Amended  IN  Senate  March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 420

Introduced by Senator Becker

February 09, 2023

An act to amend Section 21180 of the Public Resources Code, and to add Section 1005.3 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 420, as amended, Becker. Electricity: electrical transmission facility projects.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation from beginning the construction of a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require its construction, as specified. Under existing law, the extension, expansion, upgrade, or other modification of an existing electrical transmission facility, including transmission lines and substations, does not require a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity requires or will require its construction.
Existing law establishes the Independent System Operator, as a nonprofit, public benefit corporation to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the transmission grid and to manage the transmission grid and related energy markets, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, on or before January 1, 2023, to request the Independent System Operator to identify the highest priority transmission facilities that are needed to allow for increased transmission capacity into local capacity areas to deliver renewable energy resources or zero-carbon resources that are expected to be developed by 2035 into those areas, and to consider whether to approve those projects as part of its 2022–23 transmission planning process.
The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2024, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet specified requirements for certain streamlining benefits related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
This bill would require the Governor to identify a lead agency to monitor clean energy and electrical transmission facility planning and deployment, and require that agency to identify those electrical transmission facility projects necessary to maintain system reliability and to meet specified targets. The bill would make that agency the lead agency for those projects for purposes of CEQA and deem those projects to be environmental leadership development projects for purposes of the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021. In a commission proceeding to determine whether to issue certificates The bill would require the commission, in proceedings evaluating the issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity for those projects, the bill would to establish a rebuttable presumption that with regard to need for the project is necessary in favor of an Independent System Operator governing board-approved need evaluation if certain requirements related to the Independent System Operator are satisfied.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this bill to streamline the regulatory approval process for electrical transmission lines that are critical to maintaining electrical reliability and meeting California’s grid decarborization targets.

SEC. 2.

 Section 21180 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

21180.
 For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Applicant” means a public or private entity or its affiliates, or a person or entity that undertakes a public works project, that proposes a project and its successors, heirs, and assignees.
(b) “Environmental leadership development project,” “leadership project,” or “project” means a project as described in Section 21065 that is one of the following:
(1) A residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use project that is certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold or better by the United States Green Building Council and, where applicable, that achieves a 15-percent greater standard for transportation efficiency than for comparable projects. These projects must be located on an infill site. For a project that is within a metropolitan planning organization for which a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy is in effect, the infill project shall be consistent with the general use designation, density, building intensity, and applicable policies specified for the project area in either a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning strategy, for which the State Air Resources Board has accepted a metropolitan planning organization’s determination, under subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 65080 of the Government Code, that the sustainable communities strategy or the alternative planning strategy would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
(2) A clean renewable energy project that generates electricity exclusively through wind or solar, but not including waste incineration or conversion.
(3) A clean energy manufacturing project that manufactures products, equipment, or components used for renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, or for the production of clean alternative fuel vehicles.
(4) (A) A housing development project that meets all of the following conditions:
(i) The housing development project is located on an infill site.
(ii) For a housing development project that is located within a metropolitan planning organization for which a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy is in effect, the project is consistent with the general use designation, density, building intensity, and applicable policies specified for the project area in either a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning strategy, for which the State Air Resources Board has accepted a metropolitan planning organization’s determination, under subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 65080 of the Government Code, that the sustainable communities strategy or the alternative planning strategy would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
(iii)  Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 21183, the housing development project will result in a minimum investment of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), but less than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), in California upon completion of construction.
(iv) (I) Except as provided in subclause (II), at least 15 percent of the housing development project is dedicated as housing that is affordable to lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code. Upon completion of a housing development project that is qualified under this paragraph and is certified by the Governor, the lead agency or applicant of the project shall notify the Office of Planning and Research of the number of housing units and affordable housing units established by the project.
(II) Notwithstanding subclause (I), if a local agency has adopted an inclusionary zoning ordinance that establishes a minimum percentage for affordable housing within the jurisdiction in which the housing development project is located that is higher than 15 percent, the percentage specified in the inclusionary zoning ordinance shall be the threshold for affordable housing.
(v) (I) Except for use as a residential hotel, as defined in Section 50519 of the Health and Safety Code, no part of the housing development project shall be used for a rental unit for a term shorter than 30 days, or designated for hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging use.
(II) No part of the housing development project shall be used for manufacturing or industrial uses.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “housing development project” means a project for any of the following:
(i)  Residential units only.
(ii) Mixed-use developments consisting of residential and nonresidential uses with at least two-thirds of the square footage designated for residential use.
(iii) Transitional housing or supportive housing.
(5) An electrical transmission facility project identified pursuant to Section 1005.3 of the Public Utilities Code.
(c) “Infill site” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 21061.3.
(d) “Transportation efficiency” means the number of vehicle trips by employees, visitors, or customers of the residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use project divided by the total number of employees, visitors, and customers.

SEC. 3.

 Section 1005.3 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

1005.3.
 (a) The Governor shall identify a lead agency to monitor clean energy and electrical transmission facility planning and deployment.
(b) The lead agency identified pursuant to subdivision (a) shall identify those electrical transmission facility projects necessary to maintain system reliability and to meet the targets set pursuant to Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018 and Chapter 361 of the Statutes of 2022.
(c) The lead agency identified pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be the lead agency, as defined in Section 21067 of the Public Resources Code, for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) for the electrical transmission facility projects identified pursuant to subdivision (b).
(d) An electrical transmission facility project identified pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be an environmental leadership development project pursuant to Section 21180 of the Public Resources Code.
(e) In a commission proceeding to determine whether to issue evaluating the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for an electrical transmission facility project identified pursuant to subdivision (b), there shall be the commission shall establish a rebuttable presumption that with regard to need for the project is necessary in favor of an Independent System Operator governing board-approved need evaluation if all of the following requirements are met: satisfied:
(1) The Independent System Operator has issued a board-approved needs assessment of the project. governing board has made explicit findings regarding the need for the project and has determined that it is the most cost-effective transmission solution.

(2)The board-approved needs assessment of the project was submitted to the commission within sufficient time to be included within the scope of the proceeding.

(3)The governing board of the Independent System Operator expressly found that the project is necessary.

(4)

(2) The Independent System Operator is a party to the proceeding.
(3) The Independent System Operator governing board-approved need evaluation is submitted to the commission within sufficient time to be included within the scope of the proceeding.
(4) The project would clearly satisfy a specific transmission expansion need identified in a decision adopted by the commission recommending resource portfolios to the Independent System Operator for transmission planning.
(5) There has been no substantial change to the scope, estimated cost, or timeline of the project as approved by the Independent System Operator governing board.