BILL ANALYSIS
SB 406
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
SB 406 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 23, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 21-16
SUBJECT : Land use: environmental quality.
SUMMARY : Proposes new duties, membership, and funding for the
Strategic Growth Council (SGC) and the Planning Advisory and
Assistance Council (PAAC), and establishes a new funding stream
from a vehicle registration surcharge. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds to the membership of PAAC, the following members:
a) Seven representatives of regional planning
organizations;
b) One member of the State Air Resources Board (ARB);
c) One member of the California Transportation Commission
(CTC);
d) One member of the State Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission;
e) One member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and
f) One member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
2)Provides that representatives on PAAC from regional planning
organizations shall be selected by the Director of the
Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) as specified
from:
a) Nominees submitted by the regional planning organization
and from the governing body of each of the following:
i) The Southern California Association of Governments
(SCAG);
ii) A member of the governing body for both he
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Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG);
iii) The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG);
iv) The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG);
and
v) The San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council
(SJVRPC).
b) Nominees submitted by the California Association of
Councils of Governments (CALCOG) from:
i) A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) or
council of governments (COG) that is not identified in
#2a above.
ii) A regional transportation planning agency that is
neither an MPO nor a COG.
3)Adds new duties to the responsibility of PAAC, including:
a) Working with SGC, regional agencies, and with cities and
counties to facilitate the implementation of regional
blueprint plans;
b) Developing and proposing recommendations to SGC, the
Department of General Services (DGS), the State Allocation
Board, the Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD), CTC, and any other state agencies that affect land
use, housing, or transportation in order to facilitate
coordination between regional blueprint plans and state
growth and infrastructure funding plans and programs that
facilitate the implementation of regional blueprint plans;
c) Receiving reports, including, but not limited to, a copy
of the five-year infrastructure plan; and,
d) Reporting to the Legislature on regional performance
measures, evaluating the progress of each region of the
state in improving results for residents in employment,
environmental protection, education, housing, mobility, and
other criteria as determined by PAAC.
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4)Specifies that PAAC shall provide the Legislature with updates
to the report specified in #3d above periodically, as the PAAC
determines is required.
5)Provides that PAAC shall commence the functions enumerated in
#s 3 and 4 above when sufficient funding, as determined by
PAAC, exists from revenue transmitted to PAAC by MPOs, COGs,
or county transportation commissions and subregional COGs
jointly preparing subregional sustainable communities
strategies (SCS).
6)Allows an MPO, a COG, or a county transportation commission
and a subregional COG jointly preparing a subregional SCS, to
impose a surcharge of $1 or $2 on a motor vehicle registered
to an owner with an address in its jurisdiction.
7)Provides, in order to impose the surcharge, that the MPO, COG,
or county transportation commission and subregional COG
jointly preparing a subregional SCS, must adopt a resolution
authorizing the surcharge.
8)Provides that a resolution by the MTC or ABAG to impose the
surcharge must be jointly adopted by resolution of both
entities, and the revenue from the surcharge shall be divided
in accordance with an agreement between these two entities.
9)Provides that a resolution by a county transportation
commission or a subregional COG within the jurisdiction of the
SCAG shall be jointly adopted by resolution of both entities,
and the revenue from the surcharge shall be divided in
accordance with an agreement between the two entities.
10)Provides that the surcharge shall be applied to an original
vehicle registration occurring on or after six months
following the adoption of the resolution by the MPO, COG, or a
county transportation commission and a subregional COG jointly
preparing an SCS, and to a renewal of registration with an
expiration date on or after that six-month period.
11)Provides that all revenue received by the imposition of a
surcharge shall be used solely to develop and implement an SCS
or a regional blueprint plan to identify land use strategies
to reduce the use of motor vehicles in its jurisdiction and
thereby reduce emissions into the environment from motor
vehicles.
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12)Provides that if the surcharge exceeds $1, all amounts above
$1 in a jurisdiction with a population greater than 300,000
shall be used to provide grants to cities, counties, and
cities and counties for planning and projects related to the
implementation of a regional blueprint plan.
13)Provides that the entities shall transmit 5% of all motor
vehicle registration surcharge revenues to the PAAC for the
performance of the new duties of the PAAC, as specified.
14)Allows the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management
District (Sacramento AQMD) and the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District (Bay Area AQMD) to impose a surcharge of
$1 on a motor vehicle registered to an owner with an address
within its jurisdiction; and provides that the surcharge shall
apply on or after six months following the adoption of the
resolution by the air district, and to a renewal of
registration with an expiration date on or after that
six-month period.
15)Provides that all revenue received by the Sacramento AQMD and
Bay Area AQMD shall be used to assist local and regional
governments in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
a) Assistance in the development of a subregional SCS;
b) Assistance in the development of local GHG emissions
inventories;
c) Assistance in the development of GHG emission reduction
strategies in general plans;
d) Development and assistance of California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines and review of GHG emissions
in CEQA analyses;
e) Consultation and development of local climate action
plans; and,
f) Project specific consultation work to reduce GHG
emissions from local transportation and land use decisions.
16)Provides that an SCS and an alternative planning strategy
(APS) shall both be considered to be a regional blueprint.
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17)Adds a new duty for SGC to consult with and coordinate its
recommendations with PAAC.
18)Specifies that fees shall be paid to the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) for those vehicles in the jurisdiction of the
MPO, the COG, the air district, or the county transportation
commission and the subregional COG jointly preparing a
subregional SCS that request imposition of the surcharge, as
follows:
a) Upon the initial registration for a motor vehicle not
previously registered in this state, on or after the date
DMV begins collecting the fee; and,
b) Upon renewal of registration of a motor vehicle for
which the registration period expires after the date DMV
begins collecting of the fee.
19)Requires the MPO, the COG, the air district, or the county
transportation commission and the subregional COG jointly
preparing a subregional SCS, to pay for the costs identified
by DMV to administer the surcharge; and requires those
entities to contract with DMV to pay for the initial setup and
programming costs identified by DMV.
20)Requires the initial setup and programming costs to be
reimbursed by the implementing entity from the surcharge
revenues collected.
21) Requires DMV to transmit the surcharge revenue back to the
entity that is imposing the surcharge on a quarterly basis.
22)Makes other findings and declarations, and expresses the
intent of the Legislature to update the duties and composition
of the PAAC to assist in the state's land use planning
processes by providing funding to support the development and
implementation for regional blueprints and related planning.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for the creation of PAAC under OPR, and specifies
that the membership includes:
a) Three city representatives;
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b) Three county representatives;
c) One representative of each district (provided that at
least two of the district representatives are
representatives of each metropolitan areawide planning
organizations and that at least one of the district
representatives is a representative of a nonmetropolitan
planning organization; and,
d) One representative of Indian tribes and bands which have
reservations or rancherias within California.
2)Provides for the selection process of PAAC members, provides
for the length of term for PAAC members, specifies when and
how PAAC will meet, and specifies the compensation of PAAC
members.
3)Specifies that PAAC shall provide advice, and in particular:
a) Assist in the preparation of the state long-range goals
and policies;
b) Evaluate the planning functions of the various state
agencies involved in planning; and,
c) Make appropriate decisions and provide such advice and
assistance as may be required by federal statute or
regulation in connection with any federal program
administered by OPR.
4)Provides for the creation of SGC, and provides that SGC shall:
a) Identify and review activities and funding programs of
member state agencies that may be coordinated to improve
air and water quality, improve natural resource protection,
increase the availability of affordable housing, improve
transportation, meet the goals of the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, encourage sustainable land
use planning, and revitalize urban and community centers in
a sustainable manner;
b) Recommend policies and investment strategies and
priorities to the Governor, the Legislature, and to
appropriate state agencies to encourage the development of
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sustainable communities;
c) Provide, fund, and distribute data and information to
local governments and regional agencies that will assist in
developing and planning sustainable communities;
d) Manage and award grants and loans to support the
planning and development of sustainable communities; and,
e) Develop guidelines for awarding financial assistance and
eligibility, and develop criteria for determining the
amount of financial assistance.
5)Establishes a basic vehicle registration fee of $34, plus a
$22 surcharge for additional personnel for the California
Highway Patrol, and authorizes local agencies to impose
separate vehicle registration fee surcharges in their
respective jurisdictions for a variety of special programs,
including:
a) $1 for service authorities for freeway emergencies;
b) $1 for deterring and prosecuting vehicle theft;
c) Up to $7 for air quality programs;
d) $1 for removing abandoned vehicles; and,
e) $1 for fingerprint identification programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Existing law establishes OPR within the Governor's office as
the state's comprehensive planning agency. PAAC within OPR is
responsible for various land-use planning related activities,
including development of the State Environmental Goals and
Policies Report (EGPR). EGPR, a 20- to 30- year look ahead at
state growth and development, must be consistent with the
state's planning priorities. The Director of OPR appoints the
membership of PAAC, which under current law must include three
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city representatives, three county representatives, one
representative from each of the regional planning districts
designated by OPR, and one representative of Indian tribes
with reservations in California.
2)SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008, requires
each MPO to include within its regional transportation plan an
SCS designed to achieve specified targets for GHG emissions
reduction. If SCS does not achieve the reduction target, MPO
must prepare an alternative planning strategy (APS). In some
regions, cities and counties have jointly formed councils of
government (COGs) to implement regional planning activities.
COGs generally serve as federally recognized MPOs for
transportation planning purposes, although some COGs, such as
the San Francisco Bay Area, have a separate MPO for
transportation planning.
3)SB 732 (Steinberg), Chapter 729, Statutes of 2008, created
SGC, consisting of the Director of OPR, the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency, the Secretary of the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency, the Secretary of the
California Health and Human Services Agency, and a public
member. SGC is required to recommend policies to the
Governor, state agencies, and the Legislature to encourage the
development of sustainable communities and provide local
governments and regional agencies with data to assist in
planning sustainable communities. SGC is charged with
awarding and managing grants for the $90 million pot contained
in Proposition 84 - "The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality
and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond
Act of 2006" that was specifically set aside for "planning
grants and incentives." Additionally, SGC has the
responsibility of commenting on OPR's EGPR and the state's
five-year infrastructure plan. AB 1473 (Hertzberg), Chapter
606, Statutes of 1999, required the Governor, beginning in
2002, to submit annually a five-year proposed capital
improvement plan to the Legislature that includes proposed
capital improvement projects and their proposed funding
sources.
4)According to the sponsor, the California Association of
Councils of Governments (CALCOG), SB 406 "provides a permanent
funding source for the regional and local planning required to
implement SB 375, and also creates a council with local
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officials to advise the Strategic Growth Council and thereby,
coordinates state investments with local and regional SB 375
implementation strategies." Further, "funding and
coordination are necessary to enable regional and local
governments to successfully plan for implementation [of SB
375], which not only addresses greenhouse gas issues, but
calls for a more efficient land use pattern which will reduce
traffic congestion, support affordable housing, and make
California's urban regions a more attractive location for
economic development."
5)SB 406 would authorize a MPO, a COG, the Sacramento AQMD, the
Bay Area AQMD or a county transportation commission and a
subregional COG jointly preparing a subregional SCS, to impose
a surcharge on a motor vehicle registered within its
jurisdiction, upon adoption of a resolution authorizing the
surcharge. All revenues derived from the new fee imposed by
an MPO, a COG, or a county transportation commission and a
subregional COG jointly preparing a subregional SCS would be
used solely to develop and implement an SCS or a regional
blueprint plan to identify land use strategies to reduce the
use of motor vehicles and vehicle emissions. The bill
specifies that in jurisdictions with a population exceeding
300,000 that impose the full $2 fee, half of the revenues
would be used to provide grants to cities and counties within
the region for planning and projects related to the
implementation of a regional blueprint plan, including an SCS
or APS. Revenues received by the air districts would be used
to assist local and regional governments in reducing GHG
emissions. Five percent of all revenues collected, however,
would be transferred to PAAC to perform the new duties imposed
by this bill. DMV would be required to administer the
collection and distribution of the fees on behalf of each
entity that approves the imposition of the new vehicle
surcharge.
Additionally, SB 406 adds new members to PAAC, and gives PAAC
the responsibility to work with SGC and other regional
agencies to facilitate the implementation of regional
blueprint plans, and requires PAAC to report back to the
Legislature, in consultation and coordination with SGC.
6)A similar measure, AB 2870 (DeSaulnier) from 2007-08 session,
passed out of the Assembly Local Government Committee but
ultimately failed passed in the Senate Local Government
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Committee. That bill would have created the California
Blueprint Implementation Council, which would have been
charged with the implementation of regional blueprint
projects. Previous versions of AB 2870 would have allowed for
the imposition of a surcharge on motor vehicle registration,
in order for the MPO or COG to fund the development and
implementation of a regional blueprint plan to identify land
use strategies to reduce motor vehicle use and GHG emissions.
SB 406 builds upon the provisions contained in various
versions of AB 2870, but instead, focuses on a mechanism with
which to fund the planning that is required under SB 375, and
requires coordination of various agencies on the
implementation of SB 375.
7)Unlike other states, California does not invest state general
fund monies to support local comprehensive planning. Cities
and counties must rely on their own budgets, augmented by
local fees. COGs rely on a mix of federal funds and members'
dues. SB 406 allows regional agencies to raise the revenues
they need by imposing a new vehicle registration surcharge.
Californians already pay several registration surcharges for
freeway emergencies, abandoned cars, vehicle theft programs,
and some regional air quality efforts.
Several cities (Lakewood, Murrieta), one COG (SANDAG), and one
county transportation commission (Santa Cruz Regional
Transportation Commission), have concerns with the funding
mechanism proposed in the bill. Santa Cruz Regional
Transportation Commission (Commission) notes that SB 375 is a
statewide requirement, and therefore believes that "it is
important to create a reliable statewide source of revenues to
do the planning aimed at reducing GHG emissions . . . rather
than the voluntary regional funding approach proposed by SB
406." Additionally, the Commission requests that "the bill be
amended so that the state, rather than the MPO or COG, assess
the vehicle registration surcharge." The Committee may wish
to consider whether tacking on another vehicle registration
surcharge makes sense given the current economic downturn.
8)This bill adds two air districts - Sacramento AQMD and the Bay
Area AQMD - to the entities authorized to assess a fee on
vehicles registered within the county for SB 375
implementation purposes. Currently, both Sacramento and the
Bay Area AQMD have the authority to assess a variety of fees.
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For example, Sacramento AQMD can assess fees on
owners/operators of stationary sources, fees for petitioners
to the hearing board, agriculture burning permits, fees to
cover estimated reasonable costs of evaluating plans regarding
the review, program implementation, inspection and monitoring,
environmental document preparation and processing fees, air
toxics fees, and agricultural source permit fees. The Bay
Area AQMD has a similar schedule of fees including hearing
board filing fees, fees for permits, experimental exemptions,
costs of environmental documentation, asbestos operations, air
toxic inventories and soil excavation and underground tank
removal.
Sacramento AQMD notes that many local governments and business
are seeking the technical expertise of local air districts on
how to cut GHG emissions, but the air districts have too few
resources available to provide assistance to the local
governments. Sacramento AQMD supports SB 406 because it
authorizes specified local air district governing boards to
raise motor vehicle registration fees in their respective
jurisdictions by $1 to provide the support needed to actually
achieve the local emission reductions. These districts
already work in close coordination with ARB and local and
regional governments. However, it is important to note that
in Sacramento and the Bay Area, a vehicle could be assessed a
surcharge twice - once by the air district, and once by the
MPO, COG or county transportation commission.
The Committee may wish to consider whether allowing
double-charging in two areas of the state is appropriate, and
instead allow the MPO, COG or county transportation commission
to form an agreement with the local air district (not limited
to just Sacramento AQMD and the Bay Area AQMD) to divide the
surcharge revenues in order to provide funds to the air
district for their assistance.
9)COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS : The Committee may wish to consider the
following amendments:
a) Subdivision (b) in Section 3 of the bill contains
language specifying what the surcharge revenues can be used
for by the MPO, COG, or the county transportation
commission and a subregional COG jointly preparing a
subregional sustainable communities strategy. Committee
staff suggests that this language be tightened to reference
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the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target as
specifically contained in SB 375 (Government Code Section
65080).
(b) All revenue received pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be used by the metropolitan planning
organization, the council of governments, or a county
transportation commission and a subregional council of
governments jointly preparing a subregional
sustainable communities strategy solely to develop and
implement a sustainable communities strategy or a
regional blueprint plan to identify land use
strategies to reduce the use of motor vehicles in its
jurisdiction and thereby achieve the greenhouse gas
emission reduction target as specified in Section
65080, and to implement a sustainable communities
strategy or regional blueprint plan that achieves the
greenhouse gas emission reduction target as specified
in Section 65080 . and thereby reduce emissions into
the environment from motor vehicles . If the surcharge
exceeds one dollar ($1), all amounts above one dollar
($1) in a jurisdiction with a population greater than
300,000 shall be used to provide grants to cities,
counties, and cities and counties for planning and
projects related to the implementation of a regional
blueprint plan.
b) Remove subdivision (c) in Section 3 of the bill, which
allows the Sacramento and the Bay Area AQMDs to impose a
surcharge (on page 8, strike lines 4 - 13 inclusive) and
instead insert:
(c) The metropolitan planning organization, the
council of governments, or a county transportation
commission and a subregional council of governments
jointly preparing a subregional sustainable
communities strategy, may, pursuant to an agreement
with the local air quality management district that
has responsibility over the jurisdiction, divide
revenues received pursuant to this section jointly
with the local air quality management district.
c) Revise subdivision (d) in Section 3 of the bill, as
follows:
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(d) All revenue received by the local air quality
management district pursuant to subdivision (c) shall
be used to assist local and regional governments in
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including but not
limited to, all of the following:
d) Remove references in Section 5 of the bill that allow
the Sacramento AQMD and the Bay Area AQMD to impose the
surcharge.
10)This bill is double-referred to the Committee on
Transportation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CALCOG [SPONSOR]
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
Association of Bay Area Governments
California League of Conservation Voters
County of San Mateo
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
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Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission [if amended]
Supervisor Dave Cortese, County of Santa Clara
Opposition
California New Car Dealers Association [unless amended]
California Taxpayers' Association
Cities of Lakewood and Murrieta
County of Orange
Department of Motor Vehicles
Orange County Division, League of California Cities
SANDAG
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958