SB 88: Air resources: carbon emissions: biomass.

Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, to develop a standardized system for quantifying the direct carbon emissions and decay from fuel reduction activities for purposes of meeting the accounting requirements for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund expenditures, as specified, and, in consultation with academic experts, a historic baseline of greenhouse gas emissions from Californias natural fire regime reflecting conditions before modern fire suppression, on or before December 31, 2020.

This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2027, to finalize the standardized system and historic baseline described above. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt a method of quantification or a lifecycle model for avoided carbon emissions, including, but not limited to, carbon dioxide, methane, and black carbon, from wildfire from the application of prescribed fire to forest biomass resources and agricultural biomass resources, and to develop a carbon credit or offset protocol for biochar and other beneficial carbon-removal products that result from the avoidance of megafires and prescribed fire using existing methodologies.

The bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to require all state-funded forest health projects to include an appropriate forest biomass resource disposal component that includes a scientifically based, verifiable method to determine the amount of biomass to be physically removed and the amount to be burned by prescribed fire. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to include the value proposition of using biomass for low- and negative-carbon liquid and gaseous fuels, including hydrogen, from noncombustible methods and other emerging and innovative approaches in relevant reports and other agency-sponsored documentation.