Green Empowerment Zone for the Northern Waterfront area of the County of Contra Costa.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details on how the metrics for measuring progress will be updated or what changes are made to the executive committee's membership.

Green Empowerment Zone for Northern Waterfront, Contra Costa County

The bill extends the authorization for a Green Empowerment Zone in Contra Costa County's Northern Waterfront area until January 1, 2040 and expands it to include four more cities.

What This Bill Does

• Extends the authorization for the Green Empowerment Zone in Contra Costa County's Northern Waterfront area until January 1, 2040.
• Expands the zone to include four additional cities: El Cerrito, Pinole, Richmond, and San Pablo upon adoption of a resolution by each city.
• Changes how the board of directors is made up by adding seven new members who represent environmental or environmental justice organizations.
• Allows the chair and deputy chairs of the board to serve for up to three additional terms after their first term.

Who It Names or Affects

• People living in Contra Costa County's Northern Waterfront area and four more cities: El Cerrito, Pinole, Richmond, and San Pablo.
• Businesses that receive tax incentives, grants, or loans from the Green Empowerment Zone.

Terms To Know

Green Empowerment Zone

A special area where businesses can get extra help like tax breaks and money for projects to support green energy jobs and growth.

Stakeholder groups

Groups of people or organizations that have an interest in the Green Empowerment Zone, such as business owners, environmental activists, and local government officials.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much funding will be available for the expanded zone.
• It is unclear what specific changes will be made to the metrics used to measure progress in the Green Empowerment Zone.

Official Summary Text

SB 227, Grayson.
Green Empowerment Zone for the Northern Waterfront area of the County of Contra Costa.
Existing law, until January 1, 2028, authorizes the establishment of a Green Empowerment Zone for the Northern Waterfront area of the County of Contra Costa for the purpose of building upon the comparative advantage provided by the regional concentration of highly skilled energy industry workers by prioritizing access to tax incentives, grants, and loan programs, among other incentives. Existing law authorizes the Green Empowerment Zone to be composed of 9 specified cities and the County of Contra Costa, upon adoption of a resolution by the city or county, and provides for the Green Empowerment Zone to be governed by a board of directors comprised of representatives from 7 stakeholder groups, as specified.
This bill would extend the authorization for the Green Empowerment Zone to January 1, 2040, and would authorize the expansion of the Green Empowerment Zone to include 4 additional cities, including the Cities of El Cerrito, Pinole, Richmond, and San Pablo, upon adoption of a resolution by each city. The bill would make changes to the stakeholder groups who serve on the board of directors, including increasing the number of stakeholder groups to 8 by adding a category for 7 directors who live or work in the Green Empowerment Zone and who represent environmental or environmental justice organizations or interests.The bill would also provide a process for a legislative body of a city or county included within the Green Empowerment Zone to remove the land within its jurisdiction from the empowerment zone.
Existing law requires a board chair and 2 deputy chairs to be selected by majority vote of the board of directors to serve 2-year terms. Existing law authorizes an individual to serve as chair or deputy chair more than once, but prohibits an individual from serving
consecutive terms.
This bill, instead, would authorize an individual selected to serve a 2-year term to be re-selected by a majority vote of the board of directors for up to three additional terms.
Existing law requires the board to appoint a steering committee, and required the steering committee, on or before January 1, 2023, to develop metrics to be reported to the Legislature and state departments and agencies to gauge the progress of the Green Empowerment Zone, as specified. Existing law requires the Green Empowerment Zone to annually post information on those metrics on its internet website, as specified.
This bill would
change the name of the steering committee to the executive committee and would prescribe the membership of the executive committee. The bill would eliminate the deadline for the executive committee to develop and report the metrics described above, but would require the Green Empowerment Zone, commencing July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to post information on those metrics on its internet website, as specified.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Contra Costa.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF