The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030.

This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to annually submit a specified report to the Legislature that includes, among other things, an estimate of the annual emissions of greenhouse gases associated with wildfires in the state that have burned 10,000 acres or more and a direct comparison of that estimate to the emissions of greenhouse gases offset by the state boards applicable regulatory programs.

Date of Hearing: May 9, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2672

Author:(Patterson) – As Introduced Ver:February 15, 2018

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Air Resources Board (ARB), in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), to annually report to the Legislature on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with specified wildfires. Specifically, this bill requires ARB to annually report on all of the following:

1. An estimate of the annual GHG emissions of wildfires that have burned 10,000 acres or more.
   
2. A direct comparison of the GHG emissions of wildfires offset by ARB’s applicable regulatory program.
   
3. A list of the amount of GGRF moneys appropriated and allocated for vegetation management or fire risk reductions.
   

FISCAL EFFECT:

Increased annual ARB staffing costs (3 PY) of approximately $345,000 to acquire data and compare emissions with regulatory and incentive emission reduction programs (Cost of Implementation Account.)

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author, this bill requires ARB to make a direct comparison between the estimated annual GHG emissions associated with large wildfires in the state and the ARB’s applicable regulatory and incentive programs.

The author states, “It is important for policymakers to have an understanding of how wildfires can impact air quality…It is also important for policy and budget makers to know how funds intended to be spent on achieving GHG reductions are prioritized and spent.”

1. Background. California’s forests are susceptible to the effects of climate change, but also emit GHG. Dead, decaying, and dying trees emit GHGs and reduce the carbon storage capacity of the forests. Additionally, wildfires are now the single largest source of black- carbon emissions in California, representing 66% of black carbon emissions. Black-carbon, or soot, is a major contributor to climate change. 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 has a global warming potential as much as 4,000 times that of CO₂ over a 20-year time period.
   
   Prescribed-and-managed fire is a type of vegetation management where low-intensity fires are either intentionally lit or allowed to burn in specified weather conditions consistent with a pre-approved plan (known as a burn plan) to treat a specific area. The prescribed-or-managed fire eliminates hazardous surface fuels and achieves other important ecological outcomes. Prescribed-and-managed fire increases short-term air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to mitigate the risk of larger fires with significantly higher air and GHG emissions in the future.
2. Similar Legislation. AB 2120 (Quirk) requires ARB to report annually on the air pollutant emissions following an unplanned wildfire that has burned 10,000 acres or more and the likely air pollutant trade-offs associated with prescribed burns or managed wildfire ignitions. AB 2120 is pending in this committee on suspense.

Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 23, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Al Muratsuchi, Acting Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2672 (

Author:Patterson) – As Introduced Ver:February 15, 2018

SUBJECT: California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: wildfires

SUMMARY: Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB), in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to annually report to the Legislature on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with specified wildfires.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires ARB, pursuant to California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 [AB 32 (Nuñez), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006], to adopt a statewide GHG emissions limit equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and adopt regulations to achieve maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective GHG emission reductions.
2. Requires ARB to reduce GHG emissions at least 40% below the statewide GHG emissions limit no later than December 31, 2030. Authorizes, until December 31, 2030, ARB to permit the use of market-based compliance mechanisms (i.e., the Cap-and-Trade Program) to comply with GHG reduction regulations once specified conditions are met.
3. Establishes the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by ARB from the auction or sale of allowances pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the GGRF and available for appropriation by the Legislature.
4. Establishes the GGRF Investment Plan and Communities Revitalization Act (Act) to set procedures for the investment of GHG allowance auction revenues. Authorizes a range of GHG reduction investments and establishes several policy objectives:
   
   1. Maximize economic, environmental, and public health benefits;
      
   2. Foster job creation;
      
   3. Complement efforts to improve air quality;
      
   4. Direct investment toward the most disadvantaged communities and households in the state;
      
   5. Provide opportunities for businesses, public agencies, nonprofits, and other community institutions to participate in, and benefit from, statewide efforts to reduce GHG emissions; and,
      
   6. Lessen the impacts and effects of climate change on the state's communities, economy, and environment.
5. Specifies that moneys appropriated from the GGRF through investments may include funding to reduce GHG emissions as follows:
   
   1. Energy efficiency, clean and renewable energy generation, distributed renewable energy generation, transmission and storage, and other related actions;
      
   2. The development of state-of-the-art systems to move goods and freight, advanced technology vehicles and vehicle infrastructure, advanced biofuels, and low-carbon and efficient public transportation;
      
   3. Water use and water supply, land and natural resource conservation and management, forestry, and sustainable agriculture projects;
      
   4. Strategic planning and development of sustainable infrastructure projects;
      
   5. In-state diversion of municipal solid waste from disposal through waste reduction, diversion, and reuse;
      
   6. Investments in programs implemented by local and regional agencies, local and regional collaboratives, and nonprofit organizations coordinating with local governments; and,
      
   7. Funding research, development, and deployment of innovative technologies, measures, and practices related to programs and projects funded pursuant to the Act.
      
6. Beginning this year, establishes the following priorities for expenditure of cap-and-trade auction revenue through 2030:
   
   1. Toxic and criteria air pollutants from stationary and mobile sources;
      
   2. Low- and zero-carbon transportation alternatives;
      
   3. Sustainable agricultural practices that promote clean technology, water efficiency, and improved air quality;
      
   4. Healthy forests and urban greening;
      
   5. Short-lived climate pollutants;
      
   6. Climate adaptation and resiliency; and,
      
   7. Climate and clean energy research.
      
7. Authorizes CAL FIRE to enter into an agreement, including a grant agreement, for prescribed burning or other hazardous fuel reduction. Authorizes the state to assume a proportionate share of the costs of site preparation and prescribed burning or other hazardous fuel reduction on wild lands.
   
8. Authorizes CAL FIRE to provide grants or enter into agreements with entities, including, but not limited to, private or nongovernmental entities to improve forest health and GHG emissions. Requires moneys appropriated to CAL FIRE for landscape-scale projects to be allocated as follows:
   
   1. To subsidize the removal of small diameter material, especially surface fuels and ladder fuels, as well as dead trees, in order to help develop markets for beneficial uses of the material, including, but not limited to, animal bedding, biochar, cross-laminated timber, mulch, oriented strandboard, pulp, post, shredding, and veneer products.
      
   2. For multiple benefit projects, such as tree thinning, carbon sequestration, forest resilience, and improved ecological outcome projects, including, but not limited to, restoring watershed health and function and supporting biodiversity and wildlife adaptation to climate change. Requires CAL FIRE to prioritize grant funding to landowners who practice uneven-age forest management with a resilient forest of diverse age, size, and species class within the boundaries of the project and whose activities are conducted pursuant to an approved timber harvest plan, nonindustrial timber harvest plan, or working forest management plan. Requires an application for a grant for a project to include a description of how the proposed project will increase average stem diameter and provide other site-specific improvement to forest complexity, as demonstrated by the expansion of the variety of tree age classes and species persisting for a period of at least 50 years.
      
   3. For activities on National Forest lands to increase tree stand heterogeneity, create forest openings of less than one acre, and increase average tree stand diameter of residual trees. Requires collaboration with ARB for grant approvals for projects on National Forest lands.

THIS BILL:

1. Requires ARB, in consultation with CAL FIRE, to annually report to the Legislature on all of the following:
   
   1. An estimate of the annual GHG emissions of wildfires that have burned 10,000 acres or more;
      
   2. A direct comparison of the GHG emissions of wildfires offset by ARB’s applicable regulatory program; and,
      
   3. A list of the amount of GGRF moneys appropriated and allocated for vegetation management or fire risk reductions.
      

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Wildfire emissions. California’s forests are not only susceptible to the effects of climate change, but are also contributing to emissions. Dead, decaying, and dying trees have been shown to emit GHGs, reducing the carbon storage capacity of the forests. Moreover, wildfires are now the single largest source of black carbon emissions in California, representing 66% of black carbon emissions in 2013. Black carbon or soot is a major contributor to climate change. 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 has a global warming potential as much as 4,000 times that of CO₂ over a 20-year time scale.
   
   If high severity fires, aided by drought and infestations of bark beetles, lead to large areas of forest being permanently converted from forest to shrub land, it would be a substantial loss in carbon storage, which is an important component of California’s ability to achieve GHG emission reduction goals.
   
   According to the “2017 Scoping Plan Update: The Strategy for Achieving California's 2030 GHG Target”, the 10 year average of California forestry emissions is 3.6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2e) from prescribed fire and 86.7 MMTCO2e from wildfires. However, the emissions from wildfires are growing. In 2016-17 California experienced a record level of precipitation, which caused an unprecedented growth in grasses and shrubs throughout California. During the summer of 2017 extended heat waves dried out the newly grown vegetation. In the fall and winter of 2017 high winds and low humidity created the conditions that led to major fires in Butte, Lake, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Riverside, San Diego, Solano, Sonoma, Ventura, and Yuba counties. This included the Thomas fire, which was the largest wildfire in California history. Many places in California experienced the worst air quality on record, including for deadly particulate matter 2.5. These massive fires also created significant amounts of GHG emissions. The 2017 wildfires produced more GHG emissions than every car, truck, and big rig on the state’s roads in one year.
   
   According to the draft Forest Carbon Plan, developed by the Natural Resources Agency and California Environmental Protection Agency, “Today, many forests are unhealthy, with unnaturally dense stands that lack resilience, making them more susceptible to drought, disease, insect pests, and uncharacteristically large, severe wildfires. In fact, there is growing evidence that many of California’s forests have become net emitters of carbon due primarily to the uncharacteristic fire and mortality we are witnessing.” The draft Forest Carbon Plan also states “current rates of fuel reduction, thinning of overly dense forests, and use of prescribed and managed fire are far below levels needed to restore forest health, prevent extreme fires, and meet the state’s GHG reduction targets.” The draft Forest Carbon Plan calls for aggressively increasing the number of acres treated to reduce fuels.
2. Comment. Both this bill and AB 2120 (Quirk) require ARB to report annually on wildfire emissions. As the bills move forward the authors should consider consolidating the information into one report requirement.
3. Related legislation.

AB 2120 (Quirk) requires ARB to report annually on the air pollutant emissions following an unplanned wildfire that has burned 10,000 acres or more. This bill will also be heard on April 23 in this committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Forestry Association
Humboldt Redwood Company

Mendocino Redwood Companies
Rural County Representatives of California

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. /