BILL NUMBER: AB 1229 CHAPTERED 10/06/05 CHAPTER 575 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 6, 2005 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 6, 2005 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2005 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2005 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2005 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2005 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2005 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nation (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Pavley) FEBRUARY 22, 2005 An act to amend Section 43200 of, and to add Section 43200.1 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1229, Nation Air pollution: new motor vehicles: air pollution label. Existing law permits the State Air Resources Board to adopt a regulation to prohibit the sale and registration of any new motor vehicle certified by the state board to which there has not been affixed by the manufacturer on a side window to the rear of the driver or, if it cannot be so placed, to the windshield, a decal disclosing specified emissions information, including, for 1976 and subsequent model year motor vehicles, exhaust emissions data, determined as provided. Existing law requires the state board to develop and adopt regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Existing law also prohibits the sale and registration of a new motor vehicle unless a decal that discloses a smog index for the vehicle is affixed, as specified above. This bill would require the state board, not later than July 1, 2007, to revise regulations relating to the decal, to rename the existing decal, and to require the renamed label to provide specified emissions information. The bill would expand the requirement to place exhaust emissions information for 1976 and subsequent model year motor vehicles on the emissions index label to include the affixiation of additional emissions data, as provided, on any new motor vehicle. The bill would require the label to be affixed to the driver's side window or, if it cannot be so placed, to the windshield. The bill would require a specified smog index and a global warming index to be included on the emissions information label, as specified, that the state board is authorized, by regulation, to require. The bill would subject to the above provisions, at a minimum, all passenger cars and light-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or less, and all vehicles that are subject to those regulations adopted by the state board pertaining to achieving reductions in global warming gases. This bill would also require the state board to seek specified input in designing the label, to update the indices included in the air pollution label as necessary, to consider other relevant label formats, as specified, and to incorporate information from the label into existing programs designed to educate motor vehicle consumers about emissions of global warming gases and other air pollutants. This bill would permit the state board to recommend to the Legislature additional sources of air pollution that emit significant amounts of global warming gases for which the disclosure of information regarding those emissions would be an effective means of educating the public about the sources of global warming and its impacts. The bill would permit the state board to accept donations or grants of funds from any person for the purposes of the program, and would require amounts received to be deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund. The bill would require the source of any funds received to be disclosed at specified public hearings and workshops. The bill would also permit donations, grants, or other commitments of money to be dedicated for specific purposes. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to global warming gases and motor vehicle emissions. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The use of fossil fuels in motor vehicles is one of the primary human sources of global warming gases that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, leading to a warming effect on the planet. (b) Increasing concentrations of global warming gases in the atmosphere are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change in California. (c) Scientific research indicates that the impact of global warming on our environment will be profound. Global warming will significantly impact the state's air quality, water resources, forests, agricultural regions, coastal regions, and the health of the state's residents. (d) Air pollution can cause or aggravate a wide range of serious health problems, including cancer, birth defects, respiratory illnesses such as asthma and emphysema, heart and blood ailments, nervous system toxicity, and premature death. (e) Even after years of improvements in vehicle emissions technologies and effective emissions regulations, many residents of California are exposed to unhealthy air. (f) Emissions from motor vehicles contribute over half of California's smog-forming pollution. (g) New motor vehicles offered for sale in the state vary substantially in terms of smog-forming and global warming emissions. SEC. 2. Section 43200 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 43200. (a) The state board may adopt a regulation to prohibit the sale and registration in this state of any new motor vehicle certified by the state board to which there has not been securely and conspicuously affixed on the driver's side window or, if it cannot be so placed, to the windshield of the motor vehicle in accordance with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 26708 of the Vehicle Code, by the manufacturer a label on which the manufacturer shall endorse clearly, distinctly, and legibly true and correct entries disclosing the following information concerning the motor vehicle: (1) The emission standards adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 43101 that are applicable to that motor vehicle. (2) The information required by Section 43200.1 and related air pollution emissions information as specified by the state board. (b) A regulation may be adopted pursuant to this section only if the state board finds that the regulation is necessary for either of the following: (1) To enforce or ensure compliance with applicable statutes, standards, or procedures relating to vehicle emissions. (2) For the protection or information of consumers. (c) Nothing in this division or in any other statute shall be construed as prohibiting a purchaser from removing the decal required by this section, after the purchaser has taken possession of the vehicle. SEC. 3. Section 43200.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 43200.1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that since 1998, the state board has imposed smog index label specifications on new passenger cars and light-duty trucks that are sold and registered in the state to inform consumers about emissions of air pollutants from the use of new vehicles. (b) (1) (A) The state board, not later than July 1, 2007, shall revise the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 43200 to rename the existing label required by those regulations, and to require the renamed label to include, for model year 2009 and subsequent model year motor vehicles, information on the emissions of global warming gases from motor vehicles for the same model year. (B) This subdivision applies to, at a minimum, all passenger cars and light-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or less, and to all motor vehicles subject to regulation pursuant to Section 43018.5. (C) Emissions of global warming gases shall include emissions, as determined by the state board, from vehicle operation and upstream emissions. (2) The label shall include all of the following: (A) A smog index that contains quantitative information presented in a continuous, easy-to-read scale, unless the state board determines, after at least one public workshop, that an alternative graphical representation will more effectively convey the information to consumers, and that compares the emissions from the vehicle with the average projected emissions from all vehicles of the same model year sold in the state for which a label is required. For reference purposes, the index shall also identify the emissions from the vehicle model of that same model year that has the lowest smog-forming emissions. (B) A global warming index that contains quantitative information presented in a continuous, easy-to-read scale, unless the state board determines, after at least one public workshop, that an alternative graphical representation will more effectively convey the information to consumers, and that compares the emissions of global warming gases from the vehicle with the average projected emissions of global warming gases from all vehicles of the same model year sold in the state for which a label is required. For reference purposes, the index shall also identify the emissions of global warming gases from the vehicle model of that same model year that has the lowest emissions of global warming gases. (C) A brief explanation, prepared by the state board, of the indices required by this section, including the identification of motor vehicle usage as a primary cause of global warming, and how emissions of those gases from motor vehicles may be reduced. (D) The use of at least one color ink, as determined by the state board, in addition to black. (c) In order to ensure that the label is useful and informative to consumers, the state board, shall, to the extent feasible within its existing resources, do both of the following in designing the label: (1) Seek input from automotive consumers, graphic design professionals, and persons with expertise in environmental labeling. (2) Consider other relevant label formats consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). (d) The indices included in the label pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall be updated as determined necessary by the state board to ensure that the differences in emissions among vehicles are readily apparent to the consumer. (e) The state board, in consultation with other agencies as appropriate, may recommend to the Legislature additional sources of air pollution that emit significant amounts of global warming gases for which the disclosure of information regarding those emissions would be an effective means of educating the public about the sources of global warming and its impacts. (f) The state board shall, as it determines appropriate and to the extent feasible within its existing resources, incorporate information from the label into existing programs designed to educate motor vehicle consumers about emissions of global warming gases and other air pollutants. (g) The state board may accept donations or grants of funds from any person for the purposes of the program established pursuant to this section, and shall deposit amounts received from donations or grants into the Air Pollution Control Fund. The source of any funds received pursuant to this section shall be disclosed at all public hearings and workshops to implement this section. Donations, grants, or other commitments of money to the fund may be dedicated for specific purposes consistent with the goals of this section. (h) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) "Global warming gases" has the same meaning as greenhouse gases given in subdivision (h) of Section 42801.1. (2) "Upstream emissions" means emissions of global warming gases that occur during the extraction, refining, transport, and local distribution of motor vehicle fuels as determined by the state board.