On Monday evening, the Legislature passed an extension of the State’s Cap-and-Trade auction program, a bipartisan deal championed by Governor Jerry Brown. Since the beginning of the year, Governor Brown has been working to extend the program with a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, which safeguards the auction system against current legal actions insisting it is an unconstitutional tax on the industries that must comply with the program.
The package consists of Assembly Bill 398 (Eduardo Garcia), which sets the parameters for the program as it relates to participating industries, and Assembly Bill 617 (Cristina Garcia), which establishes an air quality monitoring program for communities most impacted by large industrial emitters. Combined, the two bills include a compromise between industry and environmental interests for which the Governor was able to rally bipartisan support, and included such components as a suspension and backfill of the State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fee through 2030, then a full repeal in 2031.
While the Cap-and-Trade extension was almost certain to happen in one form or another, Republican supporters felt the final package gave more assurances to both industry and agriculture, while preventing a much worse scenario from playing out by majority vote if this extension were not approved. Many felt that a more environmental justice-friendly program, or even straight command-and-control measures, would be the chosen route if this package did not get the support needed to pass. During the legislative negotiations, RCRC was also busy advocating for pieces in the package that would benefit rural communities, including the SRA Fee repeal, prioritization of forest health funding once the allocation piece is addressed, and pushing for a change in the way disadvantaged communities are defined for dissemination of auction proceeds. Allocation of Cap-and-Trade proceeds has yet to be addressed, but RCRC will continue the work to advance our member county priorities as funding priorities are discussed.
RCRC’s “Support if Amended” letter can be accessed here.