Bill Text: CA SB312 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: California Environmental Quality Act: university housing development projects: exemption.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-24 - From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. [SB312 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB312-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Senate
September 13, 2023 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
March 14, 2023 |
| Introduced by Senators Wiener and Ashby |
February 06, 2023 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to construct, improve, and maintain state highways. Existing law authorizes the department to provide for the payment of extra compensation to a contractor on a road project, as a bonus for completion prior to the specified time.
Until January 1, 2029, this bill would require the department to also provide for the payment of extra compensation, as specified, to a contractor on a road project, as a bonus for using true warm mix asphalt, as defined by this bill. The bill would require the department to submit specified reports to the Legislature on certain findings related to true warm mix asphalt.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to support the revitalization of the City and County of San Francisco’s downtown by streamlining the regulatory process for, and supporting, adaptive reuse projects, nightlife, and entertainment establishments; incentivizing investments in and leasing of downtown properties, including on upper floors and ground floor storefronts, through targeted tax relief or other financial incentive programs; creating new or enhanced financing mechanisms for public-private development and redevelopment projects; and promoting enhanced cleanliness and safety throughout downtown.The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Climate change poses a serious threat to the environment, our economy, and the well-being of communities in California and around the world.
(b)The United States manufacturing sector produces the materials that are critical to rebuilding and strengthening the nation’s infrastructure, but is responsible for nearly one-third of United States greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes.
(c)Despite California’s push for an all-electric vehicle fleet starting
in 2035, cars will still have tires, and will still need to travel on roads. Transportation infrastructure materials will continue to be a significant source of emissions productions, unless we embrace technologies in the marketplace to manufacture them in a more sustainable manner.
(d)Approximately 26,000,000 tons of hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavement material are produced in the state annually. Typical asphalt mix production temperatures range from 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, which is accomplished by heating the liquid asphalt cement and aggregate using a fossil fuel, such as natural gas, to allow for appropriate mixing of the materials.
(e)Warm mix asphalt (WMA) is the generic term for a variety of technologies that allow producers of HMA to lower the production temperature at
which the material is mixed and placed on the road. True WMA is that product which is manufactured at temperatures of 275 degrees and lower.
(f)The use of true WMA provides multiple benefits, including significant reductions in fossil fuel use and the emissions of greenhouse gases during the asphalt mixing and production process; reductions or elimination of smoke, odors, and other byproduct pollutant gases and particulates; and optimized compaction at reduced temperatures and the extension of road life, leading to further greenhouse gas emission reductions and significant cost savings for the state related to increased long-term performance and the potential to increase recycling uptake. Benefits improve as production temperatures decrease.
(g)The University of California
Pavement Research Center has studied true WMA pavement extensively. The center found that the use of true WMA has clear benefits when compared to HMA, including the benefits identified above, and improved workability, better conditions for workers, and better performance on projects with long hauls or where mixes are placed under cool conditions.
(h)Executive Order No. N-19-19 directs the Transportation Agency to leverage more than five billion dollars ($5,000,000,000) in annual state transportation spending for construction, operations, and maintenance to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For the purpose of this part, the following definitions apply:
(a)“Department” means the Department of Transportation.
(b)“True warm mix asphalt” means a hot mix asphalt that is heated to no more than 275 degrees Fahrenheit during mixing and production.
The department shall provide for the payment of extra compensation to a contractor on a contract for a road project, as a bonus for using true warm mix asphalt, in accordance with the following:
(a)The department shall pay a bonus of three dollars ($3) per ton for true warm mix asphalt that is heated to a temperature of 251 to 275, inclusive, degrees Fahrenheit during mixing and production.
(b)The department shall pay a bonus of five dollars per ($5) per ton for true warm mix asphalt that is heated to no more than 250 degrees Fahrenheit during mixing and production.
(a)The department shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2026, and every two years thereafter, containing all the following information:
(1)The reduction in carbon dioxide resulting from the use of true warm mix asphalt.
(2)The increase in use of true warm mix asphalt as a result of the extra compensation required by this article.
(b)A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
This part shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.
