that operate on the Great Lakes. There have been several inquiries from legislative staff, particularly from Senator Feinstein’s office, for background information on this subject. After repeated conversations with U.S. EPA, CARB, and AQMD staff, the conclusion was that this effort created a risk of undermining the U.S. application to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for designation of an Emission Control Area (ECA) around the United States, particularly since IMO will be considering the U.S. application in March 2010. Mr. Greenwald added that consistent with past board policies regarding the need to control marine vessel emissions, AQMD’s staff opposed this rider. CARB staff indicated that their action was also similar.
In conclusion, Mr. Kierig reported that due to the emphasis on the health care bill and impending elections, the surface transportation bill is not likely to be taken up this year. Moreover, given the impending mid-term elections, the conventional wisdom is that all business will need to be finished by the July 4th recess next year.
Proposed Locomotive Legislative Language [Attachment 2]
Peter Greenwald, briefed the committee on proposed federal legislation to expedite the control of locomotive emissions. Specifically the legislation would modify Section 209 of the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) to authorize California to establish emission standards and other control measures with EPA authorization. In addition, the legislation would modify Section 213 of the CAA to require expedited deployment of locomotives complying with EPA Tier 4 emissions standards in nonattainment areas classified as “Extreme,” “Severe,” and “Serious”.
Chair Carney asked what the timeline is for this and if there is any pending legislation. Mr. Greenwald stated that staff intends to move quickly, but that there is no pending legislation. Supervisor Antonovich asked if there would be an opportunity to amend a pending bill to include the proposed locomotive language. Mr. Kierig agreed to look into it, but suggested that the best approach could be a stand-alone bill to help force the issue with the House and the Administration.
The Legislative Committee approved the Proposed Locomotive Legislation.
Update on State Legislative Issues
The AQMD state legislative consultants, Will Gonzales and Paul Gonsalves provided the 2009 end-of-year report on the state’s legislative issues. Will Gonzales stated that the political climate was driven by the budget which resulted in leadership changes in the minority party and no major policy initiatives were successfully passed this year. Mr. Gonzales reported that only 700 bills made it to the Governor’s desk, which is less than half for a typical year.
Among the successful bills were two AQMD sponsored bills which were both signed by the Governor. AB 892 (Furutani) allows the air districts to fund back-up projects when a current applicant withdraws from a project after being approved – much like the Carl Moyer program. SB 827 (formerly SB 696) authorizes AQMD to issue air permits under specified circumstances, thus lifting the New Source Review permit moratorium which had been recently imposed due to the unavailability of offset credits. Senator (Ret.) Richard Polanco, Mr. Gonzales and Dr. Barry Wallerstein acknowledged the massive effort towards passage of this legislation, which included the teamwork of consultants, coalition of impacted parties, AQMD staff, and several Governing Board members. Among the latter, special mention was made of Chairman Burke, Supervisor Bill Campbell, Vice-Chair Dennis Yates, and Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga. Mr. Oscar Abarca further acknowledged Bill La Marr and Greg Adams for their support and testimony.
Mr. Gonzalez added that there were two additional measures that were related to offsets: AB 1318 (Perez) which involved only the Sentinel power plant in the Coachella Valley was signed by the Governor, and SB 388 (Calderon) which involved the Walnut Creek power plant in City of Industry is now a two-year bill. Dr. Wallerstein reported that AQMD and CEC met to discuss implementation of SB 827 (Wright). Dr. Wallerstein also noted that the California Water Resources Board contacted the District to discuss how SB 827 affects their ability to address the once-through cooling issue with existing power plants.
In addition to the sponsored bills, Mr. Gonzalez highlighted the following legislation of interest to AQMD:
AB 28 (Jeffries) Natural gas engines: water movement: emissions limitation requirements. This legislation, opposed by AQMD, prohibits the District from regulating natural gas engines used for pumping water. This bill was held in committee.
AB 96 (Ruskin) Gasoline: underground storage tanks. This legislation, supported by AQMD, would provide assistance to gas station owners. This bill was signed by the Governor.
AB 397 (Jeffries) South Coast Quality Air Management District: election of board members. This legislation, opposed by AQMD, would require the Members of the AQMD Governing Board to be elected by divisions commencing with the 2012 general election. This bill was held in committee.
AB 758 (Skinner) Energy: energy audit. This legislation, supported by AQMD, creates a comprehensive state plan for energy efficiency focused on existing residential and commercial stock. This bill was signed by the Governor.
SB 11 (Negrete McLeod) County employees retirement: San Bernardino County health benefits. This legislation, supported by AQMD, gives San Bernardino County the authority to establish its own health pension fund. This bill was signed by the Governor.
SB 32 (Negrete McLeod) Renewable electric generation facilities. This legislation, supported by AQMD, allows businesses and residents to install solar equipment and get a guaranteed price from their utility for the energy they sell back to the utility. This bill was signed by the Governor in honor of the late Supervisor and former Board Vice-Chair S. Roy Wilson.
SB 554 (Hollingsworth) Air pollution control districts: residential wood-burning devices. This legislation, opposed by AQMD, prohibits districts from adopting any wood burning fireplace rules. This bill was held in committee.
SB 626 (Kehoe) Electrical infrastructure: plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. This legislation, supported by AQMD, requires CEC to develop a plan on plug-in hybrid integration into the electricity grid. This bill was signed by the Governor.
SB 811 (DeSaulnier) Vehicles: specially constructed vehicles. This legislation, supported by AQMD, requires verification of model and year of vintage cars imported into California. This bill was vetoed by the Governor.
Mr. Gonzalez further noted that two bills regarding increasing renewable portfolio standard from 20% to 33% were passed by the legislature and vetoed by the Governor. After the veto, the Governor issued an executive order directing CARB under AB 32 authority to implement a 33% renewable portfolio standard.
Paul Gonsalves provided an overview of major items in the 2009-2010 state budget. Mr. Gonsalves reported that the 2009-10 state budget was passed in February and included a 1% sales tax increase and a decrease in the state legislative salaries. Mr. Gonsalves noted that the general fund spending decreased by about 15% from two years ago as the 2007-08 budget was $130 billion as compared with the current budget of $110 billion. Jason Gonsalves also stated that the legislative analyst office has projected a $20 to $22 billion budget deficit in 2010 and further added that Treasurer Lockyer noted that the budget crisis is impairing our ability to sell bonds. Historically 5% of the State’s General Fund is dedicated to debt service, which is now projected to be 10-11% within the next few years. Mr. Gonsalves reminded the committee of five lawsuits pending that can further negatively impact the budget.
Approve 2010 Legislative Goals and Objectives [Attachment 3]
Mr. Oscar Abarca, Deputy Executive Officer, presented the 2010 State and Federal Legislative Goals and Priorities.
Chair Carney noted that there may be proposed legislation on pension flexibility added to the list of goals and objectives. She inquired if it is appropriate to advise the RFP applicants of the possible legislation, as this could become a politically difficult issue. Dr. Wallerstein agreed and suggested that the appropriate way to deal with the issue would be to advise the applicants, during the interview process, and inquire if there would be any potential conflicts of interest.
The committee approved the 2010 Legislative Goals and Objectives. Chair Carney abstained from the proposed legislation dealing with Section 185 of the Federal Clean Air Act due to a conflict of interest. [Refer to Attachment 3 for additional information.]
As part of public comment, Nicole Nishimura asked on Board Member Lyou’s behalf to define “modernize” with reference to ‘offsets’, as listed in the Federal 2010 Legislative Goals and Objectives. Dr. Wallerstein stated that under the current system this region will run out of offsets in the future due to the success of local control programs, and consistent with board policy, the agency must still accommodate growth while striving to clean the air. This calls for potential modernization of federal offset requirements.
Update on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 [Attachment 4]
Due to the lack of time, the update on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Waxman/Markey bill) was tabled to a future Legislative Committee meeting.
Public Comments:
Sarah Weldon of the Association of American Railroads, wanted to alert the Committee that she was at the meeting representing the railroads.
Curt Coleman representing the Southern California Air Quality Alliance (SCAQA), informed the Committee of their willingness to support AQMD’s efforts to reform Section 185 of the Clean Air Act, and adjust the state law provisions governing the selection of the Hearing Board member with medical expertise.
Report from AQMD Home Rule Advisory Group Committee [Attachment 5]
Please refer to Attachment 5 for a written report.
Attachments (EXE, 875k)
Attendance Roster
Proposed Locomotive Legislative Language
Approve 2010 Legislative Goals and Objectives
Update on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
Legislative Report from AQMD Home Rule Advisory Group