Air resources: greenhouse gas emissions.

Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit. Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities and requires the Department of Finance to develop a specified 3-year investment plan for the expenditure of funds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the State Treasury to achieve reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, including increased in-state waste diversion through waste reduction, diversion, and reuse. This bill would enact the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Through Recycling, Composting, and Recycled Content Manufacturing Investment Program and would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to implement the program, including developing standards and guidelines and implementing the market development program required by the bill, by expending funds appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of the program. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the board, to annually identify industry sectors that can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the increased use of recycled content or by recovering putrescible materials that would have emitted greenhouse gases if disposed. The bill would require the department to develop a market development program that would provide incentives for those eligible industry sectors to make investments for waste reduction, recycling, composting, and recycled manufacturing projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill would require the department to implement the market development program by disbursing funds to private or public entities in the form of incentive payments or grants for capital equipment. The bill would require the department to give priority, when disbursing funds, to projects benefiting or located in disadvantaged communities, as specified. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature regarding the appropriation of funds for purposes of the program.