BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 470 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 2, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair AB 470 (Halderman) - As Amended: April 26, 2011 SUBJECT : School bus: pollution control retrofits SUMMARY : Authorizes an air pollution control district or a regional air quality management district (district), until January 1, 2015, to use motor vehicle registration fee revenues (the last $2 increase of the $6 dollar surcharge, as specified) for retrofit of emissions control equipment for existing school buses. EXISTING LAW : 1)Authorizes a district, until January 1, 2015, to establish a fee of up to $6 on the registration of motor vehicles registered in the district. 2)Requires the revenues from the first $4 of the fee be used for specified purposes. Requires that the revenues from the last $2 of the fee be used to implement programs to remediate the air pollution harms caused by motor vehicles under the Carl Moyer program, the new purchase, retrofit, repower, or add-on of equipment for previously unregulated agricultural sources, the new purchase of schoolbuses pursuant to the Lower-Emission School Bus Program (LESBP), and an accelerated vehicle retirement or repair program. 3)Under the Federal Clean Air Act passed in 1970, establishes requirements and standards for the national air pollution control program. Basic elements of the act include national ambient air quality standards for major air pollutants, hazardous air pollutants standards, state attainment plans, motor vehicle emissions standards, stationary source emissions standards and permits, acid rain control measures, stratospheric ozone protection, and enforcement provisions. 4)Under state law, confers authority to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) over emission standards for mobile sources. The law does not confer authority to ARB to issue permits directly to stationary sources of air pollution. Instead, state law provides that districts have jurisdiction AB 470 Page 2 over emission standards for non-mobile, or stationary, sources. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : Current law allows districts throughout the state to impose a surcharge on motor vehicle registration. This surcharge is used to pay for a number of air quality projects, including the LESBP. The goal of the LESBP is to reduce the exposure of school children to the harmful effects of school bus exhaust. Current laws only allow the motor vehicle registration surcharge funds to be used to purchase brand new buses. The surcharge cannot be used for retrofitting older buses with pollution control equipment. The author contends, however, that to ensure maximum participation in the LESBP and in order to offer cost savings alternatives, the law must be changed to grant school districts the ability to retrofit the emissions control equipment on existing school buses that use diesel fuels. According to the author's office, this bill "gives school districts greater flexibility in how to use available funds, and offers a cost-effective alternative to having to purchase brand new school buses. This legislation only extends the use of new school bus funds for the retrofitting of existing school buses with emission reduction equipment especially as funds for the purchasing of new buses are limited." Lower-Emission School Bus Program (LESBP) : The primary goal of the ARB's LESBP is to reduce school children's exposure to both cancer-causing and smog-forming pollution by first replacing buses manufactured prior to 1977 (no match funds required). The program provides grant funding for new, safer school buses and to put air pollution control equipment (i.e., retrofit devices) on buses that are already on the road. The ARB staff, in coordination with the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the local air pollution control districts, has developed guidelines for implementation of the LESBP funds. For buses of model years 1977-1986, LESBP funds can be used for replacement buses with a match requirement. For middle-aged buses from 1987 model years and newer, the program can be used for emission control retrofits with match requirements. Support : According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) writing in support of this bill, "In 2004, the AB 470 Page 3 Legislature passed AB 923, which allows air districts to establish a $2 per vehicle per year fee on annual vehicle registrations. The BAAQMD has used these funds to cost-effectively cut emissions from a wide variety of mobile sources in our region. Under current law, these funds can be given as grants for the purchase of new, cleaner school buses. AB 470 would expand this to allow air districts, at their discretion, to also fund the retrofit of existing school buses with particulate traps. Because school children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, and school districts continue to have serious funding challenges, we urge you to vote "aye" on this measure." Related bill : AB 462 (Bonnie Lowenthal) of 2011, a similar bill, allows districts, until January 1, 2015, to use motor vehicle registration fee revenues to replace natural gas fuel tanks on school buses or replace fueling dispenser nozzles. That bill passed this committee and is in the Senate awaiting committee assignment. At some point in the legislative process, AB 462 and this bill will need to be reconciled. AB 923 (Firebaugh and Pavley) Chapter 707, Statutes of 2004, authorized districts to impose an additional $2 of the $4 surcharge on motor vehicle registrations to implement clean air programs as specified. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Bay Area Air Quality Management District Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093