Date of Hearing: May 2, 2011

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Wesley Chesbro, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id: AB 644 (Author: Blumenfield) As Amended: Ver: April 25, 2011
SUBJECT: Energy: renewable energy facility: siting
SUMMARY: Requires California Energy Commission (CEC), in consultation with the
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (DRRR), Department of Toxic Subst
ances Control (DTSC), and the Department of Conservation (DOC), to (1) establish
criteria for identifying closed disposal sites, brownfields, and degraded agric
ultural lands that have high potential for use as sites for renewable generation
facilities and (2) prepare a list of lands that meet this criteria. Authorizes
CEC to prepare a program environmental impact report (PEIR) to facilitate the s
iting of renewable energy projects on the listed sites.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Grants CEC exclusive authority to license thermal power plants with a generat
ing capacity of 50 megawatts or more. Grants local governments the authority to
issue construction permits for the operation of power plants of less than 50 me
gawatts generating capacity.
2) Establishes, pursuant to DRRR's regulations, performance standards and minimu
m substantive requirements for proper closure, postclosure maintenance, and ulti
mate reuse of disposal sites in the state.
3) Defines "closed disposal site" as a disposal site that ceases to accept solid
waste and is closed in accordance with applicable statutes, regulations, and lo
cal ordinances in effect at the time of the closure.
4) Establishes programs under DTSC to facilitate remediation of brownfields in t
he state.
5) Defines brownfield as property that is abandoned, idled, or underused, due to r
eal or perceived environmental contamination, including soil or groundwater cont
amination, the presence of underground storage tanks, or the presence of asbesto
s or lead paint and that has a reasonable potential for economically beneficial
reuse.
6) Establishes programs under DOC to protect and preserve agricultural land in t
he state.
7) Authorizes, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the
preparation of a PEIR on a series of actions that can be characterized as one la
rge project and are related either (1) geographically, (2) as logical parts in t
he chain of contemplated actions, (3) in connection with issuance of rules, regu
lations, plans, or other general criteria to govern the conduct of a continuing
program, or (4) as individual activities carried out under the same authorizing
statutory or regulatory authority and having generally similar environmental eff
ects which can be mitigated in similar ways.
THIS BILL:
1) Requires CEC, in consultation with the DRRR, DTSC, and DOC, to establish (1)
criteria for identifying closed disposal sites, brownfields, and degraded agricu
ltural lands with no access to water that have high potential for use as sites f
or renewable generation facilities with a generation capacity of less than 50 me
gawatts of electricity and (2) prepare a list of lands that meet this criteria.
2) Defines degraded agricultural land" as land that has been mechanically disturb
ed, including land that has been converted from native vegetation through plowin
g, bulldozing, or other mechanical means in support of activities that change th
e land cover, including, but not limited to, agricultural activities, mining, an
d clearance for development purposes. Degraded agricultural lands also includes
land, based on appropriate biological surveys, that has diminished value as habi
tat for mitigation purposes for endangered, threatened, candidate, and other sen
sitive species.
3) Requires the evaluation criteria to include low habitat value for rare, endan
gered, and sensitive species, compatibility with neighboring land uses, geologic
al compatibility, and absence of various cultural resources.
4) Authorizes CEC to prepare a PEIR to facilitate the siting of renewable energy
projects on the sites identified pursuant to the list established pursuant to t
he bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1) Purpose of the Bill. According to the author, closed landfills and brownfield
s generally have few reuses and present a unique opportunity for siting renewabl
e energy... The sites often are located close to roads and transmission lines.
While each site is different, developing state policy that promotes reusing the
land for distributive renewable power generation, including solar and wind, cou
ld help the state advance California s Global Warming Solutions Act.
The bill seeks to facilitate the siting of renewable energy projects on closed d
isposal sites, brownfields, and degraded agricultural lands with no access to wa
ter located in the state.
2) Federal Program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launche
d an initiative called RE-Powering America s Land: Siting Renewable Energy on Poten
tially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites to encourage the siting of renewable ener
gy facilities on thousands of currently and formerly contaminated properties and
abandoned mines across the country. EPA tracks approximately 490,000 sites and
15 million acres of potentially contaminated properties and abandoned mines. E
PA claims that these lands are environmentally and economically beneficial for s
iting renewable energy facilities because they (1) offer thousands of acres of l
and with few site owners; (2) often have critical infrastructure in place includ
ing electric transmission lines, roads and water on-site, and are adequately zon
ed for such development; (3) provide an economically viable reuse for sites with
significant cleanup costs or low real estate development demand; (4) take the s
tress off undeveloped lands for construction of new energy facilities, preservin
g the land carbon sink; and (5) provide job opportunities in urban and rural com
munities.
The Re-Powering America s Land Initiative Management Plan is a complex strategy wi
th three major goals, six objectives, and 20 action items to help developers, st
ates, and local governments overcome the major barriers associated with renewabl
e energy projects on contaminated properties and abandoned mines. The three mai
n goals are (1) providing incentives and technical assistance for sitting renewa
ble energy on contaminated lands, (2) creating a unified federal approach to pro
mote siting of renewable energy contaminated land, and (3) improve communication
and sharing of data on siting renewable energy on contaminated land to enable s
takeholders to successfully reuse sites for renewable energy.
Under the first goal of the management plan, EPA has established, among other th
ings, the Re-Powering America s Land Google Earth Tool. This tool utilizes the Goog
le Earth computer program to display contaminated properties and abandoned mines
in the country. According to EPA, the tool only contains a fraction of the pro
perties in the country that it is attempting to target. EPA has developed a pil
ot initiative that will begin this summer to explore ways to include state-track
ed sites in the Google Earth Tool.
Another major component of the management plan involves implementing strategies
to improve outreach to stakeholders (such as renewable energy developers, utilit
ies, etc.), the financial industry, and economic development groups. The utilit
y outreach will begin this winter.
EPA has documented several success stories with the Re-Powering America s Land Ini
tiative. One project in Contra Costa County involves a one megawatt photovoltai
c system. Four other projects in the state include renewable energy systems tha
t are focused on powering the remediation efforts. The largest project posted o
n the program s website is in Wyoming and involves a 16.5 megawatt wind energy fac
ility.
3) Is a State Program Needed? The Re-Powering America s Land Initiative is an amb
itious program with several elements that are currently being developed through
a very deliberate and planned out process. EPA has admitted that the program is
in its early stage and it is too early to determine how well the initiative is
meeting its environmental outcome goals. As mentioned above, the program has al
ready involved California projects. Additionally, the program has outreach plan
s to take effect this year that will further help facilitate siting on contamina
ted sites tracked by the state.
The committee may wish to consider whether the state should take a separate path
and use its resources to develop a program focused on relatively small scale re
newable energy projects or rely on the current federal program that has gone thr
ough a substantial planning process and will soon be conducting outreach to the
state. Either way, to avoid duplicative work, the committee and author may wish
to consider amending the bill to require DRRR, DTSC, and DOC to make best effor
ts to work with the federal government to help develop and utilize the Re-Poweri
ng America s Land Initiative.
4) Is a PEIR Appropriate? A PEIR may be an inappropriate tool to use for enviro
nmental review under the bill. California s closed disposal sites, brownfields, a
nd degraded agricultural lands vary substantially in terms of biology, water, si
ze, location, climate, terrain, contamination, and other environmental issues.
As such, it is not likely that a local government will be able to rely on a PEIR
for its environmental review--this negates the purpose of authorizing the PEIR
in the bill. Additionally, CEC may not be the appropriate agency to prepare a P
EIR since it does not conduct environmental reviews of small scale renewable ene
rgy projects like the ones proposed in the bill. The committee and author may w
ish to consider amending the bill to remove the PEIR provision.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092