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New carbon emissions rule could cost UC, CSU millions - August 20, 2012 - In the UC system, five campuses and one medical center emit enough greenhouse gases to qualify for the cap-and-trade program, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office. For UCLA, the cost of compliance is estimated to be between $2.1 million and $8.4 million annually, according to UC system estimates. For UC San Diego, it's between $1.6 million and $6.2 million. For UC Irvine, $718,000 to $2.9 million. In all, the UC system is expecting compliance costs of $6.3 million to $25 million – for the time being.
In the CSU system, two campuses are expected to be affected: San Diego and San Jose, according to the California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB.
Officials for both the UC and CSU systems say their institutions support reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- but they have also pushed for legislative or regulatory changes that would relieve some of the financial burden of complying with the law.
"The University supports the creation of a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, but is concerned that it is being disproportionately impacted by the proposed cap-and-trade rule and that its compliance costs will ultimately be borne by students, researchers, and patients to the detriment of teaching, research, and healthcare activities," wrote Anthony Garvin of the UC Office of the president in a 2010 letter to the California Air Resources Board, the entity responsible for implementing AB 32.
"Since 2008-09, the University has lost over $1 billion in State funding," said UC spokeswoman Brooke Converse in an email. "On top of these absolute cuts, the University has had to address significant rising costs to the tune of about $350 million a year that the State would normally have funded. No amount of preparation for the AB 32 obligations could be adequate under these circumstances."