The Emergency Services Act establishes in state government, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the states emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, as specified.

This bill would enact the Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act and would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the office to establish a grant program to provide fairgrounds with grant funding for the purpose of building and upgrading communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would require the office to establish standards to determine the awarding of grant funding that award funding based on a fairgrounds need for internet capabilities in order to service an emergency response operation. The bill would require those standards to require, at a minimum, that a fairground receiving grant funds be located in an area with sufficient open-access middle-mile broadband infrastructure within a reasonable distance to support the fairgrounds expanded broadband capabilities and be capable of providing public access to the fairgrounds broadband network throughout the year. authorize the office to prioritize the order of grant disbursements based on prescribed criteria. The bill would also require the office to consult with the Department of Technology and the Department of Food and Agriculture to coordinate the statewide building and upgrading of communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would provide that the program is operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.

The Emergency Services Act establishes in state government, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the states emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, as specified.

This bill would enact the Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act and would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the office to establish a grant program to provide fairgrounds with grant funding for the purpose of building and upgrading communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would require the office to establish standards to determine the awarding of grant funding that award funding based on a fairgrounds need for internet capabilities in order to service an emergency response operation. The bill would require those standards to require, at a minimum, that a fairground receiving grant funds be located in an area with sufficient open-access middle-mile broadband infrastructure within a reasonable distance to support the fairgrounds expanded broadband capabilities and be capable of providing public access to the fairgrounds broadband network throughout the year. The bill would also require the office to consult with the Department of Technology and the Department of Food and Agriculture to coordinate the statewide building and upgrading of communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would provide that the program is operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.

Date of Hearing: January 18, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Chris Holden, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 415

Author:(Rodriguez) – As Amended Ver:April 11, 2023

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

SUMMARY:

This bill enacts, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires, by January 1, 2025, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to establish a grant program to provide fairgrounds with funding to build and upgrade communication and internet infrastructure. OES must establish standards to award grant funds based on such a fairground’s need for internet capabilities to service an emergency response operation.
2. Requires OES to consult with the Department of Technology (CDT) and Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to coordinate the statewide building and upgrading of communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. General Fund (GF) or California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) cost pressure in the tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars, ultimately dependent on the amount of any appropriation made by the Legislature to OES for the grant program. The author previously requested a $125 million GF appropriation for this purpose in the 2022-23 state budget.

OES notes it would utilize 5% of allocated program funds for administrative costs, which include ongoing staff positions to develop grant program criteria and select awardees.

1. Likely minor and absorbable costs to CDT and CDFA to consult with OES on infrastructure needs. However, if a substantial appropriation is made to OES for the grant program, CDT or CDFA may need an additional staff position to consult on a larger-scale program, resulting in annual costs of approximately $150,000 to each agency for the duration of the program.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

Despite how often fairgrounds serve as a site for emergency response operations, many are woefully unequipped to do so when it comes to high-speed internet capabilities. During disasters, victims, first responders, and public safety personnel reply on social media, email, calls, and video calls for communication and up-to-date information.

This bill is supported by the California Farm Bureau Federation and local government associations.

1. Background.

Evolving Use of Fairgrounds. Fairgrounds are perceived primarily as sites for annual fairs and agricultural events, but in the last two decades, California fairgrounds have met new demands during disasters, serving as sites for heating and cooling centers during extreme weather events, vaccination clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic, and public support during terrorism threats. Fairgrounds also played a critical role during recent major wildfire disasters. For example, during and after the 2018 Camp Fire, the Butte, Glenn, and Yuba county fairgrounds were used as staging areas for emergency services and shelters for both people and animals. However, a 2020 assessment for OES conducted by the California State University, Chico, estimated costs of upgrades to broadband service capacity “necessary to establish sufficient communication infrastructure” at California’s 74 fairgrounds that can be activated for emergency response to be approximately $31 million to $124 million.

Mandating and Funding Broadband Access. Beginning in 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted the first of a series of decisions regarding emergency consumer protections, communications resiliency, and emergency response duties of telecommunications providers. The first decision required wireless telephone corporations to take steps to ensure the availability of reliable cell service during an emergency.

State law directs the CPUC to develop, implement, and administer the CASF to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services for all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. SB 4 (Gonzalez), Chapter 671, Statutes of 2021, modified the CASF program, including authorizing the CPUC to increase the annual surcharge collection cap and authorizing CASF funds to be used for projects deploying broadband infrastructure to unserved non-residential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, including fairgrounds.

This bill creates a new, separate grant program to provide fairs with funding to build and upgrade on-site communication and internet infrastructure. The Assembly Communications & Conveyance Committee’s analysis of this bill notes that while creating a new broadband deployment program “would not directly hinder existing broadband deployment efforts, the state’s resources are not unlimited” and “any funding invested in a broadband program for fairgrounds means there is less money available for other purposes, like connecting households to broadband.”

1. Prior Legislation. AB 1934 (Rodriguez), of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, was substantively similar to this bill, except AB 1934 specified an intended appropriation of $125 million and specified minimum standards for a fairground receiving grant funds. AB 1934 was held on this committee’s suspense file.

Analysis Prepared by: Irene Ho / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 19, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND CONVEYANCE

Tasha Boerner Horvath, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 415 (

Author:Rodriguez) – As Amended Ver:April 11, 2023

SUBJECT: Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act

SUMMARY: Upon appropriation by the legislature, requires the Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to establish a grant program to provide fairs with grant funding for purposes of building and upgrading communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires Cal OES to establish a grant program, on or before January 1, 2025, to provide fairs with grant funding for the purpose of building and upgrading communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds.
2. Requires Cal OES to establish standards to determine how fairs receive grant funding and authorizes prioritization of funds based on a fairground’s need for internet capabilities in order to service an emergency response team.
3. Authorizes Cal OES to prioritize the order of grant disbursements based on any of the following criteria:
   1. The frequency in which fairgrounds are used for emergency purposes.
   2. The need to address an operational or response gap that would be addressed through upgrades to the fairgrounds.
4. Requires Cal OES to consult with the Department of Technology (CDT) and Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
5. Provides that this bill shall only become operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires Cal OES to be responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. (Government Code § 8585)
2. Permits Cal OES the use of all state and local fair properties, as conditions require. (Government Code § 8589)
3. Establishes the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to deploy broadband infrastructure in unserved areas of the state. (Public Utilities Code § 281)
4. Authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to assess a surcharge on communication service ratepayers receiving intrastate telecommunication services, collecting a maximum of $150 million per year for the period between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2032, to fund the CASF program. (Public Utilities Code § 281)
5. Authorizes CASF monies to fund projects that deploy broadband infrastructure to unserved nonresidential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, including fairgrounds. (Public Utilities Code § 281)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose of the bill and the scope of this committee. The primary purpose of this bill is to improve emergency response efforts, not to improve broadband connectivity for unserved households like other bills this committee has considered. According to the author, “Despite how often fairgrounds serve as a site for emergency response operations, many are woefully unequipped to do so when it comes to high-speed internet capabilities. During disasters, victims, first responders, and public safety personnel reply on social media, email, calls, and video calls for communication and up-to-date information. During times of disaster, large numbers of people are housed and work at fairgrounds and strong, high-speed internet is essential. Several fairgrounds throughout the State, especially rural fairgrounds, lack the broadband infrastructure necessary to host emergency responders and evacuees. A study by CSU Chico in 2020 compared rural versus urban fairgrounds and found that rural fairground are 15-20% less likely to have connection speeds capable of even a two-person video call. Even more urban fairs with broadband connectivity are in need of infrastructure updates in order to function at the levels necessary to host an emergency response operation.” The Committee on Emergency Management analysis of this bill provides more context on the benefits and impacts of this legislation on emergency response efforts. This analysis will focus on the bill’s impacts in the context of the state’s existing broadband policies and efforts.
2. Lack of adequate broadband is a problem for California households and businesses too. Existing state and federal policies consider households that do not have access to minimum broadband speeds of 25 megabits per second (mbps) download and 3 mbps upload to be unserved. Underserved households, on the other hand, are generally considered to be those households that do not have access to speeds of 100 mbps download and 20 mbps upload. According to Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) analysis^[1] of state broadband data, there are nearly 354,000 unserved households in the state and about 743,000 underserved households in California. Households that are unserved and underserved are located throughout the state, but the percentage of unserved and underserved households in the state is highest in rural areas. Accordingly, most state investments in broadband infrastructure has gone to rural counties. The fairgrounds that would receive the benefits of the program proposed by this bill are also likely be located in areas with a high-percentage of unserved household like rural counties. However, this bill does not require that the communities surrounding a fairground selected for grant funding would receive any benefit for their day-to-day broadband service needs.
3. Fairgrounds without adequate broadband service are likely in areas without adequate access to middle-mile broadband infrastructure. One of the reasons some rural areas lack access to adequate broadband service, aside from the economics, is because those areas lack middle-mile broadband infrastructure to build a local broadband network. Middle-mile broadband infrastructure consist of high-capacity fiber lines that carry large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances between local networks and global internet networks. Middle-mile infrastructure is a necessary component to enable connectivity for homes and community institutions, such as a fairground. Therefore, if there were no middle mile broadband infrastructure available in area then a local network at a fairground would not be technologically feasible without constructing new middle-mile infrastructure to support the project. Such an undertaking would likely be prohibitively expensive, or require a large amount of the program funds. Coincidentally, California is already investing $3.25 billion dollars to support a statewide middle-mile broadband network, which the program created by this bill could potentially leverage through coordination with CDT although it is not required.
4. Competing priorities, limited funding. California has invested millions of dollars in broadband infrastructure programs to reach the state’s broadband goals in recent years, and billions more will be spent in the coming years; however, the primary focus of those broadband investments has been to connect households. For example, the goal of the California Advanced Services Fund, the state’s most notable broadband infrastructure program, is to connect 98% of households in each consortia region by 2032. In 2021, the Governor and Legislature also agreed to invest an additional $2 billion dollars in the California Advanced Services Fund to help meet the state’s broadband deployment goals. Although creating a new broadband deployment program, as proposed by this bill, would not directly hinder existing broadband deployment efforts, the state’s resources are not unlimited. Therefore, any funding invested in a broadband program for fairgrounds means there is less money available for other purposes, like connecting households to broadband.

It is possible investments in broadband for public safety, as proposed by this bill, can provide co-benefits to broadband accessibility for the surrounding communities; however, that is not guaranteed. Notably, as currently drafted the bill does not require broadband investments for fairgrounds to garner any benefits beyond public safety. As a result, this program may create a competing interest for the state’s limited broadband funding without a requirement of providing any benefit to a selected community’s day-to-day broadband needs.

1. Recent legislation authorizes CASF monies for fairgrounds. Senate Bill 4 (Gonzalez. Chapter 671, Statutes of 2021) authorizes CASF monies to be used to fund projects that deploy broadband infrastructure to unserved nonresidential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, including fairgrounds. The authorization for funding in that legislation is aligned with the program proposed by this bill. Nonetheless, it is not clear that Cal OES or any fairground has planned to submit an application to access those funds. Additionally, the cost of connecting fairgrounds to upgraded internet or communications networks would put a big strain on the fund. According to the Network of California Fairs study from 2019, the cost to address the basic infrastructure needs of the fairs in the Network was about $227 million dollars. Due to inflationary pressures, the cost in today’s dollars would likely be even more.
2. State regulations require telecommunications service providers to provide resources during declared emergencies. The state of California experienced major wildfires in 2017 that gravely impacted the lives of many Californians and affected multiple utility services across the state. Following those wildfires, in 2018 the CPUC initiated a rulemaking^[2] to consider whether the Commission should adopt permanent rules requiring all electric, gas, telephone, water and sewer utilities under this Commission’s jurisdiction to make available post-disaster customer protections measures to Californians in the event that certain types of emergency disaster declarations are pronounced. That same year the CPUC adopted the first^[3] of a series of decisions regarding emergency customer protections, communications resiliency, and emergency response duties of telecommunications providers. Under the first decision all wireless telephone corporations were required to take steps to ensure the availability of reliable cell service during an emergency, including requiring providers maintain WiFi access in areas where impacted wireless customers seek refuge from fires. The program proposed by this bill has a similar intent, to the extent that both existing regulations and this bill are aimed at ensuring access to telecommunications services during an emergency.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Farm Bureau Federation
League of California Cities

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Emilio Perez / C. & C. / (916) 319-2637

1. Legislative Analyst Office. 2022. Overview of Last-Mile Broadband Infrastructure Project Administration and Funding. https://lao.ca.gov/handouts/socservices/2022/Last-Mile-Broadband-Infrastructure-040622.pdf ↑

2. Rulemaking R.18-03-011. Rulemaking Regarding Emergency Disaster Relief Program. https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/internet-and-phone/service-quality-and-etc/communications-network-resiliency ↑

3. Decision D.18-08-004. Affirming the Provisions of Resolutions M-4833 and M-4835 as Interim Disaster Relief Emergency Customer Protection. https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M221/K552/221552166.PDF ↑

Date of Hearing: March 13, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Freddie Rodriguez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 415 (

Author:Rodriguez) – As Introduced Ver:February 2, 2023

SUBJECT: Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act

SUMMARY: Upon appropriation by the legislature, requires the Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to establish a grant program to provide fairgrounds with the broadband infrastructure necessary to conduct emergency operations.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires Cal OES to establish a grant program, on or before January 1, 2025, to provide fairs with grant funding for building and upgrading broadband communication infrastructure on fairgrounds.
2. Requires Cal OES to establish standards to determine how fairs receive grant funding, including but not limited to, ensuring a fairground is:
   1. located in an area with sufficient open-access middle-mile broadband infrastructure within a reasonable distance to support the fairground’s expanded broadband capabilities.
   2. capable of providing public access to the fairground’s broadband network throughout the year.
3. Authorizes prioritization of funds based on frequency of emergency activation and existing operational deficiencies.
4. Requires Cal OES to consult with the Department of Technology and Department of Food and Agriculture.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes in state government, within the office of the Governor, Cal OES. Requires Cal OES to be under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services, who has all rights and powers of a head of an office and is referred to as the Director of Emergency Services. (Government Code 8550)
2. Requires Cal OES to be responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. (Government Code 8550)
3. Authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency and local officials and local governments to proclaim a local emergency, when specified conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist, and authorizes the Governor or the appropriate local government to exercise certain powers in response to that emergency. (Government Code 8558)
4. Permits Cal OES the use of all state and local fair properties, as conditions require. (Government Code 8589)
5. Established the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to deploy broadband infrastructure in unserved areas of the state. (Public Utilities Code 281)
6. Authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to assess a surcharge on communication service ratepayers receiving intrastate telecommunication services, collecting a maximum of $150 million per year for the period between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2032, to fund the CASF program. (Public Utilities Code 281)
7. Authorizes CASF funding to fund projects that deploy broadband infrastructure to unserved nonresidential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, including fairgrounds. (Public Utilities Code 281)

FISCAL EFFECT: A fiscal committee has not heard AB 415. However, when analyzing AB 1934 (Rodriguez, 2022) – a substantively similar bill, the Assembly Appropriations Committee stated a “General Fund (GF) cost pressure of $125 million, ultimately dependent on the amount of any appropriation made by the Legislature to OES for the grant program” and “Minor and absorbable costs to CDFA and CDT to consult with OES on the grant program.”

COMMENTS:

Purpose of the bill: According to the author, “Between 2012 and 2021, seventy-one of California’s seventy-four fairgrounds were activated in response to an emergency at least once. Many of those fairgrounds were activated more than once a year during the period. Fairgrounds are used to host emergency personnel responding to fires, as human and animal evacuation centers, to serve as COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites, and more in response to emergencies. Between 2008 and 2018, fairgrounds were activated a total of 164 times and housed 79,381 responders, 9,453 evacuees, and 6,490 evacuated animals. Fairgrounds are essential sites up and down the state when California faces a catastrophe.”

The author continues “Despite how often fairgrounds serve as a site for emergency response operations, many are woefully unequipped to do so when it comes to high-speed internet capabilities. During disasters, victims, first responders, and public safety personnel reply on social media, email, calls, and video calls for communication and up-to-date information. During times of disaster, large numbers of people are housed and work at fairgrounds and strong, high-speed internet is essential. Several fairgrounds throughout the State, especially rural fairgrounds, lack the broadband infrastructure necessary to host emergency responders and evacuees. A study by CSU Chico in 2020 compared rural versus urban fairgrounds and found that rural fairground are 15-20% less likely to have connection speeds capable of even a two-person video call. Even more urban fairs with broadband connectivity are in need of infrastructure updates in order to function at the levels necessary to host an emergency response operation.”

Equity Impact: According to the author’s staff “AB 415 will benefit the most needy Californians, both in times of disaster and prosperity. AB 415 will provide a funding mechanism for the most underserved fairgrounds to build out broadband infrastructure. Most of these fairgrounds are in rural parts of the state that lack broadband infrastructure in local communities, in addition to at the fairground site. Through the grant program established in AB 415, local communities will be assured that their community is ready to host themselves and first responders should they be faced with an emergency, but they can also build off of the broadband brought into the area to serve households, business, libraries, and community centers on a daily basis.

District Agriculture Associations: There are 54 statutory District Agriculture Associations (DAA), of which 52 are active, and 41 operate on state-owned lands. They hold various activities on their sites such as fairs, day care operations, fund raising, and commercial events. In some areas, DAAs provide the only available event space for the local community. DAA budgets range from several hundred thousand dollars to over ten million dollars.

Funding: DAAs were historically subsidized by the state through a portion of horse racing revenues until 2009, when $32 million was instead designated from the state general fund (GF). In 2011, the GF dollars were eliminated in total. Since 2016, the budget has included approximately $3.5 million in General Funds to assist small and medium-sized fairs. As of 2018, the budget now includes an allocation of funds generated from a percentage of the state sales tax revenue on activities at fairgrounds (AB 1499, Gray-2017). The total amount for fiscal year 2020-21 was just over $15 million. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is responsible for the allocation of these funds. Additionally, the 2020-2021 Budget included a one-time $40.3 million general fund allocation to DAAs in order to mitigate against the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021-2022 budget also included a one-time, $150 million general fund allocation to the CDFA for the development and improvement of community resilience centers. Fairgrounds, along with other community centers, will have access to this funding in order to support the state’s preparedness capabilities, as well as provide infrastructure for emergencies such as cooling and heating centers, clean air centers, and extended evacuation response centers. This budget also included a one-time, $10 million general fund allocation to CDFA to support fairground deferred maintenance, with a priority on fairgrounds that are used to support emergency operations. The funds that were approved for CDFA are being allocated as follows:

• $10 million for Cal Expo – Per the Budget Act of 2021-22.
• $140 million allocated for fairgrounds and community resiliency centers, specifically:
• $100 million for fairgrounds.
• $40 million for community resiliency centers. At the request of Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program (ICARP) and Office of Planning and Research (OPR), CDFA will administer the allocation of funds for the Community Resiliency Centers.

Fairground and Community Resilience Centers Program: The grant application period closed as of March 10, 2023. The awarding announcements are expected later this year.

CDFA established the fairground specific program parameters along with technical input from Cal FIRE, Cal OES, Department of General Services, the California Construction Authority, and the Western Fairs Association. CDFA is the technical lead for the Fairground Resilience Centers.

CDFA worked with ICARP and OPR on the development of the parameters for community resilience center specific projects. ICARP and OPR are the technical leads for the Community Resilience Centers.

Shift in use of Fairgrounds: The inventory of fairground infrastructure in California includes more than 3,000 buildings on over 6,000 acres at locations throughout California. Forty years ago, fairgrounds were perceived primarily as sites for annual fairs and other well-known seasonal venues such as entertainment and competitions that included horse racing, car racing and rodeos. However, as the impacts of disaster operations became more extensive in California – especially flooding, wildfires, and earthquakes – it became clear that fairground locations are critical for staging first response operations, serving as shelter to the public, and providing emergency services when primary medical facilities are impacted.

In the last two decades, the California fairgrounds have addressed new requests during disasters and emergencies including support for the public during terrorism threats, heating and cooling centers, placement of portable field hospitals, and for vaccination sites during pandemic outbreaks.

The complexity and variety of new threats has also increased the call for the use of fairgrounds because of their statewide availability and their capacity for support. Some of the fairgrounds are already sites of pre-allocated caches of emergency response support equipment and supplies. Some fairground sites are under consideration for staging of first response resources from state and federal agencies. The Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and the National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) caches are part of this new arrangement with California fairgrounds, following careful assessments of the sites for usability and access.

Major Fires: Fairgrounds played a critical role during the Camp Fire and for many months after. Butte, Glenn and Yuba counties fairgrounds served as staging areas for emergency services, temporary shelters for both people and animals, and have now long-term temporary Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shelters.

From 2008 to 2018 more than 51 different fairgrounds were used as fire camps and evacuation centers for people and animals in at least 164 separate incidents lasting over 1,742 calendar days. Every fair in the state has been used or activated at least once for emergency services in the last several years. In that decade, fairgrounds hosted 79,381 disaster responders as well as sheltered almost 10,000 people and 6,500 animals.

COVID-19: Fairgrounds were a significant part of California’s COVID-19 response infrastructure. At the onset of the pandemic, many served as as temporary support sites for individuals experiencing homelessness. As unsheltered individuals face a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, a number of fairgrounds, including Kern County and Cal Expo, partnered with local governments to provide temporary housing and isolation centers. With the approval of effective COVID-19 tests, fairgrounds up and down the state transformed into large-scale testing sites. With approval of three COVID-19 vaccines, at least 47 fairgrounds served as ongoing or pop-up, mass vaccination sites. Two of the largest vaccination sites in California operated at state fairgrounds– the Orange County Fairgrounds and Cal Expo – where each could provide thousands of vaccinations a day.

Unaccompanied Minor Migrant Centers: With the high number of unaccompanied, migrant children in detention centers across the US-Mexican border, facilities throughout California housed these minors. The Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, also known as the Pomona Fairplex, was the first fairground to provide temporary shelter and services to 2,500 unaccompanied minors. Other locations include convention centers and shelters.

Capabilities Assessment of Public Safety Broadband Infrastructure at Fairgrounds Serving as Evacuation Centers: With a grant from Cal OES, the CSU Chico Geographical Information Center (GIC) assessed the broadband service capabilities at the fairgrounds used for emergency activations. The capacities assessed included mobile, fixed, and high capacity backbone broadband service capacities. The GIC asserts that 10Gbps symmetrical is the required speed as it would provide broadband usage for up to 10,000 evacuees as well as enough bandwidth for first responders to fully conduct their emergency response.

To deploy the 10Gbps symmetrical high-capacity backbone and fixed wireless networks at all 74 fairgrounds, the GIC asserts the total aggregated cost range is between $30.6 million to $124.4 million. They note that if a competitive procurement process is utilized, the costs will likely be in the lower end of that range. The study also includes additional recommendations and policy considerations for implementation, including the potential need to prioritize fairgrounds and phase in broadband deployment.

CDFA’s Assessment of Broadband Needs at Fairgrounds: Based on the expert input received to date from OES, CalFire and DGS, CDFA is addressing resiliency readiness at fairgrounds by taking a regional approach. Accordingly, CDFA’s overall plan of action to achieve equitably-available emergency preparedness will aim to transform between 5 - 7 fairgrounds throughout the state into Regional Fairground Resiliency Centers equipped for the short-term and long-term evacuation of people and their pets, the long-term and short-term evacuation of farm animals; and serving as basecamp for first responders and utility crews.

The most recent infrastructure survey of the Network of California Fairs CDFA conducted was in 2019. According to that study, the cost to address the basic infrastructure needs of the fairs in the Network was about $227 million dollars. CDFA estimates that in 2023, after adjusting for inflation (12% in 2020, 17.5% in 2021, and projecting 15% for 2022), the cost to do the same work will be $332 million.

T-Mobile Deployment of 5G Technology to Fairgrounds: Due to the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, T-Mobile entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF). Part of this MOU requires T-Mobile to deploy high-speed Internet infrastructure to 10 fairgrounds, including service, with an explicit plan, timetable, and third-party verification process. T-Mobile has agreed to provide 5G connectivity to 11 fairgrounds. These fairgrounds were selected from a list made by Cal OES of the most used, state-owned, locations for emergency response and evacuation.

California Advanced Services Fund: The California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) was created to fund the deployment of broadband infrastructure to underserved areas of California. The statutory goal of the program is to provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households in each "consortium" (regional umbrella organizations made up of public, private and community-based organizations that coordinate efforts to promote deployment, access and adoption of broadband technology). The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) funds the CASF through a surcharge on communication service ratepayers receiving intrastate telecommunication services. Additionally, CASF funding may be used on projects that deploy broadband infrastructure to unserved nonresidential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, such as fairgrounds. However, underserved residents are prioritized for these funds.

Arguments in support: According to the League of California Cities, “AB 415 is a step forward in improving California’s emergency response preparedness. City and county leaders throughout the state have identified collaboration with other city, county, state, and federal governments to secure resources for broadband infrastructure as a critical means to strengthen disaster preparedness, resiliency, and recovery. As such, we recognize the need for investments in infrastructure for sites designated for emergency response use. California’s fairgrounds often host emergency response operations, from serving as evacuation centers for people and animals, to hosting mass vaccination clinics, to being base camps for emergency responders. Several fairgrounds in the state are not equipped with enough broadband or have aging infrastructure that is unable to support a large-scale emergency response operation.”

They continue, “broadband infrastructure at these sites range from aging to non-existent. With the creation of this grant program within CalOES, funds can be available to fairgrounds that lack critical broadband capabilities sufficient to support an emergency response operation. As California faces more frequent and intense wildfires, continues to fight a global pandemic, braces itself for earthquakes, and looks to protect residents from many other future emergencies, fairgrounds must be outfitted with broadband infrastructure that can adequately resource emergency responders throughout the state.”

Double Referral: Should this bill be approved by the Committee on Emergency Management, this bill will be referred to the Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance.

Prior Legislation:

AB 1934 (Rodriguez, 2022), was a substantively similar bill to AB 415. This bill died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 4 (Gonzalez) Chapter 671, Statutes of 2021 made changes to the CSAF program, including authorizing the CPUC to increase the annual surcharge collection cap from $66 million to $150 million to fund the CASF and authorizing CASF funding be used to fund projects that deploy broadband infrastructure to unserved nonresidential facilities used for local and state emergency response activities, including fairgrounds.

AB 14 (Aguiar-Curry), Chapter 658, Statutes of 2021 authorizes the CPUC to assess a surcharge on communication service ratepayers receiving intrastate telecommunication services for the period between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2032 to fund the CASF program.

SB 156 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 112, Statutes of 2021 provided the statutory framework to implement the broadband provisions contained in the 2021 Budget Package.

AB 34 (Muratsuchi), 2021 would have, if approved by the voters, authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to provide financial assistance for broadband infrastructure and broadband internet access deployment projects. AB 2163 (Rivas), 2020 would have established the Rural Broadband and Emergency Infrastructure Grant Act of 2020 to ensure that all California fairgrounds are equipped with adequate broadband and telecommunications infrastructure to support local, regional, and state emergency and disaster response personnel and systems. This bill was never heard in a committee.

AB 1665 (E. Garcia, et. al), Chapter 851, Statues of 2017 reauthorized the CASF and CPUC surcharges through 2022.

SB 1193 (Padilla), Chapter 393, Statutes of 2008, established CASF and gave the CPUC authority to assess a surcharge on communication service ratepayers receiving intrastate telecommunication services to fund deployment of broadband infrastructure in unserved areas of the state.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California League of Cities

California Farm Bureau Federation

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Ryan Fleming / E.M. / (916) 319-3802