SB 1383 (Lara) Page 3 of 3
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1383
Author: / LaraVersion: / 8/31/2016 / Hearing Date: / 8/31/2016
Urgency: / No / Fiscal: / Yes
Consultant: / Rebecca Newhouse
SUBJECT: Short-lived climate pollutants: methane emissions: organic waste: landfills.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Existing law, under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the California Air Resources Control Board (ARB) to determine the 1990 statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions level and approve a statewide GHG emissions limit that is equivalent to that level, to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt GHG emissions reductions measures by regulation (Health and Safety Code §38500 et seq.).
2) Requires ARB to complete, by January 1, 2016, a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) in the state.
3) Requires businesses that generate specified amounts of organic waste to arrange for recycling services for that material. (PRC §42649.81)
4) Requires California Energy Resources Development and Conservation Commission (CEC) to hold public hearings to identify impediments that limit procurement of biomethane in California, including, but not limited to, impediments to interconnection, and requires CEC to offer solutions to those impediments as part of the integrated energy policy report. (PRC §25326)
5) Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to adopt policies and programs that promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane. (PUC §399.24 )
This bill:
1) Requires ARB to approve and begin implementing the comprehensive strategy to reduce SLCPs in the state to achieve, from 2013 levels, a 40% reduction in methane, a 40% reduction in hydrofluorocarbon gases, and a 50% reduction in anthropogenic black carbon, by 2030.
2) Requires ARB, prior to approving the strategy, to coordinate with other state and local governments; hold at least three public hearings; evaluate the best available scientific, technological, and economic information to ensure the strategy is cost effective and technologically feasible; and incorporate and prioritize, as appropriate, measures and actions that provide cobenefits, as specified.
3) Requires ARB to publicly notice the strategy and post a copy of the strategy on their Internet Web site at least one month prior to approval.
4) Establishes a target of 50% reduction in the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75% reduction by 2025, and requires CalRecycle and ARB to adopt regulations to achieve the organic waste reduction targets.
5) Prohibits the above regulations from establishing numeric organic waste disposal limits for individual landfills and authorizes the regulations to:
a) Require local jurisdictions to impose requirements on generators, as specified, and penalties for noncompliance.
b) Include different levels of requirements for local jurisdictions and phased timelines for meeting 2020, and 2025 goals, as specified.
c) Include penalties for noncompliance, as specified.
6) Requires the above CalRecycle and ARB regulations to:
a) Take effect on or after January 1, 2022, as specified.
b) Include requirements intended to recover at least 20% of edible food currently disposed of, by 2025.
7) Authorizes a local jurisdiction to charge and collect fees to recover costs incurred in complying with the organic waste reduction targets.
8) Requires CalRecycle, in consultation with ARB, to analyze progress in achieving the organic waste reduction goals, as specified.
9) Authorizes CalRecycle to include incentives or additional requirements in the regulations to facilitate progress in meeting the organic waste reduction goals if CalRecycle determines that significant progress has not been made.
10) Prohibits ARB from adopting additional requirements to control methane emissions from the disposal of organics before January 1, 2025, other than through landfill methane control.
11) Requires ARB, in consultation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to adopt regulations to reduce methane emissions from livestock and dairy manure management operations by up to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030.
12) Requires ARB, prior to adopting manure management regulations, to do the following:
a) Work with stakeholders, as specified, to address challenges and barriers to the development of dairy methane reduction projects.
b) Hold a minimum of three public meetings, as specified.
c) Conduct or consider livestock and dairy operation research on dairy methane reduction projects and consider developing and adopting methane reduction protocols.
13) Requires ARB post a report on their Internet Web site on the progress in meeting with stakeholders, holding public meetings, conducting research, and developing protocols, as required above.
14) Specifies that the regulations shall be implemented on or after January 1, 2024, if ARB, in consultation with CDFA, determines that the regulations are technologically feasible, economically feasible, as specified, and cost effective and that they include provisions to minimize and mitigate potential leakage, and evaluate achievements made by incentives.
15) Requires ARB, in consultation with CDFA, to analyze progress by July 1, 2020, toward achieving the methane reduction targets for the dairy and livestock sector, and authorizes ARB, in consultation with CDFA and stakeholders to reduce the methane reduction goal for the dairy and livestock sector if it is determined that progress has not been made in meeting targets due to insufficient funding, or technical or market barriers.
16) Requires ARB, in consultation with PUC and CEC, to establish energy infrastructure development and procurement policies to encourage dairy biomethane projects to meet the methane reduction goals for that sector, and requires PUC and CEC to direct gas corporations to implement at least five dairy biomethane pilot projects, as specified.
17) Requires ARB to provide guidance on credits generated pursuant to the low carbon fuels standard, and cap-and-trade program, and ensure that projects developed prior to implementation of adopted regulations in the dairy and livestock sector receive credit for at least 10 years, and be eligible for an extension of credits, as specified.
18) Requires ARB to develop a pilot financial mechanism to reduce economic uncertainty associated with the value of environmental credits, including credits generated pursuant to the low carbon fuels standard, and cap-and-trade program, and make recommendations, as specified.
19) Specifies enteric emissions reductions may only be achieved through incentive based mechanisms, until ARB, in consultation with CDFA makes specified findings, but authorizes voluntary enteric emissions reductions to be used toward meeting the methane emission reduction goals for the livestock and dairy sector.
20) Specifies that the requirements in adopting dairy and livestock regulations do not limit the authority of ARB to acquire planning and baseline information.
21) Prohibits ARB from adopting methane emission reduction regulations controlling methane emissions from dairy and livestock operation to achieve GHG emissions reductions other than those required pursuant to this bill.
22) Requires CEC, in consultation with ARB and PUC, to develop recommendations for the development and use of renewable gas as part of the 2017 Integrated Energy Policy Report, as specified.
23) Requires state agencies to consider, and as appropriate, adopt policies and incentives to significantly increase the sustainable production and use of renewable gas, based on the above recommendations, and requires PUC, in consultation with CEC and ARB, to consider additional policies to support the development and use of renewable gas in the state to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, based on the above recommendations.
24) Requires priority for the consideration and adoption of policies above, be given to fuels with the greatest GHG emissions benefits, as specified.
Background
1) Short-lived Climate Pollutants. Greenhouse gases or climate pollutants, such as CO2, work to warm the earth by trapping solar radiation in the earth’s atmosphere. Depending on the molecule, these pollutants can vary greatly in their ability to trap heat, which is termed their global warming potential, and the length of time they remain in the atmosphere. CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries, which makes it the most critical greenhouse gas to reduce in order to limit long-term climate change. However, climate pollutants including methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and soot (black carbon), are relatively short-lived (anywhere from a few days to a few decades), but when measured in terms of how they heat the atmosphere (global warming potential, of GWP), can be tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times greater than that of CO2. These climate forcers are termed short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs).
Because SLCPs remain in the atmosphere for a relatively short period of time, but have a much higher global warming potential than CO2, efforts aimed at reducing their emissions in their near term would result in more immediate climate, air quality, and public health benefits, than a strategy focused solely on CO2. According to ARB’s SLCP draft strategy, “while the climate impacts of CO2 reductions take decades or more to materialize, cutting emissions of SLCPs can immediately slow global warming and reduce the impacts of climate change.” Recent research estimates that SCLPs are responsible for about 40% of global warming to date and that actions to reduce SLCP emissions could cut the amount of warming that would occur over the next few decades by half.
According to ARB’s 2015 updated Scoping Plan, the three short-lived climate pollutants with the greatest implications for California are the following:
Black carbon: Black carbon, a component of soot, also known as PM 2.5, comes from diesel engines and incomplete burning of carbon sources. Wildfires contribute almost 50% of the total black carbon emissions in the state. Black carbon also darkens the surface of snow and ice, which accelerates heat absorption and melting, and is thought be the second greatest contributor to global climate change, after CO2. In addition to being a powerful global warming pollutant, black carbon is associated with numerous negative health impacts and is designated a potential human carcinogen. Black carbon is not listed under AB 32 as a greenhouse gas subject to AB 32 regulations. However, due to known health and air quality impacts, ARB adopted truck and bus regulations in 2008 to control diesel PM emissions. ARB also administers the Carl Moyer Program, which provides grants to fund “cleaner than required” engine upgrades, or retrofits that reduce PM 2.5 and other pollutants. Black Carbon has a global warming potential 3200 times that of CO2 on a 20-year time scale.
Methane: Methane (CH4) is the principal component of natural gas and is also produced biologically from the decomposition of organic matter under anaerobic conditions in ruminants (enteric fermentation), landfills, and waste handling. Atmospheric methane concentrations have been increasing as a result of human activities related to agriculture, fossil fuel extraction and distribution, and waste generation and processing. Many emissions sources of methane are unregulated (e.g., methane from dairy production and fugitive methane emissions from landfills and natural gas distribution). In fact, a 2014 Stanford University study found that methane emissions may be 50% higher than official estimates from the US EPA. In 2010, ARB approved a regulatory measure as an AB 32 discrete early action measure that requires installation of landfill gas collection and control systems. ARB has also released draft regulations to reduce fugitive methane from the oil and gas sector. Methane is about 80 times more powerful as a global warming pollutant than CO2 on a 20-year time scale.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC): HFCs (also known as F-gases) are synthetic gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, insulation foams, solvents, aerosol products, and fire protection. They are primarily produced for use as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances which are being phased out globally. Currently, HFCs are a small fraction of the total climate forcing, but they are the fastest growing source of carbon pollution. ARB has implemented several measures to reduce HFC emissions including low-global warming potential (GWP) requirements for aerosol propellants, a deposit-return recycling program for small cans of air conditioner refrigerant and a refrigerant management program. HFCs, on average, have a global warming potential 1600 times that of CO2 on a 20-year time scale.
2) Climate change, environmental quality, and public health. In addition to increasing sea levels and dwindling biodiversity, climate change will have significant impacts on environmental quality and public health.
A number of impacts from climate change can lead to worsening air quality. Longer, hotter days during the dry seasons result in more ground-level pollutants like ozone. Additionally, dry conditions from high temperatures and worsening drought lead to longer fire seasons and increasing wildfire frequency and intensity.
Climate change can also lead to more frequent and extreme weather. This includes heavy rainfall events, which can trigger landslides and debris flows that are especially problematic in areas where wildfires have occurred. Heavy rain events can also overwhelm sewage and water treatment facilities with negative impacts to water quality. Additionally, drought is an important consideration for water quality. Because of reduced water reserves, groundwater pumping may continue to increase, resulting in higher concentration of pollutants in drinking water.
High heat and drought can also facilitate the spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) by aiding the development of mosquitoes, which spread the virus to people, birds, and other animals. Last year in California, the number of mosquitoes carrying WNV surged to unprecedented levels.
3) SLCP Strategy. SB 605 (Lara and Pavley, Chapter 523, Statutes of 2014) directs ARB to develop a comprehensive short-lived climate pollutant strategy by January 1, 2016. In developing the strategy, ARB is required to complete an inventory of sources and emissions of SLCPs in the state based on available data, identify research needs to address data gaps and existing and potential new control measures to reduce emissions.
In September of 2015, ARB released a draft SLCP strategy required by SB 605. The draft strategy sets targets for methane, black carbon, and reductions in F-gases, of 40%, 50%, and 40%, respectively, by 2030. Some of the proposed measures to achieve black carbon emissions reductions include replacement of wood-burning stoves, and implementing a sustainable freight strategy. To meet the methane reduction target, the draft strategy proposes manure and enteric management measures, including regulations on new dairies, prohibiting organics in landfills, oil and gas sector methane regulations, and others. F-gases are targeted in the strategy through proposals to provide financial incentives to low GWP refrigerants and bans on very high GWP refrigerants and equipment.