BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1493
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1493 (Pavley)
As Amended June 28, 2002
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 6, 2002) |SENATE: |23-16|(June 29, |
| | | | | |2002) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: RULES
SUMMARY : Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt
regulations to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by motor
vehicles. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding global
warming, greenhouse gas emissions, and the contribution of the
transportation sector in contributing to these emissions in
California.
2)Requires the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) to
consult with ARB in order to adopt procedures and protocols
for the reporting of reductions in greenhouse gases.
3)Restricts public access to CCAR records that are exempt from
disclosure pursuant to the Public Records Act.
4)Requires ARB to develop and adopt, no later than January 1,
2005, regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and
cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gases emitted by motor
vehicles.
5)Prohibits ARB regulations from going into effect before
January 1, 2006, and provides that they may apply only to
model-year 2009 or later motor vehicles.
6)Requires ARB, within 10 days of adopting the regulations, to
transmit them to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees
of the Legislature for review.
7)Requires the Legislature to hold at least one public hearing
to review the regulations, and allows the adoption of
legislation to modify them.
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8)Requires ARB, in developing the regulations, to:
a)Consider their technological feasibility and economic impact;
b)Conduct workshops in areas of the state with significant
exposure to air contaminants or with minority or low-income
populations, or both;
c)Grant emission reduction credits for previous reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles; and,
d)Coordinate with the Energy Commission, CCAR, and the
interagency task force.
1)Requires the regulations to provide flexibility in the means
by which compliance may be achieved. Alternative methods of
compliance must achieve equivalent or greater reductions in
emissions but may not impose any mandatory trip reduction
measures or land use restrictions.
2)Prohibits the regulations from including additional fees and
taxes on motor vehicles, fuels, or vehicle miles traveled,
bans on any specific vehicle category, reductions in vehicle
weights, speed limit reductions or limitations, or
vehicle-miles-traveled restrictions or limitations.
3)Requires the regulations to provide an exemption for
low-emission vehicles meeting optional standards for oxides of
nitrogen (NOx).
4)Requires CCAR, by July 1, 2003, to adopt procedures for
reporting mobile source greenhouse gas emission reductions.
5)Requires ARB to report to the Legislature and Governor by
January 1, 2005, on the content of the regulations.
6)Allows ARB to elect not to adopt a standard for any greenhouse
gas included in an equally or more effective standard adopted
in substantially the same timeframe by the federal government.
The Senate amendments delete, entirely, the prior provisions of
this bill, replacing them with the current language.
EXISTING LAW assigns various duties to ARB in regard to setting
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and enforcing clean air goals and standards.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was a spot bill dealing
with the Bureau of State Audits.
FISCAL EFFECT : ARB staff estimates their costs to be $100,000
in fiscal year (FY) 2002-03 for start-up activities and an
additional $100,000 per year through FY 2004-05 to develop
regulations and implement this bill. California Energy
Commission (CEC) staff indicates there are no costs to CEC to
adopt procedures and protocols for the reporting and
certification of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from
mobile sources as these duties are consistent with CEC's mandate
as set out in SB 1771 (Sher), Chapter 1018, Statutes of 2000.
ARB staff indicates they intend to fold the emission reduction
regulations into the next round of passenger vehicle emission
regulations that are expected to come before their governing
board in FY 2004-05. Public hearings, workshops, consultations
with auto manufacturers and other stakeholders would be expanded
to include greenhouse gases along with other emission reduction
strategies.
COMMENTS : This bill is essentially a reintroduction, with some
modifications, of AB 1058 (Pavley), which is currently pending
concurrence in Senate amendments.
This bill's sponsor, Bluewater Network, references a report from
the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change
predicting an increase of up to 10.4 degrees in the Earth's
temperature over the next century and indicating that the past
decade was the warmest on record in the last 140 years. The
sponsor further notes that California is home to 0.5% of the
world's population, yet emits nearly 7% of global CO2 emissions.
This bill is intended to remove the ambiguity in the Clean Air
Act, which, according to the sponsor, is unclear on, whether ARB
has the authority to regulate CO2 emissions.
While the scientific community appears largely to accept that
CO2 emissions are associated with increasing temperatures,
global warming theories continue to be the subject of some
debate. Nevertheless, it seems clear that warming of the
magnitude quoted from the United Nations report would be
severely disruptive to water supplies, agriculture, human
health, coastlines, and entire island nations. And, according
to most sources, automotive emissions are a major contributor to
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CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
Under former President Clinton, the United States (U.S.) was a
signatory to the 1997 "Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change." This treaty would
commit the United States to a target of reducing greenhouse
gases by 7% below 1990 levels during a "commitment period"
between 2008-2012. The U.S. Senate, however, has not approved
the treaty. The Bush administration, while acknowledging the
likelihood of global warming, is not supportive of the treaty
either. In the absence of federal action on CO2 emissions, this
bill would put California in the forefront of efforts to address
global warming issues.
Opponents contend that federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy
(CAFE) law and the Clean Air Act prohibit state action on CO2
regulation. This contention is based on the theory that CO2
regulation is equivalent to fuel economy regulation, preempted
by CAFE, and that CO2 does not create localized pollution
problems, making it ineligible for state regulation.
(Proponents counter that CO2 regulation need not entail fuel
economy standards and that other states have successfully
enacted CO2 standards.) Opponents also point out that modern
vehicles emit 97% less pollution than their 1970 counterparts
and that new vehicle pollution will be reduced an additional 75%
over the next seven years. They would prefer that consumers be
encouraged to embrace advanced, and more fuel-efficient,
technologies through incentives rather than what they
characterize as "command-and-control" methods such as this bill.
This bill's predecessor, AB 1058, attracted a great deal of
public attention. Much of this attention centered around
possible measures, real or imagined, that ARB might take through
their regulations in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In response to these concerns, this bill lays out a fairly
extensive list of actions ARB would be prohibited from enacting
through its regulations. The prohibited actions would include:
motor vehicle tax surcharges, increased fuel taxes, vehicle
miles traveled limits or fees, sport utility vehicle or minivan
bans, vehicle weight reductions, or speed limit reductions.
Nevertheless, it is fairly certain that the opponents of AB 1058
will continue to oppose this bill for the reasons cited above.
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Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0005761