An act to add Sections 41514.9 and 41514.10 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to consider and adopt specified findings before adopting rules or regulations that would affect the operation of existing powerplants. Under existing law, except as specified, any person who violates any statute, rule, regulation, permit, or order of the state board or of an air pollution control strict or an air quality management district relating to air quality, as provided, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both. Since a violation of the regulations adopted pursuant to the bill would be a crime, the bill would impose 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. The absence of clear rules and regulations creates uncertainty that may hinder the deployment of distributed generation. The emission standards for state certified electrical generation technology shall be expressed in pounds per megawatt hour to reflect the expected actual emissions per unit of electricity and heat provided to the consumer from each permitted central powerplant as compared to each state certified electrical generation technology. This section does not preclude a district from establishing more stringent emission standards for electrical generation technologies than those adopted by the state board. The state board may establish a schedule of fees for purposes of this section to be assessed on persons seeking certification as a distributed generator.