In This Issue:

• ABANDONED COMMERCIAL PROPERTY BILL PASSES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

• GREENHOUSE GAS PLAN RELEASED BY AIR RESOURCES BOARD

• KEY ELEMENTS – DRAFT ARB AB 32 SCOPING PLAN

• PRESS COVERAGE OF DRAFT ARB SCOPING PLAN

• WHAT IS “AB 32” ANYWAY?

• “STRONG BEGINNING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION”

• "COSTLY NEW EMISSION STANDARDS”

• STATE RISKS ITS ECONOMY ON GLOBAL WARMING FIGHT

• STATE SURPLUS PROPERTY REPORT

• CBPA 2008 CALENDAR

ABANDONED COMMERCIAL PROPERTY BILL PASSES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

AB 2025 (R-Silva; Huntington Beach) which revises the process by which abandoned property that is left behind in a commercial setting is disposed of, unanimously passed the Senate Floor, and is just one step away from the Governor’s Desk. CBPA strongly supports this bill. Current law provides a process for a building owner to hold a public auction to dispose of abandoned property deemed to be worth more than $300 and treats residential personal property in the same manner as non-residential commercial property, even though the residential setting is very different from the business setting and has very different scenarios under which property is left behind. This bill would raise the threshold to trigger a public auction in the commercial setting to the monthly rent or square footage of the leased space.
 

GREENHOUSE GAS PLAN RELEASED BY AIR RESOURCES BOARD

The California Air Resources Board has released its “Draft AB 32 Scoping Plan” – its initial plan to implement California’s historic “Climate Change Solutions Act of 2006” meant to slash greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent (to 1990 levels) by 2020. CBPA is in the process of analyzing the plan and we are seeking input from members. Below are links to the plan and to other helpful documents. Please circulate with folks that may have an interest and let us know if you have any comments/observations/analysis/questions. The plan is getting praise from all sectors of the business community and from environmentalists, but the difficult task of putting detail on the broad stroke proposals still lay ahead.

Please not the top “key element” of the plan is “Expansion and strengthening of existing energy efficiency programs and building and appliance standards.” This proposal is aimed at the way your company does business.

Click here to read the ARB Press Release.

Click here to read the full plan: Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan: a Framework for change. June 2008 Discussion Draft [.pdf; 77 page report]
 

KEY ELEMENTS – DRAFT ARB AB 32 SCOPING PLAN

Here are the key elements of the ARB plan:

* Expansion and strengthening of existing energy efficiency programs and building and appliance standards;
* Expansion of the Renewables Portfolio Standard to 33 percent;
* Development of a California cap-and-trade program that links with other WCI Partner programs to create a regional market system;
* Implementation of existing State laws and policies, including California’s clean car standards, goods movement measures, and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard;
* Targeted fees to fund the State’s long-term commitment to AB 32 administration
 

PRESS COVERAGE OF DRAFT ARB SCOPING PLAN

Here are a few articles from major newspapers on the release of the plan:

Sacramento Bee - New rules to curb emissions call for a 30 percent cut by 2020
L.A. Times – California air board announces plan for carbon-credit trading

WHAT IS “AB 32” ANYWAY?

If you don’t know, or vaguely know, that it’s a new law in California, you should read further. AB 32, California’s landmark “Global Warming Solutions Act,” will change the way you do business. Many people have heard of the law but are uncertain of what it really means. This paradigm-shifting edict is meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels, and has the potential to drastically impact our industry; how much it impacts your bottom line, however, is up to the actions we as an industry undertake now to shape its regulations. What comes out of the regulatory process, that is now underway, will impact our industry for the next generation.

CBPA is a member of the AB 32 Implementation Group which is a broad industry-based organization whose mission is to be a constructive voice in the process to implement AB 32 and ensure that the greenhouse gas emission reductions required are achieved while maintaining the competitiveness of California businesses and protecting the interests of consumers and workers.

In a statement released commenting on the Draft Scoping Plan, the AB 32 Implementation Group reiterated its support for cost-effective and technologically feasible regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect California workers, consumers and companies.

“That means the strategies adopted in the Scoping Plan should be based on the best available scientific and economic analysis. We look forward to more information on the economic impact of strategies so that decision-makers and the public can be fully confident that they deliver real emission reductions and support a growing economy.”

Click here to read more about the AB 32 Implementation Group.
 

“STRONG BEGINNING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION”

Assembly Speaker Emeritus Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles), the author of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, released the following statement after the California Air Resources Board staff presented their draft Scoping Plan for AB 32:

“We wrote AB 32 to be a tough response to the threat of global warming. The law has to be implemented properly -- and strongly -- if it is to make the kind of difference California needs. While the California Air Resources Board draft Scoping Plan is preliminary, and a lot of details still need to be filled in over the next six months, I am optimistic about the direction CARB is taking. The draft Scoping Plan is a strong beginning and in line with the language and intent of AB 32, including an achievable real-world goal of reducing greenhouse gasses by 169 million tons by 2020.”

Click here to read the full statement.
 

"COSTLY NEW EMISSION STANDARDS”

Senate Energy Committee Vice Chair, Senator Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) issued the following statement after the release of the AB 32 scoping plan:

“The impact of these regulations will be felt by everyone, at all levels of the economic ladder, no matter where they live, work or play. It will also be felt by businesses across the full spectrum from refineries to agriculture to construction to forestry. It will even affect the way local governments do business.

“With every person and every economic sector being impacted, there are a number of critical concerns that need to be addressed. For this effort to be truly successful it must reduce energy costs, increase wages, and stimulate the economy through business and job growth.

Here is what the Republicans are saying.

STATE RISKS ITS ECONOMY ON GLOBAL WARMING FIGHT

In a typically sober assessment here is what columnist Dan Walters writes:

“Are Californians ready to become the point of the global-warming spear, shouldering the financial costs and potential inconveniences that will be involved and, in effect, exchanging the expansive California lifestyle for something different?

Finally, there is the risk that even if we do everything the governor wants us to do to reduce our ‘carbon footprint,’ it will have very little real world impact. If China, India and other ‘emerging economies’ remain exempt from global emission standards and continue to pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, California's effort may turn out to be an exercise in political symbolism signifying nothing.”

Read his whole article by clicking here.
 

STATE SURPLUS PROPERTY REPORT

If you need a break from reading about AB 32, you can cuddle up with a new assessment of process by which the state disposes of surplus property.

“The assets of the state are found, not only in land but, also, in buildings, stadiums, arenas, railroads, fairgrounds, printing plants, parks, prisons, office complexes, and golf courses, to name a few. As time goes by, facilities age, become obsolete, and priorities change. Agencies find that the costs to maintain many of these sites outweigh the benefit of services they provide. Thus, properties become surplus to the needs of the state.

California’s Constitution provides a process for disposing of surplus state property. The Department of General Services (DGS) is the agency that acts as the state’s real estate agent. After it has determined which properties are surplus, DGS must request authorization by the Legislature in order to sell it. This requirement applies to most state properties. CalTrans has its own process, as prescribed by the Constitution, for disposing of properties under its jurisdiction. To assist DGS in its task, every year, state agencies are required to review proprietary state lands under their jurisdictions to determine what lands are in excess of the agency’s foreseeable needs and to report such information to the director of Department of General Services. DGS then sponsors a bill authorizing it to sell the properties listed.”

Click here to read the rest of the assessment.
 

CBPA 2008 CALENDAR

OCTOBER 23 --

CBPA Board Meeting
The Irvine Company

CBPA Industry Awards Dinner
Island Hotel, Newport Beach