SB 887: California Environmental Quality Act: environmental leadership development projects: data centers: geothermal powerplant projects.

21061.6.

(a) “Data center” means a facility, or part of a facility, that houses computing infrastructure, including graphics and central processing units, servers, storage devices, networking equipment, and associated power and cooling systems, for the primary purpose of processing, storing, or distributing electronic data.

(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), “facility” means physical property, a plant, a building, a structure, or stationary equipment, located on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties in actual physical contact or separated solely by a public roadway or public right-of-way and under common ownership or common control.

21080.08.

Notwithstanding any other law, this division shall apply to the issuance of entitlements related to the development and operation of a data center.

21084.

(a) The guidelines prepared and adopted pursuant to Section 21083 shall include a list of classes of projects that have been determined not to have a significant effect on the environment and that shall be exempt from this division. In adopting the guidelines, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall make a finding that the listed classes of projects referred to in this section do not have a significant effect on the environment.

(b) A project’s greenhouse gas emissions shall not, in and of themselves, be deemed to cause an exemption adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) to be inapplicable if the project complies with all applicable regulations or requirements adopted to implement statewide, regional, or local plans consistent with Section 15183.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.

(c) A project that may result in damage to scenic resources, including, but not limited to, trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources, within a highway designated as an official state scenic highway, pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 260) of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, shall not be exempted from this division pursuant to subdivision (a). This subdivision does not apply to improvements as mitigation for a project for which a negative declaration has been approved or an environmental impact report has been certified.

(d) A project located on a site that is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code shall not be exempted from this division pursuant to subdivision (a).

(e) A project that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource, as specified in Section 21084.1, shall not be exempted from this division pursuant to subdivision (a).

(f) (1) A project proposed to be carried out or approved by a public agency in furtherance of the development and operation of a data center shall not be exempted from this division pursuant to subdivision (a).

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “data center” does not include any of the following:

(A) A publicly funded research facility.

(B) A public safety facility.

(C) A publicly funded national security facility.

(D) A publicly owned facility.

(E) Other utility facilities, including, but not limited to, an asset of a facilities-based telecommunications service provider.

(F) A research facility operated by an independent institution of higher education, as defined by Section 66010 of the Education Code.

21180.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Applicant” means a public or private entity or its affiliates, or a person or entity that undertakes a public works project, that proposes a project and its successors, heirs, and assignees.

(b) “Environmental leadership development project,” “leadership project,” or “project” means a project as described in Section 21065 that is one of the following:

(1) A residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use project that is certified as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold or better by the United States Green Building Council and, where applicable, that achieves a 15-percent greater standard for transportation efficiency than for comparable projects. These projects must be located on an infill site. For a project that is within a metropolitan planning organization for which a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy is in effect, the infill project shall be consistent with the general use designation, density, building intensity, and applicable policies specified for the project area in either a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning strategy, for which the State Air Resources Board has accepted a metropolitan planning organization’s determination, under subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 65080 of the Government Code, that the sustainable communities strategy or the alternative planning strategy would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

(2) A clean renewable energy project that generates electricity exclusively through wind or solar, but not including waste incineration or conversion.

(3) A clean energy manufacturing project that manufactures products, equipment, or components used for renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, or for the production of clean alternative fuel vehicles.

(4) (A) A housing development project that meets all of the following conditions:

(i) The housing development project is located on an infill site.

(ii) For a housing development project that is located within a metropolitan planning organization for which a sustainable communities strategy or alternative planning strategy is in effect, the project is consistent with the general use designation, density, building intensity, and applicable policies specified for the project area in either a sustainable communities strategy or an alternative planning strategy, for which the State Air Resources Board has accepted a metropolitan planning organization’s determination, under subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 65080 of the Government Code, that the sustainable communities strategy or the alternative planning strategy would, if implemented, achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

(iii) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 21183, the housing development project will result in a minimum investment of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) in California upon completion of construction.

(iv) (I) Except as provided in subclause (II), at least 15 percent of the housing development project is dedicated as housing that is affordable to lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code. Upon completion of a housing development project that is qualified under this paragraph and is certified by the Governor, the lead agency or applicant of the project shall notify the Office of Planning and Research of the number of housing units and affordable housing units established by the project.

(II) Notwithstanding subclause (I), if a local agency has adopted an inclusionary zoning ordinance that establishes a minimum percentage for affordable housing within the jurisdiction in which the housing development project is located that is higher than 15 percent, the percentage specified in the inclusionary zoning ordinance shall be the threshold for affordable housing.

(v) (I) Except for use as a residential hotel, as defined in Section 50519 of the Health and Safety Code, no part of the housing development project shall be used for a rental unit for a term shorter than 30 days, or designated for hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging use.

(II) No part of the housing development project shall be used for manufacturing or industrial uses.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “housing development project” means a project for any of the following:

(i) Residential units only.

(ii) Mixed-use developments consisting of residential and nonresidential uses with at least two-thirds of the square footage designated for residential use.

(iii) Transitional housing or supportive housing.

(5) (A) A data center project certified by the lead agency to meet all of the following conditions:

(i) The applicant pays in advance the full cost of interconnection to prevent cost shifts to other ratepayers, as determined by the Public Utilities Commission or a local publicly owned utility.

(ii) Does not increase fossil fuel consumption within the state.

(iii) Includes zero-carbon energy storage with at least four hours of capacity at 100 percent of forecasted peak demand for the facility.

(iv) Uses onsite zero-carbon energy storage to provide demand response services to the electrical grid.

(v) Relies on zero-carbon generation located behind the meter to the maximum extent feasible.

(vi) The applicant has entered into an enforceable commitment with the loading service entity or a local publicly owned utility to fully pay all electrical grid investments, including costs of new generating capacity, to serve the data center. The commitment shall detail a process for an early termination fee in the event the data center ceases operations and costs have not been fully recovered.

(vii) Uses recycled water and water-efficient technology or waterless cooling systems.

(viii) Will rely on 100 percent zero-carbon electricity resources to serve hourly energy needs within five years of initial operations, of which 75 percent shall be newly developed.

(ix) Will meet the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 21189.82.

(x) Enters into one or more legally binding and enforceable community benefits agreement with community-based organizations, such as workforce development and training organizations, labor unions, community foundations, local governmental entities, or California Native American tribes. In developing the community benefits agreement, the project applicant shall engage with nearby affected communities to identify community benefits that are priorities of the affected community. The community benefits agreement shall include an enforceable agreement that benefits the residents of nearby and affected communities and may include mitigation measures for environmental impacts.

(xi) Meets the requirements of Sections 25545.3, 25545.3.3, and 25545.3.5.

(B) For data center projects that are certified by the Governor pursuant to this chapter, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation shall, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and other state agencies, as necessary, develop uniform statewide standards for satisfying the conditions specified in subparagraph (A), as part of the guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 21184.

(6) A geothermal powerplant certified by the lead agency to meet both of the following conditions:

(A) Meets the criteria for an eligible renewable energy resource specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 21189.81.

(B) Meets the requirements of Sections 25545.3, 25545.3.3, and 25545.3.5.

(c) “Infill site” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 21061.3.

(d) “Transportation efficiency” means the number of vehicle trips by employees, visitors, or customers of the residential, retail, commercial, sports, cultural, entertainment, or recreational use project divided by the total number of employees, visitors, and customers.

21183.6.

(a) The quantification and mitigation of the impacts of a project described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (5), or (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 21180 from the emissions of greenhouse gases shall be as follows:

(1) The environmental baseline for greenhouse gas emissions shall be established based upon the physical environmental conditions in the vicinity of the project site at the time the application is submitted in a manner consistent with Section 15125 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations as those regulations existed on January 1, 2021.

(2) The mitigation of the impacts resulting from the emissions of greenhouse gases shall be achieved in accordance with the following priority:

(A) Direct emissions reductions from the project that also reduce emissions of criteria air pollutants or toxic air contaminants through implementation of project features, project design, or other measures, including, but not limited to, energy efficiency, installation of renewable energy electricity generation, and reductions in vehicle miles traveled.

(B) If all of the project impacts cannot be feasibly and fully mitigated by direct emissions reductions as described in subparagraph (A), the remaining unmitigated impacts shall be mitigated by direct emissions reductions that also reduce emissions of criteria air pollutants or toxic air contaminants within the same air pollution control district or air quality management district in which the project is located.

(C) If all of the project impacts cannot be feasibly and fully mitigated by direct emissions reductions as described in subparagraph (A) or (B), the remaining unmitigated impacts shall be mitigated through the use of offsets that originate within the same air pollution control district or air quality management district in which the project is located. The offsets shall be undertaken in a manner consistent with Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code, including, but not limited to, the requirement that the offsets be real, permanent, quantifiable, verifiable, and enforceable, and shall be undertaken from sources in the community in which the project is located or in adjacent communities.

(D) If all of the project impacts cannot be feasibly and fully mitigated by the measures described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), the remaining unmitigated impacts shall be mitigated through the use of offsets that originate from sources that provide a specific, quantifiable, and direct environmental and public health benefit to the region in which the project is located.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this section, to maximize the environmental and public health benefits from measures to mitigate the project impacts resulting from the emissions of greenhouse gases to those people that are impacted most by the project.