AB 706

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL-FIRE) and makes 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 to represent the state’s 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 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. 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 facility’s 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 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 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 the FOREST program, as specified.