AB 680: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: California Jobs Plan Act of 2021.

Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, establishes the State Air Resources Board as the agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms in regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available to the state upon appropriation by the Legislature.

Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (labor agency) under the supervision of the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, and provides that the labor agency consists of, among other entities, the California Workforce Development Board, the Employment Development Department, and the Department of Industrial Relations.

This bill would enact the California Jobs Plan Act of 2021, which would require the state board to work with the labor agency to update, by July 1, 2025, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund funding guidelines for administering agencies to ensure that all applicants to grant programs funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund meet specified standards, including fair and responsible employer standards and inclusive procurement policies, as provided. The bill would require the state board to work with administering agencies to leverage existing programs and funding to assist applicants in meeting these standards. The bill would require, among other things, administering agencies, on and after the adoption of the update to the funding guidelines, to give preference to applicants that demonstrate a partnership with an educational institution or training program targeting residents of under-resourced, tribal, and low-income communities, as defined, in the same region as the proposed project and to applicants that demonstrate the creation of high-quality jobs, as defined, by the proposed project. The bill would exclude from these requirements applicants for projects that involve specified funding, technical assistance, or research, applicants who are not employers, as defined, and housing projects that will feature 100% affordable units, as defined.