2005 California Health and Safety Code Sections 42820-42824 Article 3. Climate Action Registry

42820.  The Secretary of the Resources Agency shall establish a
nonprofit public benefit corporation, to be known as the California
Climate Action Registry.
42821.  (a) The registry shall be governed by a nine-member board of
directors, to be composed of all of the following members:
   (1) The Secretary of the Resources Agency, or his or her designee.
   (2) The Secretary for Environmental Protection, or his or her
designee.
   (3) One member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
   (4) One member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
   (5) Five public members representing business, local government,
and public interest environmental organizations, to be appointed by
the Governor for two-year terms, staggered so that, initially, three
public members serve one-year terms and two members serve two-year
terms.  In the event of a vacancy, the Governor shall appoint a
replacement public board member.
   (b) The board of directors of the registry is responsible for
ensuring that the registry fulfills the purposes established by this
chapter and meets the financial, reporting, and operating
requirements of its articles of incorporation.  The board of
directors shall appoint and supervise an executive director, who
shall hire and direct staff.
   (c) The board of directors shall adopt bylaws that ensure that, at
each regularly scheduled meeting of the registry, there will be an
opportunity for members of the public to comment on matters being
considered by the registry, as specified on the registry meeting
agenda.
42822.  (a) The procedures and protocols for monitoring, estimating,
calculating, reporting, and certifying greenhouse gas emissions
established by, or approved pursuant to, this chapter shall be the
only procedures and protocols recognized by the state for the
purposes of the registry, as described in Section 42810.  These
procedures shall be, to the extent practicable, consistent with the
methods and practices used for the statewide inventory of greenhouse
gas emissions prepared by the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, as required by Section 25730 of the Public
Resources Code.
   (b) The registry shall adopt a schedule of fees and, after an
initial startup period, charge participants for registry services to
cover the reasonable costs of its operations.
42823.  The registry shall perform all of the following functions:
   (a) Provide participants with referrals to approved providers for
technical assistance and advice, upon the request of a participant,
on any or all of the following:
   (1) Designing programs to establish greenhouse gas emissions
baselines and to monitor, estimate, calculate, report, and certify
greenhouse gas emissions.
   (2) Establishing emissions reduction goals based on international
or federal best practices for specific industries and economic
sectors.
   (3) Designing and implementing organization-specific plans that
improve energy efficiency or utilize renewable energy, or both, and
that are capable of achieving emission reduction targets.
   (4) Designing plans for the conservation and management of native
forest reservoirs as a means to assist participants in attaining
emission reduction goals and reporting annual emissions results.
   (b) In coordination with the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission, the registry shall adopt and periodically
update a list of organizations recognized by the state as qualified
to provide the detailed technical assistance and advice in
subdivision (a) and assist participants in identifying and selecting
providers that have expertise applicable to each participant's
circumstances.  The registry shall coordinate with the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection and the State Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection to provide referrals to providers for purposes of
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).
   (c) The registry shall adopt procedures and protocols for the
reporting and certification of greenhouse gas emission reductions
resulting from a project or an action of a participant.  A
participant shall report emission reductions as a separate item in
its annual emissions results.
   (d) In coordination with the Resources Agency and consistent with
the data and information acquired and developed pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 25730 of the Public Resources Code, the
registry shall adopt procedures and protocols for the monitoring,
estimating, calculating, reporting, and certifying of carbon stocks
and carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the conservation and
conservation-based management, including reforestation, of native
forest reservoirs in California in order to permit participants to
include the results of those activities as a participant's registered
emissions results, or as a part thereof.  Procedures and protocols
shall require, at a minimum, that those forestry activities meet the
following criteria in order to be reported as a participant's
emissions results, or as a part thereof:
   (1) Forestry activities that are reported as a participant's
emissions results, or as a part thereof, shall be based on forest
management practices within a defined project area that exceed
applicable federal, state, and local land use laws and regulations,
including, but not limited to, the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act
of 1973 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 2 of
Division 4 of the Public Resources Code).  Applicable federal, state,
and local land use laws and regulations shall be those in effect
each time a participant registers a defined project area in the
registry.
   (2) Forestry activities that are reported as a participant's
emissions results, or a part thereof, shall occur on forestland that
is permanently dedicated to forest use through a restriction, granted
in perpetuity, on the use that may be made of real property that is
consistent with the conservation purposes listed in Section 170(h)(4)
(A)(ii) and (iii) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
   (3) Forestry activities reported as emissions results, or as a
part thereof, shall reflect the amount of time that net carbon gains
are stored.
   (4) Forestry activities maintain and promote native forest types.
   (5) If emissions results are derived from forest lands undergoing
harvest and regeneration, those results are derived from natural
forest management practices.
   (e) Adopt procedures and protocols for certification of reported
baseline emissions and emissions results.  When adopting procedures
and protocols for the certification, the registry shall consider the
availability and suitability of simplified techniques and tools.
   (f) Qualify third-party organizations that have the capability to
certify reported baseline emissions and emissions results, and that
are capable of certifying the participant-reported results as
provided in this chapter.
   (g) Adopt procedures and protocols, including a uniform format for
reporting emissions baselines and emissions results to facilitate
their recognition in any future regulatory regime.
   (h) Maintain a record of all certified greenhouse gas emissions
baselines and emissions results.  Separate records shall be kept for
direct and indirect emissions results.  The public shall have access
to this record, except for any portion of the data or information
that is exempt from disclosure pursuant to the California Public
Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7
of Title 1 of the Government Code).
   (i) Encourage organizations from various sectors of the state's
economy, and those from various geographic regions of the state, to
report emissions, establish baselines and reduction targets, and
implement efficiency improvement and renewable energy programs to
achieve those targets.
   (j) Recognize, publicize, and promote participants.
   (k) In coordination with the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission and the state board, adopt
industry-specific reporting metrics at one or more public meetings.
   (l) In consultation with the state board, adopt procedures and
protocols for the reporting and certification of reductions in
emissions of greenhouse gases, to the extent permitted by state and
federal law, for those reductions achieved prior to the operative
date of the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 43018.5.
42823.1.  Procedures and protocols adopted pursuant to subdivision
(d) of Section 42823 shall not be interpreted or construed as a
condition for any lease, permit, license, certificate, or other
entitlement for an ongoing use of forest land.
42824.  Participation in the registry is voluntary, and participants
may withdraw at any time.  If participants cease, and then resume
participation, they will be expected to fill in any interim emissions
information or set a new baseline.  Any entity conducting business
in the state may register its emissions results, including emissions
generated outside of the state, on an entitywide basis with the
registry, and may utilize the services of the registry.