BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 146 (Dickinson)
Hearing Date: 08/15/2011 Amended: 07/01/2011
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: EQ 4-1
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: AB 146 adds two members to the Air Resources
Board, one new member must have training or expertise in climate
change-related matters and the other new member must be a
representative from one of several air districts in the Central
Valley.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Salary and travel costs$20 $40 $40 Special
*
for new members
Staff support for new Up to $150 per year Special
*
members
* Air Pollution Control Fund.
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The Air Resources Board has eleven members, appointed by the
Governor and approved by the Senate. The Chair of the Air
Resources Board is a full time position, while the remaining
members are part-time members. Current law specifies required
backgrounds for members of the Board. For example, one member
must have training in automotive engineering, one member must be
a physician or have expertise in public health, two members
represent the general public, and five members represent various
regional air pollution control districts.
AB 146 adds two new members to the Air Resources Board. The
AB 146 (Dickinson)
Page 1
first new member must have expertise in climate change-related
issues. The second new member must be a member of one of the
following air districts: the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality
Management District, the Placer County Air Pollution Control
District, the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, the
Feather River Air Quality Management District, or the El Dorado
County Air Pollution Control District.
The Air Resources Board indicates that it will incur additional
costs of about $40,000 per year to provide salary and per diems
to the climate change-related member (salary and per diems for
Air Resources Board members that represent local air districts
are paid by the local district).
In addition, the Board anticipates additional costs to support
the new members. The staff of the Air Resources Board spends a
significant amount of time providing support to members of the
Board. For example, before each monthly Board meeting, staff
provides detailed briefings on the issues to be discussed. Due
to requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (beginning
at Section 11120 of the Government Code), members of the Board
are prohibited from meeting as a group outside of noticed public
meetings. This requirement, plus scheduling issues, often
requires the Board members to be briefed individually by staff
before each meeting. In addition, state laws and Air Resources
Board policies on ex-parte communications between Board members
and members of the public require a significant amount of record
keeping on those contacts. Finally, staff provides research and
background materials whenever Board members make presentations
to outside groups or conferences. The Air Resources Board
indicates that providing this level of support to two additional
Board members will require up to the equivalent of one
additional position (at a cost of about $150,000 per year).
AB 135 (Hagman) requires one existing member of the Air
Resources Board to be or have been a small business owner. That
bill will be heard in this committee.
AB 1221 (Jones, 2005) was substantially similar to this bill.
That bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
AB 146 (Dickinson)
Page 2