AB 706: Forest Organic Residue, Energy, and Safety Transformation (FOREST) and Wildfire Prevention Fund Act.

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), (CAL-FIRE) and makes CAL FIRE CAL-FIRE responsible for, among other things, fire protection and prevention, as provided. Existing law establishes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection in CAL FIRE CAL-FIRE to represent the states interest in the acquisition and management of state forests and requires the board to maintain an adequate forest policy. Former Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., issued Executive Order No. B-52-18 that, among other things, established a Forest Management Task Force, now known as the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, involving specified state agencies to create the action plan for wildfire and forest resilience. The executive order also established a Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation, to be located within the state board. a proclamation of a state of emergency on October 30, 2015, that required CAL-FIRE, the Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), among other things, to identify areas of the state that represent high hazard zones for wildfire and falling trees, known as Tier 1 and Tier 2 high hazard zones.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires every electrical corporation to file with the PUC a standard tariff for electricity generated by an electric generation facility, as defined, that qualifies for the tariff, is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical corporation, and is located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, the electrical corporation. The PUC refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff. The renewable feed-in tariff law, in part, requires the PUC to direct the electrical corporations, collectively, to procure at least 250 megawatts of cumulative rated generating capacity from developers of bioenergy projects that commence operation on or after June 1, 2013. Pursuant to this requirement, the PUC has established and revised the Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff (BioMAT) program. On March 18, 2016, the PUC issued Resolution E-4770 to order investor-owned utilities to each hold a solicitation for contract with facilities that can use biofuel from high hazard zones to address an Emergency Proclamation using the Bioenergy Renewable Auction Mechanism (BioRAM) program.

This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, make moneys from the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund or from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund available to the state board to establish the Forest Organic Residue Energy and Safety Transformation (FOREST) program in order to maintain and expand biomass power generation in the state, to revitalize idle facilities for biomass power generation, and to support biomass power generation facilities by creating additional capacity for power generation or feedstock utilization in strategically located regions of the state. The bill would make a facilitys solid fuel biomass electrical generation eligible for reimbursement at an incentive rate determined by the state board if, among other things, the facility uses solid fuel biomass or forest biomass waste, as defined, to generate electricity. electricity and the electricity is sold to specified retail sellers. The bill would require, among other things, that no less than 60% of the feedstock used by a facility originate from Tier 1 and Tier 2 high hazard zones, as defined. The bill would create an application process for an operator of a facility to seek this reimbursement that also requires the operator to demonstrate the facility is certified by the Energy Commission as an eligible renewable energy resource for purposes of the California Renewable Portfolio Standards Program, as provided, and would require the state board to adopt regulations to implement the FOREST program, as provided.

This bill would also establish the fire fuel reduction program to support sufficient procurement, transport, and beneficial use of forest biomass waste to reduce fuel for wildfires by up to 15,000,000 bone-dry tons of forest biomass waste per year. The bill would establish the FOREST and Wildfire Prevention Fund in the State Treasury, and would make moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation, to the Natural Resources Agency for this the FOREST program, as specified.