BILL NUMBER: AB 99 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Feuer
DECEMBER 21, 2006
An act to add Article 7.1 (commencing with Section 43885) to
Chapter 4 of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to vehicular air pollution control.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 99, as introduced, Feuer. Vehicular air pollution control:
clean alternative fuels.
Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air
contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and
nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air
Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility
for the control of vehicular air pollution. Existing law requires the
state board to establish, by regulation, various standards for
gasoline and motor vehicle fuel.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations
regarding the use of clean, alternative fuels. This bill would also
declare the intent of the Legislature to ensure that, by January 1,
2012, no less than 50% of all new cars made available for sale in
California are powered by clean alternative fuels.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 7.1 (commencing with Section 43885) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
Article 7.1. Foreign Oil Independence Act of 2007
43885. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The production, marketing, and use of petroleum fuels in the
state causes significant degradation of public health and
environmental quality due to the release of air pollution, including
greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollutants.
(2) Transportation accounts for nearly half of California's total
energy use. Petroleum fuels account for more than 90 percent of
California's transportation fuel use.
(3) Consumption of nonpetroleum fuels in California has stagnated
at less than 10 percent.
(4) Demand for transportation fuel has increased by nearly 50
percent during the last 20 years.
(5) California's crude oil production has declined by more than 30
percent since 1986 and by nearly 20 percent since 1998.
(6) California's refineries currently import nearly 60 percent of
their petroleum. California's crude oil imports in 2004 were nearly
400 million barrels and, in the absence of any new state policy
initiatives, would increase to more than 450 million barrels by 2015
and more than 500 million barrels by 2025.
(7) California's refineries provide for the transportation fuel
needs of Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, and the State of Baja California,
and fuel demand is growing in these regions.
(8) In the face of this increasing demand, California's refineries
are not able to supply the state's increasing need for petroleum
fuels. This will increase the state's dependence on imported fuels.
(9) California's petroleum import and refinery infrastructure
faces significant challenges including the inherent conflict between
the need to expand import, refining, and storage facilities to meet
transportation fuel demands and the environmental and social concerns
of local communities affected by these proposed expansions.
(10) Efficiency and renewable resources are top priorities in
California's electricity loading order policy, and the state should
extend these priorities to California's transportation sector by
reducing demand for petroleum fuels by increasing the use of
alternative fuels.
(11) The state must vigorously pursue strategies to increase
transportation efficiency, including increasing the number of hybrid
electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and accelerating the
development and availability of alternative fuels in order that the
full potential of any air quality and petroleum replacement benefits
can be realized.
(l2) The state must encourage the emerging nonpetroleum fuel
industry as suppliers of components for blended fuels and as
developers of completely nonpetroleum fuels and fueling systems.
(13) The use of clean, alternative fuels has the potential to
considerably reduce the impacts associated with the use of petroleum
fuels, and is an important strategy for the state to attain its
economic and air and water quality goals.
(14) Research, development, and commercialization of alternative
fuels in the state have the potential to strengthen the state's
economy by providing job growth and helping to reduce the state's
vulnerability to petroleum price volatility. These activities will
also maintain the tradition of California leading the way in the
utilization of innovative motor vehicle technologies at the cutting
edge of implementation.
(15) Dependence on foreign oil represents a threat to the
long-term security and economic stability of California and the
nation.
(16) Reducing petroleum use is technically feasible and
economically justifiable because the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission and the state board have
previously recommended, in their August 2003 report to the
Legislature, "Reducing California's Petroleum Dependency," that the
state adopt a goal of 20 percent nonpetroleum fuel use by 2020, and
30 percent use by 2030.
(17) Increasing the use of alternative fuels is one of the
technologically feasible and economically justifiable strategies that
can help to reduce the state's use of petroleum.
(18) A major challenge for increasing the use of alterative fuels
in California is both the lack of an integrated alternative fuel
infrastructure sufficient to provide reliable fuel supplies to
California consumers and an insufficient number of alternative fuel
vehicles necessary to facilitate the development of a healthy and
robust alternative fuels market in the state.
(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that,
by January 1, 2012, no less than 50 percent of all new cars made
available for sale in California are powered by clean alternative
fuels.