CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1674

Introduced by Assembly Member Voepel

January 20, 2022

An act to add Section 18944.20 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to building standards.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1674, as introduced, Voepel. Building standards: photovoltaic requirements: accessory dwelling units.
Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Department of General Services and requires state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the commission for approval and adoption. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards, to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code, and to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the code in its entirety once every 3 years.
This bill would prohibit an accessory dwelling unit, as defined, from being considered to be a newly constructed building for purposes of a specified provision of the California Energy Code, which is part of the California Building Standards Code, regarding the photovoltaic requirements for newly constructed buildings that are low-rise residential buildings. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, commonly known as the Energy Commission, to study exempting accessory dwelling units from specified photovoltaic requirements and make recommendations to the California Building Standards Commission in time for consideration and adoption in the next regularly occurring California Building Standards Code adoption cycle.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 18944.20 is added to the Health and Safety Code, immediately following Section 18944.18, to read:

18944.20.
 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, an accessory dwelling unit shall not be considered to be a newly constructed building for purposes of the photovoltaic requirements specified in Section 150.1(c)14 of the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Part 6 (commencing with Section 100.0) of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations), as that section read on January 1, 2020, or any successor to that provision.
(b) For purposes of this section, “accessory dwelling unit” has the same meaning as that term is defined in Section 65852.2 of the Government Code.
(c) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission shall study exempting accessory dwelling units from the photovoltaic requirements specified in Section 150.1(c)14 of the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards and make recommendations to the California Building Standards Commission in time for consideration and adoption in the next regularly occurring California Building Standards Code adoption cycle.