Renewable energy: biosolids: matching grants.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to administer various grant programs, including a program to provide incentives for liquid fuels fermented from biomass and biomass-derived resources. 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 act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms to achieve its goals. 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. This bill would require the commission to develop and implement the Biosolids to Clean Energy Grant Program to provide 50% matching funds to local wastewater agencies for biosolids to clean energy capital projects. Beginning with the 2016–17 fiscal year, the bill would continuously appropriate $20,000,000 annually from the fund to the commission for purposes of the program.