Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990, to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum, technologically feasible, and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law authorizes the allocation of moneys from the fund for the purpose of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through various types of investments. This bill would authorize the allocation of moneys from the fund to maximize the delivery of integrated greenhouse gas reduction projects for households in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The bill would require state agencies administering grant programs, as defined, receiving an allocation from the fund to update the guidelines for their grant programs to encourage the coordination of the grantees. The bill would require agencies to give funding priority to projects having certain characteristics.