Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan for the citys or countys physical development that includes various elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land in specified categories, and a circulation element that identifies the location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, as specified.

This bill, the Local Electrification Planning Act, would require a city, county, or city and county to prepare and adopt a specified plan, or otherwise integrate a plan into the general plan, that, among other things, identifies opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging to meet the needs of the citys, countys, or city and countys current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, and includes policies and implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups, as specified. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to adopt a specified plan, or otherwise integrate the plan into the general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, 2026, but no later than January 1, 2028. 2029. The bill would deem a plan adopted pursuant to these provisions as a regional plan for specified purposes. The bill would require that the above-described provisions only apply to a city, county, or city and county with a population greater than 75,000 residents.

Because the bill would increase the duties of local public officials, it would establish a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan for the citys or countys physical development that includes various elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land in specified categories, and a circulation element that identifies the location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, as specified.

This bill, the Local Electrification Planning Act, would require a city city, county, or city and county to either adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan, or otherwise amend the prepare and adopt a specified plan, or otherwise integrate a plan into the general plan, to, that, among other things, identify strategies, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet Californias greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings. identifies opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging to meet the needs of the citys, countys, or city and countys current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, and includes policies and implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups, as specified. The bill would require a city city, county, or city and county to adopt a climate action electrification element, or otherwise amend the general plan, upon the adoption or revision of the general plan, specified plan, or otherwise integrate the plan into the general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would deem a plan adopted pursuant to these provisions as a regional plan for specified purposes.

Because the bill would increase the duties of local public officials, it would establish a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan for the citys or countys physical development that includes various elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land in specified categories, and a circulation element that identifies the location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, as specified.

This bill, the Local Electrification Planning Act, would require a city or county to either adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan plan, or otherwise amend the general plan plan, to, among other things, identify strategies and enforceable commitments strategies, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet Californias greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings. The bill would require a city or county to adopt a climate action electrification element element, or otherwise amend the general plan plan, upon the adoption or revision of the general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028.

Because the bill thereby would increase the duties of local public officials, it would establish a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law prohibits a city, county, or city and county from restricting which types of electric vehicles may access an electric vehicle charging station approved for passenger vehicles that both is publicly accessible and the construction of which was funded, at least in part, by the state or through moneys collected from ratepayers.

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS

Senator Steven Bradford, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: Hearing Date: 7/2/2024

SUBJECT:

DIGEST: This bill would establish the Local Electrification Planning Act and require cities and counties with over 75,000 residents to prepare and adopt a specified plan that requires a list of prescribed measures related to electrification of buildings and transportation.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires, via the Planning and Zoning Law, a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan for the city’s or county’s physical development that includes various elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land in specified categories, and a circulation element that identifies the location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities. (Government Code §65000 et seq.)
2. Requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, also known as the California Energy Commission (CEC) to establish building design and construction standards that increase the efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Authorizes the CEC to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation, climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings, and energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. The CEC must update the standards and also submit them to the State Building Standard Commission for adoption. Six months after the CEC certifies an energy conservation manual, cities, counties, and state agencies are prohibited from issuing a building permit for a building that does not comply with the current standards created by the CEC. (Public Resources Code §25402 et seq.)
3. Requires the CEC to establish the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program, which includes establishing a statewide incentive program for low-carbon building technologies and the direct install program to fund certain projects, including installation of energy efficient electric appliances, energy efficiency measures, demand flexibility measures, wiring and panel upgrades, building infrastructure upgrades, efficient air conditioning systems, ceiling fans, and other measures to protect against extreme heat, where appropriate, and remediation and safety measures to facilitate the installation of new technologies. (Public Resources Code §25665 et seq.)
4. Requires electric utilities and retail sellers to procure 60 percent of their retail sales of electricity from renewable energy by 2030. This is known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). (Public Utilities Code §399.11 et seq.)
5. Requires CEC, working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), to prepare a statewide assessment of the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least five million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on California roads by 2030, and of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. (Public Resources Code §25229)
6. Establishes the Clean Transportation program (CTP), administered by the CEC, with funding from vehicle and vessel registration, vehicle identification plates, and smog-abatement fees that provide up to $100 million annually for grants, revolving loans, loan guarantees, and other financial assistance to accelerate the development and deployment of clean, efficient, low carbon alternative fuels and technologies. (Health and Safety Code §44272)

This bill:

1. Establishes the Local Electrification Planning Act and requires a city, county, or city and county to prepare and adopt a specified plan, or otherwise integrate a plan into the general plan, that identifies opportunities to expand EV charging to meet the needs of the city’s, county’s, or city and county’s current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, and includes policies and implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups, as specified.
2. Requires a city, county, or city and county to adopt a specified plan, or otherwise integrate the plan into the general plan, on or after January 1, 2026, but no later than January 1, 2029. 
3. Deems a plan adopted pursuant to these provisions as a regional plan for specified purposes. 
4. Requires that the above-described provisions only apply to a city, county, or city and county with a population greater than 75,000 residents.

Background

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals. California must reduce statewide GHG emissions to a level 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, as provided by SB 32 (Pavley, Chapter 249, Statutes of 2016). The CARB is the lead agency implementing SB 32, and has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan (Scoping Plan), which outlines the policies that the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon, Chapter 312, Statutes of 2018) sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state’s electrical grid by 2045. State and local agencies have adopted a wide range of policy tools and requirements to assist the state in reducing GHG emissions, as described below.

Building decarbonization. According to CARB, residential and commercial buildings are responsible for roughly 25 percent of California’s GHG emissions when accounting for fossil fuels consumed onsite, electricity demand, and leakage of refrigerants. Of that 25 percent, about half is attributable to fossil fuel combustion, including natural gas, with residential buildings accounting for 2.5 times more of those emissions than commercial buildings. The Scoping Plan identifies actions to reduce GHG emissions from the building sector, including progressively improving building codes and standards, pursuing voluntary efforts to exceed code requirements, and completing existing building retrofits. Several strategies can be deployed to reduce carbon emissions from the building sector. These include: improved energy efficiency of buildings and appliances, reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel sources, ensuring cleaner sources of energy to operate buildings and associated appliances, addressing methane leaks, and others.

Building codes. The California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) contains building standards and regulations as adopted by the California Building Standards Commission (BSC). These standards include, among other requirements, structural standards for building safety (the Building Code), fire safety standards (the Fire Code), energy efficiency standards (the Energy Code), and standards for green buildings (CalGreen). The BSC updates the Building Standards Code on a three-year cycle—the BSC published new standards that went into effect on January 1, 2023. Once adopted at the state level, cities and counties in California then enact an ordinance to adopt the codes. New construction and improvements to existing buildings must comply with the current building codes, and improvements to an existing building may trigger additional code upgrades for other parts of a building.

California’s building energy efficiency standards. The CEC adopts building energy efficiency standards that must be cost effective for occupants over the 30-year lifespan of a building. The standards ensure builders use the most energy efficient technologies and construction, save energy, increase electricity supply reliability, increase indoor comfort, avoid the need to build new power plants and help preserve the environment. State law also tasks the CEC with developing and implementing a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock that fall significantly below the current standards in Title 24. The CEC has also adopted a Building Action Plan that sets out a ten‐year roadmap to use market forces to improve California’s existing residential, commercial, and public building stock into high‐performing and energy‐efficient buildings.

Local green building codes. Local ordinances that adopt the state building codes may include amendments that are more stringent than the state codes—including green building standards—if the local governing body makes findings the amendments are necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. The California Green Building Standards Code provides local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions include environmental conditions established by the city, county, or city and county, meaning local agencies can adopt more stringent green building requirements than the state codes. The CEC must approve these “reach codes” as cost effective and at least as energy efficient as state standards before they go into effect. To date, roughly 75 cities and counties in California have adopted reach codes that exceed the statewide minimum 2022 Energy Code requirements.

Barriers to reducing emissions from existing buildings. There are many barriers to building decarbonization, including costs, availability of workforce to install products, ability to install products in some emergency circumstances, current building age, availability of electric technology in some markets, and misaligned incentives between landlords and tenants in rental buildings, among others. The AB 3232 (Friedman, Chapter 373, Statutes of 2018) assessment notes, “Low-income and disadvantaged communities may face additional unique barriers because of systemic inequality, a history of lower access to capital and financing, greater energy burden, and lower rates of home or business ownership. Rural regions and Native American tribes also require careful consideration for decarbonization solutions.”

Transportation sector. Nearly 40 percent of California's GHG emissions are generated by the transportation sector, which includes both the light-duty (passenger) and medium- and heavy-duty fleets. Heavy-duty diesel trucks also contribute to unhealthy levels of ozone, inhalable particulate matter, carbon monoxide, NO_x, and sulfur dioxide, affecting local air quality. In the transportation sector, measures to reduce GHG emissions include requiring the use of low carbon fuels, cleaner vehicles, and strategies to promote sustainable communities and improved transportation choices that reduce growth in number of vehicle miles traveled.

To further the transition to a zero-emission fleet, at the end of 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20 which requires 100 percent of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the state be zero-emission by 2045 for all operations where feasible and by 2035 for drayage trucks. EO N-79-20 charges CARB with developing and proposing medium- and heavy-duty vehicle regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission trucks and buses sold and operated in the state towards that goal. EO N-79-20 also requires 100 percent of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks to be zero-emission by 2035, and requires CARB to develop and propose passenger vehicle and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new passenger ZEVs sold in the state towards that goal.

EO N-79-20 directed CEC to provide an update to the biennial AB 2127 (Ting, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2018) assessment of EV infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required by the order.

Climate Action Plans (CAP). Local agencies can adopt certain plans to reduce their GHG emissions and mitigate the climate impacts of their activities. One such document is a CAP. A CAP is a voluntary document that:

• Identifies baseline GHG emissions;
• Sets a target level of GHG emissions;
• Forecasts business-as-usual emissions without additional actions;
• Chooses strategies to reduce emissions to meet the target;
• Identifies implementation steps, including funding; and
• Provides for monitoring and tracking of emissions.

According to CARB’s 2019 Report on the State of CAPs in California (the most recent available), 181 cities and 21 counties had adopted some form of CAPs. However, each jurisdictions’ CAP varies in content and strategies, as well as, focus, as some CAPs may focus on energy efficiency while others encompass strategies in the waste sector. CARB’s 2022 Scoping Plan noted that nearly half (47 percent) of the state’s cities and counties have no known CAP. The plan notes:

“Many jurisdictions find that performing and hiring consultants to perform a GHG inventory and developing a CAP is costly and time-consuming, regardless of their desire to take action on climate.” The Scoping Plan also notes that local action will vary by jurisdiction, and should be encouraged including in wide spectrum of actions including infill housing and transit, reducing vehicle miles traveled, access to shared mobility services, opportunities via California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) mitigation, and others, including those related to supporting building decarbonization and EV charging.

Mandate! The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local governments for the costs of new or expanded state mandated local programs. Because AB 1176 increases the duties of local public officials, Legislative Counsel says the bill imposes a new state mandate. AB 1176 disclaims the state's responsibility for providing reimbursement by citing local governments’ authority to charge for the costs of implementing the bill’s provisions.

Amendments needed. The author and committee may wish to amend this bill to provide cities the flexibility to reflect their needs in their respective plans by:

• Add “may” to “measures that may include, but are not limited to” in Sec. 2, Gov. Code 65302.13 (a)(1), in order to provide local governments flexibility to develop plans that reflect their needs.
• Delete references to “electrification plan” in the title of the proposed bill and in reference to the type of plan that must be developed.
• Add clarifying amendments to require local governments to coordinate and collaborate with their respective electric and natural gas utilities, where appropriate.

Dual referral: This bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Local Government by a vote of 5-2 on June 5, 2024.

Prior/Related Legislation

AB 2427 (McCarty, 2024) requires a city or county to take specified actions regarding the permitting of EV charging station in the public right-of-way. The bill is pending the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

AB 970 (McCarty, Chapter 710, Statutes of 2021) updated earlier requirements to deem an application to install an EV charging station complete if the local building official hasn’t identified deficiencies, as specified.

SB 48 (Becker, Chapter 378, Statutes of 2023) required the CEC along with other agencies, to develop to a state strategy to achieve state goals for energy and GHG emissions from existing buildings.

AB 209 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 251, Statutes of 2022) among its many provisions, established the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program, including a direct install program to fund the installation of measures to reduce GHGs from buildings.

AB 179 (Ting, Chapter 249, Statutes of 2022) Budget Act of 2022 appropriated $1.12 billion for the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program.

AB 3232 (Friedman, Chapter 373, Statutes of 2018) required the CEC to assess the potential for the state to achieve the goal of reducing the emissions of GHGs by the state’s residential and commercial building stock by at least 40 percent below the 1990 levels by January 1, 2030.

AB 1236 (Chiu, Chapter 598, Statutes of 2015) required each city and county to adopt an ordinance to streamline and expedite the permitting process for EV charging stations.

AB 1279 (Muratsuchi, Chapter 337, Statutes of 2022) established the policy of the state to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, but no later than 2045

SB 32 (Pavley, Chapter 249, Statutes of 2016) required the CARB to reduce statewide GHG emissions to at least 40 percent below the 1990 emissions level by 2030.

AB 32 (Nuñez/Pavley, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006) required CARB to adopt policies to reduce statewide GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT:

ClimatePlan, Sponsor

350 Sacramento

Advanced Energy United
California Environmental Voters
CALSTART
CivicWell

Clean Power Alliance
Community Environmental Council

Electric Vehicle Charging Association
Environment California
FLO EV Charging
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 569

Junior Philanthropists Foundation
Microgrid Resources Coalition

San Diego Gas and Electric Company

Santa Monica Democratic Club

Sierra Club California

Southern California Edison

The Climate Center

The Climate Reality Project, Los Angeles Chapter
The Climate Reality Project, San Fernando Valley, CA Chapter

The Climate Reality Project, Silicon Valley Chapter

Voices for Progress

OPPOSITION:

County of Kern

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: ClimatePlan, the sponsor of this bill, states:

ClimatePlan writes in support of Assembly Bill 1176, which will ensure that city and county governments across the state are prepared for California’s transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and buildings by incorporating electrification considerations into the general planning process. Assembly Bill 1176 acknowledges the leadership that some of our cities and counties are already undertaking in their planning processes and provides the flexibility to recognize their existing efforts, while also providing guidance and a clear path forward to ensure no municipality falls behind. The transportation and built environment sectors are the primary areas that California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals focus on, as they make up most of our emissions. AB 1176 critically focuses on the intersection of these two sectors and the infrastructure that will be necessary in order to make meaningful progress towards both.

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: In opposition to this bill, the Kern County Board of Supervisors states:

This bill is predicated on the false premise that local jurisdictions universally have energy reliability and will easily be able to add capacity to meet electrification requirements. While a few local governments are served by municipal electric providers (SMUD, LA DWP, Glendale, Burbank, etc.), most are served by investor-owned utilities. Mandating local governments to prepare electrification elements without having any control over the grid and system upgrades will set locals up for failure. Local governments do not control the means with which to deploy vehicle charging stations in our communities. We do not own or operate those stations, nor do we have the capacity to do so. Understanding grid infrastructure requires technical and specialized expertise, skillsets local governments rarely have on staff. Access to the electrical data itself is limited due to Homeland Security concerns. The notion that a city or county planning department could complete this type of technical work within the next five years is erroneous and fraught with insurmountable challenges. Unfortunately, AB 1 176 continues the trend by policymakers in Sacramento to legislate by means of unfunded mandate and to the detriment of local governments.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Senator María Elena Durazo, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

General plans: Local Electrification Planning Act

Enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act.

Background

Land use authority. The California Constitution allows cities and counties to “make and enforce within its limits, all local, police, sanitary and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws.” It is from this fundamental power (commonly called the police power) that cities and counties derive their authority to regulate behavior to preserve the health, safety, and welfare of the public—including land use authority.

Every county and city must adopt a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. General plans must also either include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. Cities’ and counties’ major land use decisions—including zoning ordinances and development permitting—must be consistent with their general plans. In this way, the general plan is a blueprint for future development.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals. California must reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, as provided by SB 32 (Pavley, 2016). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the lead agency implementing SB 32, and has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan (Scoping Plan), which outlines the policies that the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon, 2018) sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state’s electrical grid by 2045. State and local agencies have adopted a wide range of policy tools and requirements to assist the state in reducing GHG emissions, as described below.

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis of GHG emissions. CEQA requires public agencies to study and mitigate, to the extent feasible, significant effects to the physical environment of their discretionary actions to approve “projects.” CEQA requires analysis of many different environmental impacts, including the impact of a project on climate change. Among other requirements, public agencies must make a good-faith effort to describe, calculate or estimate the amount of GHG emissions from a project and the extent to which the project complies with regulations or requirements adopted to implement a statewide, regional, or local plan to reduce or mitigate GHG emissions.

Building decarbonization. According to CARB, residential and commercial buildings are responsible for roughly 25% of California’s GHG emissions when accounting for fossil fuels consumed onsite, electricity demand, and leakage of refrigerants. Of that 25%, about half is attributable to fossil fuel combustion, including natural gas, with residential buildings accounting for 2.5 times more of those emissions than commercial buildings. The Scoping Plan identifies actions to reduce GHG emissions from the building sector, including progressively improving building codes and standards, pursuing voluntary efforts to exceed code requirements, and completing existing building retrofits. Several strategies can be deployed to reduce carbon emissions from the building sector. These include: improved energy efficiency of buildings and appliances, reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel sources, ensuring cleaner sources of energy to operate buildings and associated appliances, addressing methane leaks, and others.

Building codes. The California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) contains building standards and regulations as adopted by the California Building Standards Commission (BSC). These standards include, among other requirements, structural standards for building safety (the Building Code), fire safety standards (the Fire Code), energy efficiency standards (the Energy Code), and standards for green buildings (CalGreen).

The BSC updates the Building Standards Code on a three-year cycle—the BSC published new standards that went into effect on January 1, 2023. Once adopted at the state level, cities and counties in California then enact an ordinance to adopt the codes.

New construction and improvements to existing buildings must comply with the current building codes, and improvements to an existing building may trigger additional code upgrades for other parts of a building.

California’s building energy efficiency standards. The California Energy Commission (CEC) adopts building energy efficiency standards that are cost effective for occupants over the 30-year lifespan of a building. The standards ensure builders use the most energy efficient technologies and construction, save energy, increase electricity supply reliability, increase indoor comfort, avoid the need to build new power plants and help preserve the environment. State law also tasks the CEC with developing and implementing a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock that fall significantly below the current standards in Title 24. The CEC has also adopted a Building Action Plan that sets out a ten‐year roadmap to use market forces to improve California’s existing residential, commercial, and public building stock into high‐performing and energy‐efficient buildings.

Local green building codes. Local ordinances that adopt the state building codes may include amendments that are more stringent than the state codes—including green building standards—if the local governing body makes findings the amendments are necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. The California Green Building Standards Code provides local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions include environmental conditions established by the city, county, or city and county, meaning local agencies can adopt more stringent green building requirements than the state codes. The CEC must approve these “reach codes” as cost effective and at least as energy efficient as state standards before they go into effect. To date, 76 cities and counties in California have adopted reach codes that exceed the statewide minimum 2022 Energy Code requirements, according to a dashboard for the California Public Utilities Commission’s Reach Code program.

Building Decarbonization Assessment. AB 3232 (Friedman, 2018) requires CEC to assess the potential for the state to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by the state’s residential and commercial building stock by at least 40 percent below the 1990 levels by January 1, 2030. In August 2021, CEC released a “Building Decarbonization Assessment” evaluating the possibilities, costs, impacts, and barriers of reducing GHG emissions in residential and commercial buildings. It also identifies several strategies that will lead to significant emission reductions. The Building Decarbonization Assessment states that, “By 2030, fewer than 10% of residential buildings will have been built following 2019 or later Energy Codes unless measures are taken to ramp up new construction. To achieve the 40% GHG reduction in residential and commercial buildings, the state will need to accelerate the number of retrofits done each year. The state’s existing building stock has the potential to either set California on the road to decarbonization or be a roadblock to achieving climate goals.”

However, the report identifies a laundry list of barriers to building decarbonization, including costs, availability of workforce to install products, ability to install products in some emergency circumstances, current building age, availability of electric technology in some markets, and misaligned incentives between landlords and tenants in rental buildings, among others. The assessment further notes, “Low-income and disadvantaged communities may face additional unique barriers because of systemic inequality, a history of lower access to capital and financing, greater energy burden, and lower rates of home or business ownership. Rural regions and Native American tribes also require careful consideration for decarbonization solutions.”

CEC guidance on electrification. In 2021, the Legislature enacted SB 68 (Becker), which requires the CEC to develop and publish guidance on best practices to help reduce barriers for building owners who want to transition to electric equipment and appliances, and install electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment. It also authorizes funds from an existing grant program, funded by surcharges on energy ratepayer utility bills, to be spent on technological advancements that reduce the costs of electrifying building-related applications. To comply with this requirement, the CEC developed a website linking to various resources on building decarbonization and electrification planning.

Climate Action Plans. Local agencies can adopt certain plans to reduce their GHG emissions and mitigate the climate impacts of their activities. One such document is a climate action plan (CAP). A CAP is a voluntary document that:

• Identifies baseline GHG emissions;
• Sets a target level of GHG emissions;
• Forecasts business-as-usual emissions without additional actions;
• Chooses strategies to reduce emissions to meet the target;
• Identifies implementation steps, including funding; and
• Provides for monitoring and tracking of emissions.

According to CARB’s 2019 Report on the State of CAPs in California (the most recent available), 181 cities and 21 counties had adopted CAPs.

The author wants to require cities and counties to create plans to meet their electrification needs.

Proposed Law

Assembly Bill 1176 enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act.

AB 1176 requires cities and counties with a population of 75,000 or greater to, on or after January 1, 2026, but no later than January 1, 2029, prepare and adopt one of the following, or integrate a similar plan into the next adoption of their general plan:

• Electrification plan;
• Decarbonization plan;
• Community energy plan; or
• Other similar plan.

The plan must include locally based goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures, including identifying:

• Opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging to meet the local agency’s needs for current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, including removal of any barriers to expanding charging;
• Opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures, and on public streets, including creating public electric charging corridors on public streets, to meet the local agency’s needs for current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, disadvantaged communities, and low-income households;
• Strategies for the public electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, including removing any barriers to support this transition;
• Opportunities to expand zero-emission and renewable distributed energy resources to increase clean energy generation and local energy reliability, including rooftop solar, community solar, microgrid, and battery storage technologies;
• Areas where infrastructure may be needed and strategies to meet the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle fleets operating within the local agency; and
• Areas where grid infrastructure upgrades are needed to meet the transportation and building electrification needs of visitors, residents, businesses, and governmental entities.

The plan must also include policies or implementation measure that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups.

If a city or county has already adopted a similar plan that meets these requirements, it may incorporate the plan by reference into the general plan to comply with AB 1176’s requirements. If the general plan has provisions in existing elements that meet AB 1176’s requirements, the city or county may use those provisions to comply. AB 1176 also provides a plan adopted pursuant to its requirements must be deemed a regional plan for purposes of CEQA.

AB 1176 defines its terms and includes findings and declarations to support its purposes.

Comments

1. Purpose of the bill. According to the author, “In order to meet the state’s climate goals, Californians will need over one million chargers to support the eight million electric vehicles anticipated on the road by 2030, and more to meet the state’s 2035 electric vehicle mandate. Residential and commercial buildings will also need upgrades and retrofitting and installation of electric appliances and equipment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1176 requires cities and local jurisdictions to create plans to meet their transportation and building electrification needs, and to ensure that electric vehicle chargers and building electrification are accessible to renters, multi-family housing residents, commercial vehicle and truck fleets, and disadvantaged communities. The bill requires consideration of and planning for on-street electric vehicle charger corridors and electrification funding strategies for disadvantaged communities.”

2. If at first you don’t succeed, plan? AB 1176 requires cities and counties to plan for actions that are important to reducing GHG emissions and mitigating climate change: building decarbonization, electric vehicle infrastructure, and clean energy generation, among others. However, a wide variety of efforts and requirements at the state and local levels already address these needs:

• CAPs, which look comprehensively at actions needed to reduce GHG emissions;
• CEQA analyses of GHG emissions, which ensure that GHG emissions of new projects are mitigated where feasible;
• The state building code, which increasingly requires energy efficiency measures in new construction;
• Reach codes that exceed state requirements; and
• Streamlining of permitting for EV chargers and hydrogen refueling stations to make it easier to deploy these technologies, among numerous others.

AB 1176 layers additional planning requirements on local governments that will take time and resources to complete. Since California has already adopted ambitious goals regarding carbon neutrality and GHG emissions, it is unclear that requiring local agencies to develop an electrification plan will substantially change how local agencies approach these goals. For example, local agencies must adopt the electrification requirements in the building code and streamline the permitting of EV chargers regardless of whether they have to adopt an electrification plan pursuant to this bill. And the time that local agencies spend on this plan may detract from the ability of local agencies to undertake these other efforts that have more concrete outcomes. The Committee may wish to consider whether the Legislature should focus on identifying where local electrification efforts have fallen short, such as consideration of equity in access to zero-emissions technologies, and the steps needed to put existing GHG mitigation strategies into action rather that to add an additional, duplicative planning requirement on top of the existing system.

3. Everything’s a priority. Local governments come under fire for not doing enough in many areas, such as housing, homelessness, environmental protection, organic waste diversion, climate change adaptation, and, relevant to AB 1176, electrification and decarbonization. In recent years, the Legislature has heaped new land use requirements on local agencies, requiring them to add parts to their general plans (including 13 enacted bills in the past 10 years), update their housing elements, and adopt or update ordinances to meet mandates for state-streamlined housing developments, solar energy systems, zero emissions vehicle infrastructure, among others. Many of these requirements fall on the same staff within planning departments to complete. Some cities and counties can bring on new staff to comply with these requirements, but hiring new staff requires using scarce local general funds or increasing fees on development, which some agencies cannot or are reluctant to do. If a city or county can’t afford new staff, other workload in those jurisdictions gets put on the back burner: development permits get processed more slowly and other planning efforts addressing particular local needs or conditions fall by the wayside. The Legislature may wish to consider whether local agencies have the capacity to effectively implement the various land-use related requirements it imposes on local governments.

4. Related legislation. This year, the Legislature is considering three other measures requiring changes to local general plans:

• SB 1045 (Blakespear), which the Committee approved at its April 17^th hearing on a vote of 5-2, requires the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to develop a technical advisory on best practices for facilitating siting of compost facilities and requires cities and counties to consider the technical advisory. SB 1045 is currently pending in the Assembly.
• AB 1889 (Friedman) requires a city, county, or city and county to consider the impact of development on the movement of wildlife and habitat connectivity as part of the conservation element of its general plan. AB 1889 is currently pending in this Committee.
• AB 2684 (Bryan) requires the safety element of a county or city's general plan to consider the hazard of extreme heat. AB 2684 will also be heard at the Committee’s June 5^th hearing.

5. Mandate. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local governments for the costs of new or expanded state mandated local programs. Because AB 1176 increases the duties of local public officials, Legislative Counsel says the bill imposes a new state mandate. AB 1176 disclaims the state's responsibility for providing reimbursement by citing local governments’ authority to charge for the costs of implementing the bill’s provisions.

6. Coming and going. The Senate Rules Committee has ordered a double referral of AB 1176: first to the Committee on Local Government to hear issues related to local planning, and second to the Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications.

Assembly Actions

Assembly Local Government Committee: 6-2

Assembly Appropriations Committee: 12-4

Assembly Floor: 70-5

Support and Opposition

(5/31/24)

Support: 350 Sacramento
Advanced Energy United
California Environmental Voters (formerly Clcv)
Calstart
Calstart INC.
Civicwell (formally the Local Government Commission)
Electric Vehicle Charging Association
Environment California
Junior Philanthropists Foundation
Santa Monica Democratic Club

Opposition: County of Kern

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE

Senator Anna M. Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

General plans: Local Electrification Planning Act

Enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act.

Background

Planning and approving new housing is mainly a local responsibility. The California Constitution allows cities and counties to “make and enforce within its limits, all local, police, sanitary and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws.” It is from this fundamental power (commonly called the police power) that cities and counties derive their authority to regulate behavior to preserve the health, safety, and welfare of the public—including land use authority.

Zoning and approval processes. Local governments use their police power to enact zoning ordinances that shape development, such as setting maximum heights and densities for housing units, minimum numbers of required parking spaces, setbacks to preserve privacy, lot coverage ratios to increase open space, and others. These ordinances can also include conditions on development to address aesthetics, community impacts, or other particular site-specific considerations.

Planning and Zoning Law. State law provides additional powers and duties for cities and counties regarding land use. Each city and county must prepare and periodically update a comprehensive, long-range general plan to guide future planning decisions. The general plan has seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open-space, noise, and safety. General plans must also either include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. Cities and counties may adopt optional elements that address issues of their choosing, and once adopted, those elements have the same legal force as the mandatory elements. The general plan must be “internally consistent,” which means the various elements cannot have conflicting information or assumptions.

Although state law spells out the plans’ minimum contents, it also says that local officials can address these topics to the extent to which they exist in their cities and counties, and with a specificity and level of detail that reflects local circumstances. Similarly, state law doesn’t require cities and counties to regularly revise their general plans (except for the housing element, which must generally be revised every eight years).

Local governments have broad authority to define the specific approval processes needed to satisfy these considerations. Some housing projects can be permitted by city or county planning staff “ministerially” or without further approval from elected officials, but most large housing projects require “discretionary” approvals from local governments, such as a conditional use permit or a change in zoning laws. This process requires hearings by the local planning commission and public notice and may require additional approvals.

The Planning and Zoning Law also establishes a planning agency in each city and county, which may be a separate planning commission, administrative body, or the legislative body of the city or county itself. Public notice must be given at least 10 days in advance of hearings where most permitting decisions will be made. The law also allows residents to appeal permitting decisions and other actions to either a board of appeals or the legislative body of the city or county. Cities and counties may adopt ordinances governing the appeals process, which can entail appeals of decisions by planning officials to the planning commission and the city council or county board of supervisors.

Local land use policies and decisions, including zoning, specific plans, development agreements, and subdivision map approvals, of general law cities (and counties) must be consistent with their general plan. However, charter cities are exempted from many provisions in law that apply to local planning and zoning ordinances, except where state law specifically states that it applies to charter cities. City or county zoning ordinances, including charter cities, must be consistent with the general plan. To comply with this requirement, a county or city must adopt a general plan, and insure that the various land uses the ordinance authorizes are compatible with the objectives, policies, general land uses, and programs the plan specifies. Any resident or property owner in the city or county can bring an action in superior court to enforce compliance within 90 days of a new zoning ordinance or amendment’s enactment. If a zoning ordinance becomes inconsistent with a general plan due to an amendment to the general plan, or any of its elements, the city or county must amend the zoning ordinance in a reasonable time so that it is consistent with the amended general plan.

Existing electrification planning requirements. California must reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level 40%below 1990 levels by 2030, as provided by SB 32 (Pavley, 2016). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the lead agency implementing SB 32, and has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan, which outlines the policies that the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon, 2018) sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state’s electrical grid by 2045.

Building decarbonization. According to CARB, residential and commercial buildings are responsible for roughly 25% of California’s GHG emissions when accounting for fossil fuels consumed onsite, electricity demand, and leakage of refrigerants. Of that 25%, about half is attributable to fossil fuel combustion, including natural gas, with residential buildings accounting for 2.5 times more of those emissions than commercial buildings. The Climate Change Scoping Plan identifies actions to reduce GHG emissions from the building sector, including progressively improving building codes and standards, pursuing voluntary efforts to exceed code requirements, and completing existing building retrofits. Several strategies can be deployed to reduce carbon emissions from the building sector. These include: improved energy efficiency of buildings and appliances, reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel sources, ensuring cleaner sources of energy to operate buildings and associated appliances, addressing methane leaks, and others.

Building codes. The California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) contains building standards and regulations as adopted by the California Building Standards Commission (BSC). These standards include, among other requirements, structural standards for building safety (the Building Code), fire safety standards (the Fire Code), energy efficiency standards (the Energy Code), and standards for green buildings (CalGreen).

The BSC updates the Building Standards Code on a three-year cycle—the BSC published new standards on or before July 1, 2022 that went into effect on January 1, 2023. Once adopted at the state level, cities and counties in California then enact an ordinance to adopt the codes.

New construction and improvements to existing buildings must comply with the current building codes, and improvements to an existing building may trigger additional code upgrades for other parts of a building.

California’s building energy efficiency standards. The California Energy Commission (CEC) adopts building energy efficiency standards that are cost effective for occupants over the 30-year lifespan of a building. The standards ensure builders use the most energy efficient technologies and construction, save energy, increase electricity supply reliability, increase indoor comfort, avoid the need to construct new power plants and help preserve the environment. State law also tasks the CEC with developing and implementing a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock that fall significantly below the current standards in Title 24. The CEC has also adopted a Building Action Plan that sets out a ten‐year roadmap to use market forces to improve California’s existing residential, commercial, and public building stock into high‐performing and energy‐efficient buildings.

Local green building codes. Local ordinances that adopt the building codes may include amendments that are more stringent than the state codes—including green building standards—if the local governing body makes findings the amendments are necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. The California Green Building Standards Code provides that local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions include environmental conditions established by the city, county, or city and county, meaning that local agencies can adopt more stringent green building requirements than the state codes. The CEC must approve these “reach codes” as cost effective and at least as energy efficient as state standards before they go into effect. More than 30 cities and counties in California have adopted reach codes that exceed the statewide minimum 2019 Energy Code requirements.

Building Decarbonization Assessment. AB 3232 (Friedman, 2018) requires CEC to assess the potential for the state to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by the state’s residential and commercial building stock by at least 40% below the 1990 levels by January 1, 2030. In August 2021, CEC released a “Building Decarbonization Assessment” evaluating the possibilities, costs, impacts, and barriers of reducing GHG emissions in residential and commercial buildings. It also identifies several strategies that will lead to significant emission reductions. The Building Decarbonization Assessment states that, “By 2030, fewer than 10% of residential buildings will have been built following 2019 or later Energy Codes unless easures are taken to ramp up new construction. To achieve the 40%t GHG reduction in residential and commercial buildings, the state will need to accelerate the number of retrofits done each year. The state’s existing building stock has the potential to either set California on the road to decarbonization or be a roadblock to achieving climate goals.”

However, the report identifies a laundry list of barriers to building decarbonization, including costs, current availability of workforce to install products, ability to install products in some emergency circumstances, current building age, availability of electric technology in some markets, and mismatches between landlords and tenants in rental buildings, among others. The assessment further notes, “Low-income and disadvantaged communities may face additional unique barriers because of systemic inequality, a history of lower access to capital and financing, greater energy burden, and lower rates of home or business ownership. Rural regions and Native American tribes also require careful consideration for decarbonization solutions.”

CEC guidance on electrification. In 2021, the Legislature enacted SB 68 (Becker), which requires the CEC to develop and publish guidance on best practices to help reduce barriers for building owners to transition to electric equipment and appliances, and install electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment. It also authorizes funds from an existing grant program, funded by surcharges on energy ratepayer utility bills, for technological advancements that reduce the costs of electrifying building-related applications. The CEC has not yet published this guidance. SB 68 provides that the guidance can include any of the following:

• Availability of electrical equipment for replacement of the common fossil-fuel-powered equipment within buildings;
• Approaches to fit electrical replacements and vehicle-charging equipment within the existing electrical service capacity of the building whenever possible;
• Technologies that allow the noncoincidental sharing of electrical circuits;
• The development of whole building electrification plans to help building owners prepare for future additions of electrical equipment during an initial project; and
• Model permit applications, an eligibility checklist for expedited permitting, and a concise inspection list for the most common building electrification, energy storage, or vehicle charging installation projects that would be suitable for adoption by local governments seeking to streamline and standardize permitting and inspections.

To date, reach codes in California have only applied to new construction. However, discussion at the local level is ongoing about decarbonizing existing buildings through electrification of water and space heating. For example, East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), a joint powers agency of Alameda County and 11 cities in the county that purchases power from green energy sources to provide to residents in the area, published a memo in September 2019 recommending adopting requirements that require replacement space heating systems to be heat pumps, which capture heat from outside (even on cold days) and move it indoors, rather than fossil-fuel fired systems. Shortly thereafter, EBCE also published model codes and staff reports for decarbonization requirements for existing buildings.

The author wants to require cities and counties to create plans to meet their electrification needs.

Proposed Law

Assembly Bill 1176 enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act (the Act).

AB 1176 requires that, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028, cities and counties prepare and adopt one of the following, or integrate a plan into the next adoption of their general plan:

• Electrification plan;
• Decarbonization plan;
• Community energy plan; or
• Other similar plan.

The plan must include:

• Locally based goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures, including identifying the following:
  • Opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging to meet the local agency’s needs for current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, including removal of any barriers to expanding charging.
  • Opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures, and on public streets, including creating public electric charging corridors on public streets, to meet the local agency’s needs for current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, disadvantaged communities, and low-income households;
  • Strategies for the public electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, including removing any barriers to support this transition;
  • Opportunities to expand zero-emission and renewable distributed energy resources to increase clean energy generation and local energy reliability, including rooftop solar, community solar, microgrid, and battery storage technologies;
  • Areas where infrastructure may be needed and strategies to meet the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle fleets operating within the local agency; and
  • In coordination with the load-serving entities, identification of areas where grid infrastructure upgrades are needed to meet the transportation and building electrification needs of visitors, residents, businesses, and governmental entities.
• Policies or implementation measure that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups.

If a city or county has already adopted a similar plan, apart from the general plan, that meets these requirements, they may incorporate the plan by reference into the general plan to comply with AB 1176’s requirements. If the general plan has provisions in existing elements that meet AB 1176’s requirements, the city or county may use those provisions to comply. AB 1176 also provides that a plan adopted pursuant to its requirements must be deemed a regional plan for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

AB 1176 defines its terms.

State Revenue Impact

No estimate.

Comments

1. Purpose of the bill. According to the author, “In order to meet the state’s climate goals, Californians will need over one million chargers to support the eight million electric vehicles anticipated on the road by 2030, and more to meet the state’s 2035 electric vehicle mandate. Residential and commercial buildings will also need upgrades and retrofitting and installation of electric appliances and equipment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1176 requires cities and local jurisdictions to create plans to meet their transportation and building electrification needs, and to ensure that electric vehicle chargers and building electrification are accessible to renters, multi-family housing residents, commercial vehicle and truck fleets, and disadvantaged communities. The bill requires consideration of and planning for on-street electric vehicle charger corridors and electrification funding strategies for disadvantaged communities.

2. If at first you don’t succeed, plan? AB 1176 requires cities and counties to plan for many important goals: building decarbonization, electric vehicle infrastructure, and clean energy generation, among others. While planning for these important goals may be laudable, many planning efforts are already underway. For example, local agencies can adopt certain plans to reduce their GHG emissions and mitigate the climate impacts of their activities. One such document is a climate action plan (CAP). A CAP is a voluntary document that:

• Identifies baseline GHG emissions.
• Sets a target level of GHG emissions.
• Forecasts business-as-usual emissions without additional actions.
• Chooses strategies to reduce emissions to meet the target.
• Identifies implementation steps, including funding.
• Provides for monitoring and tracking of emissions.

According to CARB’s 2019 Report on the State of CAPs in California, 181 cities and 21 counties had adopted CAPs. Additionally, CEQA requires public agencies, including local governments, to analyze and mitigate the GHG impacts of “projects.” CEQA’s guidelines allow local agencies to adopt GHG reduction plans to more comprehensively analyze the impacts from projects. For local agencies that have already done similar plans, AB 1176 allows them to comply with the bill’s requirement by making reference to their electrification plan in the general plan, or incorporate the bill’s requirements into their other elements. For local agencies that have not taken these steps, AB 1176 requires them to do so, but without providing any additional resources. For larger local agencies that have dedicated planning resources, this additional burden may prove manageable. For smaller local agencies without sufficient planning resources, these requirements may prove too costly. The Committee may wish to consider amending the bill to limit it to cities with 75,000 residents or more.

3. Plan or do, that is the question. Drafting plans comes at a cost. Instead of planning, local agencies could direct those resources to doing . Many recent measures have required local agencies to begin electrification efforts whether they have planned for them or not. For example, AB 1236 (Chiu, 2015) required cities and counties to administratively approve an application to install EV charging stations through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit, and limited review of an application to whether it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and federal law. It also required local agencies to adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for EV charging stations. Since California has already adopted ambitious goals carbon neutrality and greenhouse gas emissions, would requiring local agencies to incorporate electrification efforts into their general plans by 2028 ensure necessary steps are taken to put electrification efforts into action? Or, should the Legislature focus on identifying where local electrification efforts have fallen short, and the steps needed to put existing planning efforts into action?

4. Requirements versus incentives. Improved electrification planning efforts could help local agencies ensure they are on track to meet upcoming electrification standards and goals. Yet those local agencies already working to adopt electrification practices are unlikely to find value in a new directive, while those resistant to adopting electrification efforts might not follow through with plans they adopt. Similarly, AB 1176 does not provide funds to local agencies that would like to improve their planning efforts, but have limited resources to do so. As an alternative, the state could establish an incentive-based strategy that rewards excellence, recognizes and evaluates innovation and encourages continued improvement in electrification planning. Consistent with best practices, the State could promote a certification or related model, creating incentives for local agencies that meet and exceed standards. Incentives might include technical assistance for local agencies that need help developing plans, and incentive payments for local agencies that adopt plans but need help implementing them. The Committee may wish to consider whether an incentive-based model would more effectively improve local agency electrification efforts.

5. Elephant in the room. While requiring local agencies that have not already sufficiently planned for electrification to do so could prevent these agencies from dragging their feet, incorporating these plans into general plans opens up additional avenues for CEQA litigation. This is because environmental impact reports (EIRs) under CEQA must discuss any inconsistencies between the proposed project and applicable general plans, specific plans and regional plans.

AB 1176 gives local agencies three options to comply with its requirements:

• Incorporate existing plans by reference in the general plan;
• Incorporate requirements into their general plan and other elements; or
• Create a new plan.

For those local agencies that do not have an existing plan to incorporate by reference in the general plan, or have not incorporated requirements into their planning elements, they have to create a new plan. AB 1176 deems any plan adopted pursuant to the bill to be a regional plan for purposes of CEQA. It is possible that these plans could end up subject to CEQA litigation. The Committee may wish to consider amending the bill to limit the litigation risk for local agencies that complete these plans.

6. Related legislation. The Legislature is currently considering other measures regarding local electrification efforts, including:

• AB 1504 (McCarty) requires cities and counties to complete a plan to install EV charging stations in the public right-of-way, and makes changes to the statewide assessment of EV charging infrastructure the CEC must prepare pursuant to existing law. AB 1504 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
• AB 1132 (Friedman), which the Committee approved on a 7-0 vote at its June 7^th meeting, extends the sunset date on provisions of law that limit the permit fees a city or county can charge for solar energy systems, from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2034. AB 1132 is currently pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
• SB 507 (Gonzalez) expands the scope of information the CEC must consider when assessing the state’s need for EV charging infrastructure. SB 507 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

7. Mandate. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local governments for the costs of new or expanded state mandated local programs. Because AB 1176 imposes new duties on local officials, Legislative Counsel says that it imposes a new state mandate. AB 1176 disclaims the state's responsibility for providing reimbursement by citing local governments’ authority to charge for the costs of implementing the bill's provisions.

8. Coming and going. The Senate Rules Committee has ordered a double referral of AB 1176: first to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee to hear issues related to local government planning, and second to the Senate Energy Utilities, and Communications Committee.

Assembly Actions

Assembly Local Government Committee: 6-2
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 12-4
Assembly Floor: 70-5

Support and Opposition

(6/23/23)

Support: 350 Sacramento
Advanced Energy United
California Environmental Voters (formerly Clcv)
Calstart
Civicwell (formally the Local Government Commission)
Electric Vehicle Charging Association

Opposition: County of Kern

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1176

Author:(Zbur)

As Amended Ver:May 26, 2023

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires cities and counties to prepare and adopt an electrification plan, decarbonization plan, community energy plan, or other similar plan, or integrate a plan into the general plan to identify various goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures regarding electrification and decarbonization of transportation and buildings.

Major Provisions

Enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act and requires, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028, the city, county, or city and county (city or county) to prepare and adopt an electrification plan, decarbonization plan, community energy plan, or other similar plan, or integrate a plan into the next adoption or revision of the general plan that includes all of the following:

1. Locally-based goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures that include, but are not limited to, the following components:
   1. Identification of opportunities to expand electric vehicle (EV) charging to meet the needs of the city's or county's current and future visitors, residents, and businesses, including, but not limited to, removal of any barriers to expanding charging.
   2. Identification of opportunities to expand EV charging in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures, and on public streets, including, but not limited to, consideration of the creation of public electric charging corridors on public streets, to the extent necessary to meet the needs of the city's or county's current and future visitors, residents, businesses, disadvantaged communities, and low-income households.
   3. Identification of strategies for the public electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, including removing any barriers to support this transition.
   4. Identification of opportunities to expand zero-emission and renewable distributed energy resources to increase clean energy generation and local energy reliability, including, but not limited to, rooftop solar, community solar, microgrid, and battery storage technologies.
   5. Identification of areas where infrastructure may be needed and strategies to meet the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle fleets operating within the city or county.
   6. In coordination with the load-serving entities, identification of areas where grid infrastructure upgrades are needed to meet the transportation and building electrification needs of visitors, residents, businesses, and governmental entities within the city or county.
2. Policies or implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups.

Provides, if a city or county has already adopted a similar plan, apart from the general plan, that meets the requirements of this bill, the city or county may incorporate the plan by reference into the general plan to comply with this bill. If the general plan has provisions in existing elements that meet the requirements of this bill, the city or county may use those provisions to comply with this bill.

COMMENTS

Every county and city must adopt a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. General plans must also either include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. Most of cities' and counties' major land use decisions – subdivisions, zoning, public works projects, use permits, etc. – must be consistent with their general plans. Development decisions must carry out and not obstruct a general plan's policies.

Existing law requires the state to reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan, which outlines the policies the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon), Chapter 312, Statutes of 2018, sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state's electrical grid by 2045.

According to the Author

In order to meet the state's climate goals, Californians will need over one million chargers to support the eight million electric vehicles anticipated on the road by 2030, and more to meet the state's 2035 electric vehicle mandate. Residential and commercial buildings will also need upgrades and retrofitting and installation of electric appliances and equipment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1176 requires cities and local jurisdictions to create plans to meet their transportation and building electrification needs, and to ensure that electric vehicle chargers and building electrification are accessible to renters, multi-family housing residents, commercial vehicle and truck fleets, and disadvantaged communities. The bill requires consideration of and planning for on-street electric vehicle charger corridors and electrification funding strategies for disadvantaged communities.

Arguments in Support

ClimatePlan, sponsor of this measure, sates, "Assembly Bill 1176 acknowledges the leadership that some of our cities and counties are already undertaking in their planning processes and provides the flexibility to recognize their existing efforts, while also providing guidance and a clear path forward to ensure no municipality falls behind.

"The transportation and built environment sectors are the primary areas that California's greenhouse gas reduction goals focus on, as they make up most of our emissions. AB 1176 critically focuses on the intersection of these two sectors and the infrastructure that will be necessary in order to make meaningful progress towards both.

"AB 1176 will require pivotal early coordination with load-serving entities or utility providers in order to identify and meet the need for grid infrastructure upgrades. As the transition to ZEVs and all-electric appliances continues to accelerate with the development and increasing access to new technologies, cities and counties will not be able to keep up and support this growing facet of municipal life without robust planning to ensure the sufficient distribution of charging and electric-ready infrastructure.

"It is for these reasons ClimatePlan strongly SUPPORTS and co-sponsors AB 1176 (Zbur), which will require city and county governments to incorporate electrification considerations into their general planning process and serve as a tool for intentional development aligned with California's climate change, public health, housing, and equity goals."

Arguments in Opposition

The Kern County Board of Supervisors, opposed to a prior version of this bill, writes, "This bill is predicated on the false premise that local jurisdictions universally have energy reliability and will easily be able to add capacity to meet electrification requirements. Specifically, this measure requires the development of a location, zoning, or siting framework that considers and identifies, at a minimum, the density of the surrounding development and the types of transportation corridors that are required for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way, as well as identify necessary updates to relevant codes or regulations of the local agency.

"While a few local governments are served by municipal electric providers (SMUD, LA DWP, Glendale, Burbank, etc.), most are served by investor-owned utilities. Mandating local governments to prepare electrification elements without having any control over the grid and the system upgrades will set locals up for failure. Local governments do not control the means with which to deploy vehicle charging stations in our communities. We do not own or operate those stations, nor do we have the capacity to do so.

"Understanding grid infrastructure requires technical and specialized expertise, skillsets local governments rarely have on staff. Access to the electrical data itself is limited due to Homeland Security concerns. Solar and wind companies, for example, spend millions of dollars to have highly trained specialists and consultants help them understand utility plans and navigate site-specific challenges. In addition to these hurdles, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) process for managing the state's transmission grid and infrastructure planning requires payment of high fees and often has long wait times for establishing energy clusters and interconnection. The notion that a city or county planning department could complete this type of technical work within the next five years is erroneous and fraught with insurmountable challenges.

"Unfortunately, AB 1176 continues the trend by policymakers in Sacramento to legislate by means of unfunded mandate and to the detriment of local governments. This bill demonstrates the disconnect of an ill-devised state policy agenda that continues to rush the transition of the state's energy mix in a manner that will ultimately harm taxpayers, consumers, and the economic stability of California as a whole."

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to Assembly Appropriations Committee, no state costs. Potentially significant costs to cities and counties to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to meet the requirements of this bill. Local costs are not reimbursable by the state because local agencies have general authority to charge and adjust planning and permitting fees to cover their administrative expenses associated with new planning mandates.

VOTES

ASM LOCAL GOVERNMENT: 6-2-0

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Boerner, Pacheco, Ramos, Robert Rivas, Wilson

NO: Dixon, Waldron

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 12-4-0

YES: Holden, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Mike Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Papan, Pellerin, Robert Rivas, Weber, Ortega

NO: Megan Dahle, Dixon, Mathis, Sanchez

UPDATED

VERSION: May 26, 2023

CONSULTANT: Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN: 0001034

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1176

Author:(Zbur)

As Amended Ver:May 1, 2023

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires cities and counties to amend their general plans to identify various strategies, objectives, policies, goals and proposed ordinance amendments regarding electrification of transportation and buildings.

Major Provisions

Enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act and requires, upon the adoption or revision of a city's or county's general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028, the city or county to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to do all of the following:

1. Identify strategies, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet California's greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings, including, but not limited to, Executive Order No. N-79-30, which requires 100 percent of new passenger cars and trucks be zero emission by 2035, and the State Air Resources Board's 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan's strategies to reduce residential and commercial building emissions.
2. Set goals for the implementation of passenger vehicle electric charging stations necessary to meet the electric vehicle (EV) charging needs of the city's or county's visitors, residents, and businesses, including, but not limited to, fast charge and slow charge stations.
3. Identify objectives and policies, including the removal of barriers in the city's or county's codes and policies, to meet the EV charging needs of the city's or county's visitors, residents, and businesses.
4. Identify objectives and policies to ensure EV charging infrastructure is equitably located and meets the EV charging needs of disadvantaged communities.
5. Identify electric charging corridors on public streets where chargers will be made available to the public, including, but not limited to, chargers for overnight fast and slow charging.
6. Identify land use and zoning strategies to meet the EV charging needs within the city or county, and to increase vehicle charging stations and infrastructure in government, retail, commercial, and residential parking lots and structures.
7. Identify areas where electric charging infrastructure may be needed to meet the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty EV fleets operating within the city or county.
8. Identify land use and zoning strategies to deploy EV charging infrastructure that meets the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty EV fleets operating within the city or county.
9. Set goals and strategies for the electrification of new and existing buildings.
10. Identify objectives and policies, including, but not limited to, the removal of barriers in the city's or county's codes and policies, to meet the building electrification needs of the city's or county's residents and businesses.
11. Identify strategies to facilitate the deployment of zero-emission distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar and battery storage technologies, including, but not limited to, the removal of barriers in the city's or county's codes and policies.
12. Identify strategies and policies to access any available private, state, and federal funds to help subsidize and incentivize the building electrification needs of disadvantaged communities and low-income households and small businesses.
13. Identify strategies and programs to access any available private, state, and federal funds to help incentivize and subsidize the installation of EV charging stations along public corridors and in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures.
14. In coordination with the load-serving entities, identify areas where grid infrastructure upgrades are needed to meet the transportation and building electrification needs of visitors, residents, businesses, and governmental entities within the city or county.

COMMENTS

Every county and city must adopt a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. General plans must also either include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. Most of cities' and counties' major land use decisions – subdivisions, zoning, public works projects, use permits, etc. – must be consistent with their general plans. Development decisions must carry out and not obstruct a general plan's policies.

Existing law requires the state to reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan, which outlines the policies the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon), Chapter 312, Statutes of 2018, sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state's electrical grid by 2045.

According to the Author

In order to meet the state's climate goals, Californians will need over one million chargers to support the eight million electric vehicles anticipated on the road by 2030, and more to meet the state's 2035 electric vehicle mandate. Residential and commercial buildings will also need upgrades and retrofitting and installation of electric appliances and equipment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1176 requires cities and local jurisdictions to create plans to meet their transportation and building electrification needs, and to ensure that electric vehicle chargers and building electrification are accessible to renters, multi-family housing residents, commercial vehicle and truck fleets, and disadvantaged communities. The bill requires consideration of and planning for on-street electric vehicle charger corridors and electrification funding strategies for disadvantaged communities.

Arguments in Support

ClimatePlan, sponsor of this measure, sates, "Assembly Bill 1176 acknowledges the leadership that some of our cities and counties are already undertaking in their planning processes and provides the flexibility to recognize their existing efforts, while also providing guidance and a clear path forward to ensure no municipality falls behind.

"The transportation and built environment sectors are the primary areas that California's greenhouse gas reduction goals focus on, as they make up most of our emissions. AB 1176 critically focuses on the intersection of these two sectors and the infrastructure that will be necessary in order to make meaningful progress towards both.

"AB 1176 will require pivotal early coordination with load-serving entities or utility providers in order to identify and meet the need for grid infrastructure upgrades. As the transition to ZEVs and all-electric appliances continues to accelerate with the development and increasing access to new technologies, cities and counties will not be able to keep up and support this growing facet of municipal life without robust planning to ensure the sufficient distribution of charging and electric-ready infrastructure.

"It is for these reasons ClimatePlan strongly SUPPORTS and co-sponsors AB 1176 (Zbur), which will require city and county governments to incorporate electrification considerations into their general planning process and serve as a tool for intentional development aligned with California's climate change, public health, housing, and equity goals."

Arguments in Opposition

The League of California Cities, the Rural County Representatives of California, and the California Building Industry Association, with an "oppose, unless amended position," write, "While we support the state's climate and transportation goals, local jurisdictions are aggressively doing their part to comply with existing state mandates to deploy a robust electric vehicle charging station network. Unfortunately, AB 1176 is predicated on the false premise that local jurisdictions universally have energy reliability and will easily be able to add capacity to meet electrification requirements. Opening a general plan or adopting new revisions to one for electrification to support transportation needs is not appropriate and would be better suited in the circulation element.

"Currently, we are working with several legislators on other similar measures, including Assembly Bill 1504 (McCarty), which would require local governments to plan for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way. Cities and counties must do several things in developing the plan and permitting process, such as consulting with internal and external stakeholders, developing a process to solicit input from the public, assessing the jurisdiction's existing EV charging stations and its projected need for EV charging stations in the right-of-way, and identifying planning and permitting barriers to the installation of EV charging stations in the right-of-way. Cities and counties must also identify competing uses in the right-of-way and complete an equity analysis to determine locations for EV charging stations in the right-of-way that will reduce barriers to equitable access.

"Specifically, (AB 1504) requires the collaboration and consultation with energy providers, as well as relevant building and planning departments to complete an assessment of existing and projected electrification needs, which is something local jurisdictions support. Further, this measure would require the development of a location, zoning, or siting framework that considers and identifies, at a minimum, the density of the surrounding development and the types of transportation corridors that are required for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way, as well as identify necessary updates to relevant codes or regulations of the local agency. While AB 1504 is not ideal and presents significant implementation issues for local governments this approach is less problematic than what is proposed in AB 1176.

"While a few local governments are served by municipal electric providers (SMUD, LADWP, Glendale, Burbank, etc), most are served by investor-owned utilities. Having local governments prepare electrification elements without having any control over the grid and system upgrades will set locals up for failure. Local governments do not control the means with which to deploy vehicle charging stations in our communities. We do not own or operate those stations, nor do some locals have the capacity to do so. For these reasons, (we) respectfully (oppose) AB 1176 unless it is amended to address our concerns."

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to Assembly Appropriations Committee, no state costs. Potentially significant costs to cities and counties to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to meet the requirements of this bill. Local costs are not reimbursable by the state because local agencies have general authority to charge and adjust planning and permitting fees to cover their administrative expenses associated with new planning mandates.

VOTES

ASM LOCAL GOVERNMENT: 6-2-0

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Boerner, Pacheco, Ramos, Robert Rivas, Wilson

NO: Dixon, Waldron

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 12-4-0

YES: Holden, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Mike Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Papan, Pellerin, Robert Rivas, Weber, Ortega

NO: Megan Dahle, Dixon, Mathis, Sanchez

UPDATED

VERSION: May 1, 2023

CONSULTANT: Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN: 0000428

Date of Hearing: May 17, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Chris Holden, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1176

Author:(Zbur) – As Amended Ver:May 1, 2023

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

SUMMARY:

This bill requires each city and county, by January 1, 2028, to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to identify strategies, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings.

Among its provisions, this bill:

1. Enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act and requires, upon the adoption or revision of a city’s or county’s general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028, the city or county to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to do all of the following:
   1. Identify strategies, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings, including, but not limited to requiring 100% of new passenger cars and trucks be zero emission by 2035, and the State Air Resources Board’s 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan’s strategies to reduce residential and commercial building emissions.
   2. Set goals for the implementation of passenger vehicle electric charging stations necessary to meet the electric vehicle (EV) charging needs of the city’s or county’s visitors, residents, and businesses, including, fast charge and slow charge stations.
   3. Identify objectives and policies, including the removal of barriers in the city’s or county’s codes and policies, to meet the EV charging needs of the city’s or county’s visitors, residents, and businesses.
   4. Identify objectives and policies to ensure EV charging infrastructure is equitably located and meets the EV charging needs of disadvantaged communities.
   5. Identify electric charging corridors on public streets where chargers will be made available to the public, including chargers for overnight fast and slow charging.
   6. Identify areas where electric charging infrastructure may be needed to meet the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty EV fleets.
   7. Set goals and strategies for the electrification of new and existing buildings.
   8. Identify strategies and policies to access any available private, state, and federal funds to subsidize and incentivize the building electrification needs of disadvantaged communities and low-income households and small businesses.
   9. Identify strategies and programs to incentivize and subsidize the installation of EV charging stations along public corridors and in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures.
   10. In coordination with the load-serving entities, identify areas where grid infrastructure upgrades are needed to meet transportation and building electrification needs.

FISCAL EFFECT:

No state costs. Potentially significant costs to cities and counties to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to meet the requirements of this bill. Local costs are not reimbursable by the state because local agencies have general authority to charge and adjust planning and permitting fees to cover their administrative expenses associated with new planning mandates.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

In order to meet the state’s climate goals, Californians will need over one million chargers to support the eight million electric vehicles anticipated on the road by 2030, and more to meet the state’s 2035 electric vehicle mandate. Residential and commercial buildings will also need upgrades and retrofitting and installation of electric appliances and equipment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1176 requires cities and local jurisdictions to create plans to meet their transportation and building electrification needs, and to ensure that electric vehicle chargers and building electrification are accessible to renters, multi-family housing residents, commercial vehicle and truck fleets, and disadvantaged communities. The bill requires consideration of and planning for on-street electric vehicle charger corridors and electrification funding strategies for disadvantaged communities.

1. Background. Every county and city must adopt a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. General plans must also either include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. Most of cities’ and counties’ major land use decisions – subdivisions, zoning, public works projects, use permits, etc. – must be consistent with their general plans. Development decisions must carry out and not obstruct a general plan’s policies.

Existing law requires the state to reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan, which outlines the policies the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon), Chapter 312, Statutes of 2018, sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state’s electrical grid by 2045.

In line with these goals, this bill requires cities and counties to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to, among other things, identify strategies, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals by requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings. A city or county would have to comply with these provisions upon the adoption or revision of the general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028.

1. Arguments in Support. ClimatePlan, sponsor of this measure, states:

[This bill] acknowledges the leadership that some of our cities and counties are already undertaking in their planning processes and provides the flexibiltity to recognize their existing efforts, while also providing guidance and a clear path forward to ensure no municipality falls behind. The transportation and built environment sectors are the primary areas that California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals focus on, as they make up most of our emissions. AB 1176 critically focuses on the intersection of these two sectors and the infrastructure that will be necessary in order to make meaningful progress towards both.

1. Arguments in Opposition. The League of California Cities, the Rural County Representatives of California, and the California Building Industry Association write:

While we support the state’s climate and transportation goals, local jurisdictions are aggressively doing their part to comply with existing state mandates to deploy a robust electric vehicle charging station network. Unfortunately, [this bill] is predicated on the false premise that local jurisdictions universally have energy reliability and will easily be able to add capacity to meet electrification requirements. Opening a general plan or adopting new revisions to one for electrification to support transportation needs is not appropriate and would be better suited in the circulation element.

1. Related Legislation. AB 1504 (McCarty) requires cities and counties to complete a plan for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way, and makes changes to the statewide assessment of EV charging infrastructure the California Energy Commission must prepare pursuant to existing law. AB 1504 is pending in this committee.

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

Date of Hearing: April 26, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1176 (

Author:Zbur) – As Amended Ver:March 23, 2023

SUBJECT: General plans: Local Electrification Planning Act.

SUMMARY: Requires cities and counties to amend their general plans to identify various strategies, objectives, policies, goals and proposed ordinance amendments regarding electrification of transportation and buildings. Specifically, this bill:

1. Enacts the Local Electrification Planning Act and requires, upon the adoption or revision of a city’s or county’s general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028, the city or county to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to do all of the following:
   1. Identify strategies and enforceable commitments, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings, including, but not limited to, Executive Order No. N-79-30, which requires 100 percent of new passenger cars and trucks be zero emission by 2035, and the State Air Resources Board’s 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan’s strategies to reduce residential and commercial building emissions.
   2. Set goals for the implementation of passenger vehicle electric charging stations necessary to meet the electric vehicle (EV) charging needs of the city’s or county’s visitors, residents, and businesses, including, but not limited to, fast charge and slow charge stations.
   3. Identify objectives and policies, including the removal of barriers in the city’s or county’s codes and policies, to meet the EV charging needs of the city’s or county’s visitors, residents, and businesses.
   4. Identify objectives and policies to ensure EV charging infrastructure is equitably located and meets the EV charging needs of disadvantaged communities.
   5. Identify electric charging corridors on public streets where chargers will be made available to the public, including, but not limited to, chargers for overnight fast and slow charging.
   6. Identify land use and zoning strategies to meet the EV charging needs within the city or county, including, but not limited to, incentives and mandates as necessary to increase vehicle charging stations and infrastructure in government, retail, commercial, and residential parking lots and structures.
   7. Identify areas where electric charging infrastructure may be needed to meet the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty EV fleets operating within the city or county.
   8. Identify land use and zoning strategies to deploy EV charging infrastructure that meets the existing and projected needs of public and private medium- and heavy-duty EV fleets operating within the city or county.
   9. Set goals and strategies for the electrification of new and existing buildings.
   10. Identify objectives and policies, including, but not limited to, the removal of barriers in the city’s or county’s codes and policies, to meet the building electrification needs of the city’s or county’s residents and businesses.
   11. Identify strategies to facilitate the deployment of zero-emission distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar and battery storage technologies, including, but not limited to, the removal of barriers in the city’s or county’s codes and policies.
   12. Identify strategies to subsidize and incentivize the building electrification needs of disadvantaged communities and low-income households and small businesses, including, but not limited to, strategies and policies to access any available private, state, and federal funds.
   13. Identify strategies and programs to incentivize and subsidize the installation of EV charging stations along public corridors and in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures.
   14. In coordination with the load-serving entities, identify areas where grid infrastructure upgrades are needed to meet the transportation and building electrification needs of visitors, residents, businesses, and governmental entities within the city or county.
2. Provides the following definitions for purposes of this bill:
   1. “Disadvantaged communities” means an area identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code, or an area that is a low-income area that is disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that can lead to negative health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation.
   2. “Load-serving entity” means an electrical corporation, electric service provider, or community choice aggregator. “Load-serving entity” does not include any of the following:
      1. A local publicly owned electric utility.
      2. The State Water Resources Development System commonly known as the State Water Project.
      3. Customer generation located on the customer’s site or providing electric service through arrangements authorized by Section 218, if the customer generation, or the load it serves, meets one of the following criteria:
         1. It takes standby service from the electrical corporation on a commission-approved rate schedule that provides for adequate backup planning and operating reserves for the standby customer class.
         2. It is not physically interconnected to the electrical transmission or distribution grid, so that, if the customer generation fails, backup electricity is not supplied from the electrical grid.
         3. There is physical assurance that the load served by the customer generation will be curtailed concurrently and commensurately with an outage of the customer generation.
   3. “Low-income households” means households of persons and families of very low and low income, as defined in Sections 50093 and 50105 of the Health and Safety Code.
3. Finds and declares that Sections 65104 and 66014 of the Government Code provide local agencies with authority to levy fees sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this bill.
4. Provides that no reimbursement is required by this bill pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this bill, as specified.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires each city or county to adopt a general plan for the physical development of the city or county and authorizes the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations by cities and counties.
2. Requires the general plan to contain seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open-space, noise, and safety.
3. Requires the general plan to include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. (Government Code § 65300 – 65404).

FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed fiscal and contains a state-mandated local program.

COMMENTS:

1. Bill Summary and Author’s Statement. This bill requires cities and counties to adopt a climate action electrification element as part of the general plan or otherwise amend the general plan to, among other things, identify strategies and enforceable commitments to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals by requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings. A city or county would have to comply with these provisions upon the adoption or revision of the general plan, on or after January 1, 2025, but no later than January 1, 2028.

According to the author, “In order to meet the state’s climate goals, Californians will need over one million chargers to support the eight million electric vehicles anticipated on the road by 2030, and more to meet the state’s 2035 electric vehicle mandate. Residential and commercial buildings will also need upgrades and retrofitting and installation of electric appliances and equipment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1176 requires cities and local jurisdictions to create plans to meet their transportation and building electrification needs, and to ensure that electric vehicle chargers and building electrification are accessible to renters, multi-family housing residents, commercial vehicle and truck fleets, and disadvantaged communities. The bill requires consideration of and planning for on-street electric vehicle charger corridors and electrification funding strategies for disadvantaged communities

1. Background. Every county and city must adopt a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. General plans must also either include an eighth element on environmental justice, or incorporate environmental justice concerns throughout the other elements. Most of cities’ and counties’ major land use decisions – subdivisions, zoning, public works projects, use permits, etc. – must be consistent with their general plans. Development decisions must carry out and not obstruct a general plan’s policies.

The California Supreme Court has called the general plan “the constitution for all future development” because it presents a vision and a set of principles for future growth in the community. It serves an important role in shaping the location and type of development that will occur, ensuring that there is adequate infrastructure to support that development, providing adequate open space, and mitigating future risks from fire, floods, and climate change. Zoning ordinances then effectuate the requirements in the housing element and general plan. Those ordinances are specific where the general plan is not.

1. Greenhouse Gas Reduction. California must reduce statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, as provided by SB 32 (Pavley, 2016). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the lead agency implementing SB 32 and has developed the Climate Change Scoping Plan, which outlines the policies that the state will implement to reach the 2030 target, as well as reducing GHG emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. SB 100 (De Leon, 2018) sets the goal of carbon neutrality for the state’s electrical grid by 2045.
2. Building Decarbonization. Building decarbonization is a term used to describe reductions in GHG emissions from the building sector. According to CARB, residential and commercial buildings are responsible for roughly 25% of California’s GHG emissions. Of this 25%, roughly 10% of emissions are attributable to fossil fuel combustion, including natural gas, with residential buildings accounting for slightly more of those emissions than commercial buildings.

The Climate Change Scoping Plan identifies actions to reduce GHG emissions from the building sector, including progressively improving building codes and standards, pursuing voluntary efforts to exceed code requirements, and completing existing building retrofits. Several strategies can be deployed to reduce carbon emissions from the building sector. These include improving the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances, reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel sources, ensuring cleaner sources of energy to operate buildings and associated appliances, addressing methane leaks, and others.

1. Building Codes. The California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) contains building standards and regulations as adopted by the California Building Standards Commission. These standards include, among other requirements, structural standards for building safety (the Building Code), fire safety standards (the Fire Code), energy efficiency standards (the Energy Code), and standards for green buildings (CalGreen).

The Building Standards Code is updated on a three-year cycle. Once adopted at the state level, local agencies in California then enact an ordinance to adopt the codes. Those ordinances may include amendments that are more stringent than the state codes, if the local governing body makes findings that the amendments are necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. CalGreen provides that local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions include environmental conditions established by the city, county, or city and county, meaning that local agencies can adopt more stringent green building requirements.

New construction and improvements to existing buildings must comply with the current building codes, and improvements to an existing building may trigger additional code upgrades for other parts of a building.

1. Energy Efficiency Standards for Buildings. The California Energy Commission (CEC) adopts building energy efficiency standards that are cost effective for occupants over the 30-year lifespan of a building. The standards ensure that builders use the most energy efficient technologies and construction, save energy, increase electricity supply reliability, increase indoor comfort, avoid the need to construct new power plants and help preserve the environment. These measures can be found in Title 24, Parts 6 and 11, of the California Code of Regulations.

State law also tasks the CEC with developing and implementing a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in California’s existing residential and nonresidential building stock that fall significantly below the current standards in Title 24. The CEC has also adopted a Building Action Plan that sets out a ten‐year roadmap to use market forces to improve California’s existing residential, commercial, and public building stock into high‐performing and energy‐efficient buildings.

1. Building Decarbonization Assessment. AB 3232 (Friedman, 2018) requires CEC to develop a plan to achieve the goal of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases by the state’s residential and commercial building stock by at least 40% below the 1990 levels by January 1, 2030. The AB 3232 California Building Decarbonization Assessment was published in August of 2021 and analyzes scenarios to reduce GHG emissions from the building sector.
2. Local Voluntary Efforts Related to GHGs. Local agencies can adopt certain plans to reduce their GHG emissions and mitigate the climate impacts of their activities. One such document is a climate action plan (CAP). A CAP is a voluntary document that typically:
   1. Identifies baseline GHG emissions.
   2. Sets a target level of GHG emissions.
   3. Forecasts business-as-usual emissions without additional actions.
   4. Chooses strategies to reduce emissions to meet the target.
   5. Identifies implementation steps, including funding.
   6. Provides for monitoring and tracking of emissions.

According to CARB’s 2019 Report on the State of CAPs in CA, 181 cities and 21 counties had adopted CAPs.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires public agencies, including local governments, to analyze and mitigate the GHG impacts of “projects.” CEQA’s guidelines allow local agencies to adopt GHG reduction plans to more comprehensively analyze the impacts from projects. A GHG reduction plan must:

• 1. Quantify greenhouse gas emissions from activities within a defined geographic area;
  2. Establish a level, based on substantial evidence, below which the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions from activities covered by the plan would not be cumulatively considerable;
  3. Identify and analyze the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from specific actions or categories of actions anticipated within the geographic area;
  4. Specify measures or a group of measures to collectively achieve the specified emissions level;
  5. Establish a mechanism to monitor the plan's progress toward achieving the level and to require amendment if the plan is not achieving specified levels; and
  6. Be adopted in a public process following environmental review.

Projects that comply with measures in the plan may be considered to not have a cumulative impact on GHG emissions.

Finally, some local governments have adopted “reach codes” that go beyond the state’s energy efficiency building standards to reduce the GHG emissions from buildings in their jurisdictions. Reach codes often involve a combination of building electrification and EV charging requirements.

1. EV Policies. California has been steadily expanding its policies supporting the adoption of EV technology and infrastructure, beginning with incentives for purchasing EVs and requirements on automakers to manufacture specified percentages of EVs in relation to their production of conventional cars. This was followed by statutes governing the degree of authority Common Interest Developments (CIDs) can exercise over the installation of EV charging infrastructure, and prohibitions against specified membership and fee requirements for the privilege of using an EV charging station.

In 2012, the Governor issued an Executive Order directing the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the California Energy Commission, the PUC, and other relevant agencies working with the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative and the Fuel Cell Partnership to develop benchmarks to help support and facilitate the rapid commercialization of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs). The order directed these agencies to establish benchmarks to help the state's ZEV infrastructure support 1.5 million EVs by 2025. Furthering this goal, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and the State Architect published guidelines to address physical accessibility standards and design guidelines for the installation of EV charging stations throughout California.

To further these efforts, at the end of 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20, which requires 100% of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks to be zero-emission by 2035. This EO tasks CARB with developing and proposing passenger vehicle and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission vehicles sold in the State towards that goal. The EO also directs CEC to update the biennial statewide assessment of zero-emission vehicle infrastructure required by AB 2127 (Ting) Chapter 365, Statutes of 2018, to support the level of EV adoption required by the EO.

1. AB 1236 of 2015. Responding to the patchwork of California’s EV permitting structure and the uncertainty it posed to installers, AB 1236 (Chiu), Chapter 598, Statutes of 2015, placed significant new requirements into law regarding applications to install EV charging stations. AB 1236 required counties and cities to administratively approve an application to install EV charging stations through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit, and limited review of an application to whether it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and federal law. Requirements of local law were limited to those standards and regulations necessary to ensure that the EV charging station will not have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety. AB 1236 allowed a county or city to require an applicant to apply for a use permit under certain circumstances.

AB 1236 also required local agencies to adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for EV charging stations. Local agencies must adopt a checklist of all requirements with which EV charging stations must comply to be eligible for expedited review. An application that satisfies the information requirements in the checklist is deemed complete. A local agency must approve the application and issue all required permits once the local agency confirms the application and supporting documents are complete and meet the requirements of the checklist. If a local agency receives an incomplete application, it must issue a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the application and any additional information required to be eligible for expedited permit issuance.

1. GO-Biz Guidebook. GO-Biz in July 2019 published the first edition of its “EV Charging Station Permitting Guidebook.” The GO-Biz Guidebook notes, “To support California’s ambitious ZEV deployment goals – 5 million ZEVs in California by 2030 – the state is prioritizing the development of infrastructure to support these vehicles, in the form of plug-in EV charging stations and hydrogen fueling stations. At the most fundamental level, infrastructure enables the deployment of ZEVs. When consumers look to buy a new or used car, they need confirmation that it will be able to take them where they want to go. Widespread availability of infrastructure ensures that Californians will have that confidence…Ultimately, a successful transition to zero emissions hinges on success at the local level.”

According to the GO-Biz Guidebook, “Plug-in EVs (PEVs) as a percentage of new passenger car sales continue to increase. PEV sales exceeded 5% of all new passenger car sales in California 2017 and comprised approximately 8% of sales in 2018. In total, well over 600,000 PEVs have been sold in California as of the publishing of this document. With the increasing popularity of ZEVs and increasing ZEV sales, the need for ZEV infrastructure is increasingly important.”

According to the GO-Biz Guidebook, there were 20,653 public chargers in California as of June 25, 2019. This included:

• 1. Level 1 (4–5 miles of range per hour) – 367 chargers at 169 sites;
  2. Level 2 (12–70 miles of range per hour) – 17,216 chargers at 4,764 sites; and,
  3. DC Fast (3–20 miles of range per minute) – 3,070 chargers at 685 sites.

1. GO-Biz Guidebook’s Findings and Recommendations on Permitting. The GO-Biz Guidebook states, “When AB 1236 was being developed, permitting processes and actual timelines varied widely – in many cases adding considerable delay to the station development process. Delays continue to come from both sides of the equation. Both (local governments) and station developers have reported frustrations with incomplete information…Unfortunately, due to lack of awareness, enforcement, and inconsistent application across the state, a wide variance in permitting processes persists.”

The Guidebook generally recommends as best practices that local agencies determine if an application is complete within five business days, and provide approval to build within 15 business days. It does note, however, that “it is important to consider the unique circumstances of some typical installations.” For fast-charging stations in particular, the Guidebook points out some of the additional considerations not associated with single-family residential charging stations, such as potential requirements for more power, a dedicated power drop, and complex trenching and associated rights-of-way issues.

1. AB 970 of 2021. In response to the GO-Biz Guidebook’s recommendations, AB 970 (McCarty), Chapter 710, Statutes of 2021, established specific time frames in which local agencies must complete and approve permits for EV charging stations. Under the bill, an application to install an EV charging station is deemed complete if the building official of the city or county has not either deemed the application complete or written a correction notice detailing the deficiencies in the application within specified time periods. Applications are deemed approved 20 business days after the application was deemed complete for an installation of up to 25 charging stations at a single site, or 40 business days for an installation of more than 25 charging stations, if certain conditions are met.
2. Solar Policies. The California Legislature enacted the Solar Rights Act in 1978 to protect a homeowner’s right to install a solar energy system by limiting a homeowner association's ability to object to such installations through its covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs). The Solar Rights Act allows CC&Rs to include provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems. Reasonable restrictions include those that: do not significantly increase the cost of the solar system; do not significantly decrease the system’s efficiency or specified performance; and, allow for an alternative system of comparable cost, efficiency and benefits. “Significant” is further defined as those restrictions that increase the system’s cost by more than 20% or decrease the system’s efficiency by more than 20%.

AB 2473 (Wolk), Chapter 789, Statutes of 2004, updated the Solar Rights Act by specifying standards for what constitutes “significant” increases in solar energy system costs or decreases in those systems’ efficiency. The bill also made changes to the permitting process for solar energy systems.

1. Solar Permitting Process. Existing law limits review of an application to install solar energy system to the building official’s review of whether it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and federal law. The requirements of local law are limited to those standards and regulations necessary to ensure that the solar energy system will not have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety. However, if the building official of the city or county makes a finding, based on substantial evidence, that the solar energy system could have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety, the city or county may require the applicant to apply for a use permit.

A city or county cannot deny an application for a use permit to install a solar energy system unless it makes written findings based upon substantial evidence in the record that the proposed installation would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact. The findings must include the basis for the rejection of potential feasible alternatives of preventing the adverse impact.

1. Solar Energy System Permit Fees. The Legislature has approved a series of bills limiting the fees that a city or county can charge for solar energy systems:
   1. SB 1222 (Leno), Chapter 614, Statutes of 2012. SB 1222 placed caps on the amount of permit fees a city or county can charge for residential or commercial rooftop solar energy systems. For a residential rooftop solar energy system, a city or county was precluded from charging a permit fee that exceeded $500 (plus $15 per kW for each kW above 15kW). SB 1222 bill also prohibited, for a commercial rooftop solar energy system, a city or county from charging a permit fee that exceeded $1,000 for systems up to 50kW (plus $7 kW for each kW between 51kW and 250 kW, and $5 per kW for each kW above 250 kW). These caps were limited specifically to rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, and did not apply to PV systems installed elsewhere on a building, or to solar thermal systems.

SB 1222 allowed a city or county to charge permit fees exceeding these caps, provided the city or county made a written finding and adopted a resolution or ordinance showing substantial evidence of the reasonable cost to issue the permit. SB 1222 contained a sunset date of January 1, 2018.

• 1. AB 1414 (Friedman), Chapter 849, Statues of 2017. AB 1414 made a number of additional changes to these permit fee caps. It reduced the fee cap to $450 and applied the cap beyond rooftop solar PV installations only, to include any PV systems and solar thermal systems, with specified size limitations. The bill maintained the permit fee cap of $1,000 on commercial rooftop solar energy systems, but applied the cap beyond rooftop solar PV installations to include PV systems generally and solar thermal systems, also with specified size limitations.

AB 1414 continued to allow a city or a county to charge a permit fee that exceeds the specified caps if the city or county makes a written finding and adopts a resolution or ordinance that provides substantial evidence of the reasonable cost to issue the permit. However, this bill required additional elements in the written finding.

AB 1414 also amended the meaning of “solar energy system” to specify that a solar energy system includes any PV device or technology that is integrated into a building, including, but not limited to, PV windows, siding, and roofing shingles or tiles. The bill also added an explicit cross-reference to this amended definition (which is contained in Civil Code § 801.5) to the code section containing the permit fee caps (Government Code § 66015), thereby explicitly applying the permit fee caps to this expanded definition of “solar energy system.”

AB 1414 extended the sunset date in SB 1222, from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2025.

• 1. AB 1124 (Friedman), Chapter 235, Statutes of 2021. Among other provisions, this bill again revised the definition of “solar energy system” to additionally include any structural design feature by eliminating the provision that the structural design feature be a feature of a building. The bill added the following structural design features in the definition of “solar energy system,” regardless of whether the feature is on the ground or on a building:
     1. Solar racking.
     2. Solar mounting.
     3. Elevated solar support structures, including, but not limited to, solar carports, shade structures, awnings, canopies, and patio covers. This includes both the aboveground superstructure and associated foundation elements that support solar energy devices or collectors.

The bill specified that a solar energy system must be designed to serve one utility retail customer on the same property, more than one utility retail customer on the same property, one utility retail customer on the same, adjacent, or contiguous properties, or more than one utility retail customer on the same, adjacent or contiguous properties. The solar energy system must not be designed for procurement of electricity by an electric utility.

1. Policy Considerations. The Committee may wish to consider the following:
   1. Duplication? This bill requires cities and counties to undertake a task that, given the numerous state and local efforts to decarbonize buildings and transportation, might be duplicative of these efforts. The Committee may wish to consider if this bill is necessary.
   2. Financial and Liability Concerns. This bill contains language requiring a general plan to do all of the following:
      1. Identify “enforceable commitments” to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.
      2. Identify land use and zoning strategies to meet the EV charging needs within the city or county, including “incentives and mandates.”
      3. Identify strategies to “subsidize and incentivize” the building electrification needs of disadvantaged communities and low-income households and small businesses.
      4. Identify strategies and programs to “incentivize and subsidize” the installation of EV charging stations along public corridors and in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures.

These mandates are not typical of general plans, and could pose risks of liability and financial burdens for cities and counties. The Committee may wish to consider amending this language.

1. Committee Amendments. In order to address some of the policy considerations raised above, the Committee may wish to consider the following amendments:
   1. 65302.13(a)(1) Identify strategies and enforceable commitments, policies, and proposed ordinance amendments to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals requiring increased electrification of transportation and buildings, including, but not limited to, Executive Order No. N-79-30, which requires 100 percent of new passenger cars and trucks be zero emission by 2035, and the State Air Resources Board’s 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan’s strategies to reduce residential and commercial building emissions.
   2. 65302.13(a)(6) Identify land use and zoning strategies to meet the electric vehicle charging needs within the city or county, including, but not limited to, incentives and mandates as necessary and to increase vehicle charging stations and infrastructure in government, retail, commercial, and residential parking lots and structures.
   3. 65302.13(a)(12) Identify strategies and policies to access any available private, state, and federal funds to help subsidize and incentivize the building electrification needs of disadvantaged communities and low-income households and small businesses, including, but not limited to, strategies and policies to access any available private, state, and federal funds.
   4. 65302.13(a)(13) Identify strategies and programs to access any available private, state, and federal funds to help incentivize and subsidize the installation of electric vehicle charging stations along public corridors and in residential, retail, and commercial parking lots and structures.
2. Related Legislation. AB 1504 (McCarty) requires cities and counties to complete a plan for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way, and makes changes to the statewide assessment of EV charging infrastructure the CEC must prepare pursuant to existing law. AB 1504 is pending in the Transportation Committee.

AB 1132 (Friedman) Extends the sunset date on provisions of law that limit the permit fees a city or county can charge for solar energy systems, from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2034. AB 1132 is pending on the Assembly Floor.

SB 507 (Gonzalez) expands the scope of information the CEC must consider when assessing the state’s need for EV charging infrastructure. SB 507 is pending in the Senate Transportation Committee.

1. Previous Legislation. SB 1291 (Archuleta), Chapter 373, Statutes of 2022, added hydrogen-fueling stations to the provisions of AB 1236.

AB 970 (McCarty), Chapter 710, Statutes of 2021, established specific time frames in which local agencies must approve permits for EV charging stations.

AB 1124 (Friedman), Chapter 235, Statutes of 2021, revised the definition of "solar energy system" as that term is used for the purpose of local permitting of such systems, including the allowable fees a local agency may charge, and clarified the permit fees local agencies may charge for commercial and residential solar energy systems.

SB 32 (Cortese) of 2021 would have required, after January 1, 2023, each county and city, including charter cities, to make a one-time amendment to its general plan during the next cycle of updates to the plan, climate action plan or greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan, or building codes to identify goals, policies, objectives, targets, and feasible implementation strategies to decarbonize newly-constructed commercial and residential buildings.

AB 2168 (McCarty) of 2020 was nearly identical to AB 970. AB 2168 was held in this Committee.

AB 2700 (Friedman) of 2020 was substantially similar to AB 1124. AB 2700 was held in this Committee.

AB 1414 (Friedman), Chapter 849, Statutes of 2017, reduced the maximum permit fee a city or a county may charge for residential rooftop solar energy systems, applied these caps and commercial permit fee caps to a broader range of solar energy systems, and made additional changes to existing law governing permit fees for rooftop solar energy systems.

AB 2127 (Ting), Chapter 365, Statutes of 2017, required the CEC to conduct a statewide assessment of the EV charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least five million ZEVs on California roads by 2030 and of reducing emissions of GHG to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.AB

AB 1236 (Chiu), Chapter 598, Statutes of 2015, required counties and cities to administratively approve applications to install EV charging stations, and create an expedited, streamlined permitting process for EV charging stations.

AB 2188 (Muratsuchi), Chapter 521, Statutes of 2014, required every city and county to adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for small residential rooftop solar energy systems.

SB 1222 (Leno), Chapter 614, Statues of 2012, limited the fees that cities and counties charge for permits related to the installation of rooftop solar energy systems.

AB 2473 (Wolk), Chapter 789, Statutes of 2004, required cities and counties to permit the installation of solar energy systems by right if the system meets specified requirements, and redefined the term “significantly” in regard to restrictions on solar systems that raise costs or decrease efficiency.

1. Arguments in Support. ClimatePlan, sponsor of this measure, sates, “Assembly Bill 1176 acknowledges the leadership that some of our cities and counties are already undertaking in their planning processes and provides the flexibility to recognize their existing efforts, while also providing guidance and a clear path forward to ensure no municipality falls behind.

“The transportation and built environment sectors are the primary areas that California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals focus on, as they make up most of our emissions. AB 1176 critically focuses on the intersection of these two sectors and the infrastructure that will be necessary in order to make meaningful progress towards both.

“AB 1176 will require pivotal early coordination with load-serving entities or utility providers in order to identify and meet the need for grid infrastructure upgrades. As the transition to ZEVs and all-electric appliances continues to accelerate with the development and increasing access to new technologies, cities and counties will not be able to keep up and support this growing facet of municipal life without robust planning to ensure the sufficient distribution of charging and electric-ready infrastructure.

“It is for these reasons ClimatePlan strongly SUPPORTS and co-sponsors AB 1176 (Zbur), which will require city and county governments to incorporate electrification considerations into their general planning process and serve as a tool for intentional development aligned with California’s climate change, public health, housing, and equity goals.”

1. Arguments in Opposition. The League of California Cities, the Rural County Representatives of California, and the California Building Industry Association write, “While we support the state’s climate and transportation goals, local jurisdictions are aggressively doing their part to comply with existing state mandates to deploy a robust electric vehicle charging station network. Unfortunately, AB 1176 is predicated on the false premise that local jurisdictions universally have energy reliability and will easily be able to add capacity to meet electrification requirements. Opening a general plan or adopting new revisions to one for electrification to support transportation needs is not appropriate and would be better suited in the circulation element.

“Currently, we are working with several legislators on other similar measures, including Assembly Bill 1504 (McCarty), which would require local governments to plan for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way. Cities and counties must do several things in developing the plan and permitting process, such as consulting with internal and external stakeholders, developing a process to solicit input from the public, assessing the jurisdiction’s existing EV charging stations and its projected need for EV charging stations in the right-of-way, and identifying planning and permitting barriers to the installation of EV charging stations in the right-of-way. Cities and counties must also identify competing uses in the right-of-way and complete an equity analysis to determine locations for EV charging stations in the right-of-way that will reduce barriers to equitable access.

“Specifically, (AB 1504) requires the collaboration and consultation with energy providers, as well as relevant building and planning departments to complete an assessment of existing and projected electrification needs, which is something local jurisdictions support. Further, this measure would require the development of a location, zoning, or siting framework that considers and identifies, at a minimum, the density of the surrounding development and the types of transportation corridors that are required for the installation of EV charging stations in the public right-of-way, as well as identify necessary updates to relevant codes or regulations of the local agency. While AB 1504 is not ideal and presents significant implementation issues for local governments this approach is less problematic than what is proposed in AB 1176.

“While a few local governments are served by municipal electric providers (SMUD, LADWP, Glendale, Burbank, etc), most are served by investor-owned utilities. Having local governments prepare electrification elements without having any control over the grid and system upgrades will set locals up for failure. Local governments do not control the means with which to deploy vehicle charging stations in our communities. We do not own or operate those stations, nor do some locals have the capacity to do so. For these reasons, (we) respectfully (oppose) AB 1176 unless it is amended to address our concerns.”

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

ClimatePlan [SPONSOR]

350 Sacramento

Active San Gabriel Valley

California Environmental Voters

Environment California

IBEW Local Union 569

Sacramento Area Congregations Together

Sierra Club

The Climate Center

Transform

Voices for Progress

Opposition

California Building Industry Association

League of California Cities

Rural County Representatives of California

Analysis Prepared by: Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958