Date of Hearing: January 13, 2020

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Laura Friedman, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 966 (

Author:Bonta) – As Amended Ver:January 6, 2020

SUBJECT: Cement plants

SUMMARY: Requires each cement plant operating in the state to submit a current facility-specific Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) to the Air Resources Board (ARB) by January 1, 2022. It also requires contract awarding authorities to require successful contract bidders to submit a product-specific EPD for projects that involve the purchase of more than 50 cubic yards of concrete.

EXISTING LAW:

Requires the Department of General Services (DGS) to establish standards used in the bid process related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when certain eligible materials are used in state public works projects. An eligible material cannot be installed until the successful bidder submits a facility-specific EPD for that material. Eligible materials include: carbon steel rebar, flat glass, mineral wool board insulation, and structural steel, but not cement or concrete.
Defines “awarding authority” as a state agency, the Regents of the University of California (UC), and the Trustees of the California State University (CSU) for public works.

THIS BILL:

Requires each cement plant operating in the state to submit a current facility-specific and third-party verified EPD Type III, as defined by International Organization for Standards (ISO) 14025, to ARB by January 1, 2022.
Requires contract-awarding authorities to require successful contract bidders to submit a product-specific EPD for projects that require the purchase of more than 50 cubic yards of concrete.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

Author’s statement:

Climate change is the existential threat of our time and we must take more bold actions to prevent or reverse its devastating impacts. Cement and concrete production account for eight percent of total GHG emissions worldwide. California must continue its climate leadership by taking steps to work with the cement and concrete industry to reduce those harmful levels. A vital step to achieve this involves measuring and disclosing the exact impacts of California’s cement and concrete products. AB 966 will require each of California’s eight cement plants to prepare and submit factory-specific EPDs by January 1, 2022. This important data will help the state develop practical and effective ways to lower this negative impact. Further, AB 966 will require the State of California to mandate the submission of product-specific EPDs whenever concrete is purchased through projects in amounts greater than 50 cubic yards. This will also allow the state to better measure and evaluate alternative mixture options to lower the global warming potential of these products.

Cement plants: The manufacture of cement is energy- and emissions-intensive, accounting for more than 5-8% of total global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. California is the second-largest cement producing state, with eight operational plants. Cement production is expected to increase significantly in California in the next decade.

During the manufacture of cement, minerals like clay or limestone are heated to extreme temperatures to produce clinker, which is then combined with other substances to produce cement. Cement is later mixed with water and an aggregate such as sand to produce concrete. The ratios of these components vary depending on the type of concrete. According to a report by Global Efficiency Intelligence, 60% of the CO₂ emitted by California’s cement industry is released directly from the calcination of limestone during production of clinker. Most of the remaining CO₂ is emitted by burning fuel, typically coal and petroleum coke, to heat the raw materials. The California cement industry is the state’s leading consumer of coal. The industry in California is also electricity- and fuel-intense compared to other regions like China and India, who use newer energy-efficient technologies in their cement plants. California cement plants also produce cement with high clinker content compared to some other regions, resulting in higher emissions. Similarly, some types of concrete have lower percentages of cement and therefore, lower emissions profiles.

The ARB publishes the GHG emissions for each of the cement plants in California under California’s Regulation for the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. This reporting does not account for indirect emissions from electricity use during cement production, the impacts from the full life cycle of cement from individual plants, impacts other than GHGs, or the emissions from individual projects which may use cement and/or concrete with different environmental profiles.

The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is currently piloting a program to require EPDs for pavement materials in projects under development. This program requires reporting for projects that use more than 500 cubic yards per mix design. The current threshold in this bill requires an EPD for projects that require more than 50 cubic yards, which is equal to five truckloads of concrete or about 100 feet of one lane of pavement.

To avoid applying to relatively small construction projects, the committee may wish to amend the bill to raise the threshold in this bill above 50 cubic yards. Furthermore, since one project may use a variety of different concrete mixes, the language should clarify that the threshold is based on each mix design.

Environmental Product Declaration Type III: An EPD Type III is a standardized report used by product manufacturers to provide environmental performance information about their products. An EPD is based on a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a product as laid out by ISO 14025 standards. For each type of product, Product Category Rules (PCRs) are developed by stakeholders with third-party oversight to govern the content, methodology, and assumptions used in the LCA. EPDs typically include information about the environmental impacts associated with a product or service, such as raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, the content of materials and chemical substances, emissions, water use, and waste generation. They include environmental impacts starting with the extraction of the raw materials through the production process. They do not include long-term data for the product after it leaves the factory or plant. The standardized approach creates a basis for comparison among products and allows companies to communicate transparently about their products based on factual environmental claims. EPDs expire after five years.

Cement or concrete plants typically hire consultants or pay for software to produce the EPDs. Climate Earth, the company that owns the EPD software, charges $10,500 for a single plant, plus a $2,400 annual fee for continued access to create new EPDs for different cement mixes or update existing documents. Rates are discounted for companies that pay for EPDs for multiple plants (EPDs for 10 plants costs $24,700 plus a $6,180 annual fee).

The committee may wish to amend the bill to specify that recipients of the EPDs must make the EPDs publicly available. Also, the committee may wish to amend the bill to clarify the language to ensure that the product-specific EPDs for individual projects are specifically for the concrete used on the job; as written, it could be misinterpreted to mean a different product; and to clarify that the product-specific EPDs for individual projects are also Type III.

This bill. This bill requires all cement plants in California to submit a facility-specific EPD to the ARB by January 1, 2022. This bill also mandates that awarding authorities require successful contract bidders to submit product-specific EPDs for projects that require the purchase of more than 50 cubic yards of concrete. This bill does not alter the evaluation of contract bids nor require cement plants or concrete suppliers to make changes to their facilities or manufacturing processes.

Supporters of this bill explain that factory-specific EPDs for the cement plants will provide data relating to fuel sources and individual plant efficiency. Product-specific EPDs for concrete used in individual state projects are important because developers chose from different concrete mixtures with different environmental profiles. The EPDs will provide public, easily readable, and more detailed data on the environmental impacts of cement and concrete compared to current reporting mechanisms. These data can be used to identify pathways to reduce the emissions impact of California’s cement and construction industries.

Previous legislation. AB 2181 (Brown) of 2016 would have required specified state departments, UC, and CSU to evaluate the impact of GHG emissions on certain infrastructure projects and incorporate GHG emissions considerations into their procurement processes. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

350 Bay Area
350 Bay Area Action
350 Silicon Valley
California League of Conservation Voters
Clean Water Action

Coalition for Clean Air
Environment California
Environmental Defense Fund
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club California
The Climate Reality Project: Santa Clara County
11 Individuals

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Jacy Hyde / NAT. RES. /

AB 966: Cement plants.

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