BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 470|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 470
          Author:   Halderman (R)
          Amended:  6/30/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/14/11
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, 
            Pavley
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Rubio, Simitian

           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/27/11
          AYES:  Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe, 
            Lowenthal, Pavley

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  71-0, 5/5/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Vehicle registration surcharge:  air districts

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill allows air pollution control districts 
          and air quality management districts to use revenue 
          received from a surcharge on motor vehicle registrations 
          within its jurisdiction to fund the retrofit of school bus 
          emission equipment pursuant to the lower-emission school 
          bus program.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law establishes a basic vehicle 
          registration fee of $34, plus a $22 surcharge for 
          additional personnel for the California Highway Patrol, and 
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          authorizes local agencies to impose separate vehicle 
          registration fee surcharges in their respective 
          jurisdictions for a variety of special programs, including 
          authorizing a local air district, until January 1, 2015, to 
          levy a surcharge of up to $6 on registration fees of motor 
          vehicles registered within that district.  After January 1, 
          2015 the maximum surcharge that an air district may levy is 
          reduced to $4 per registered vehicle.  An air district may 
          only impose the fee if the district board adopts a 
          resolution providing for both the fee and a corresponding 
          program for the reduction of air pollution from motor 
          vehicles in order to meet its obligation under the 
          California Clean Air Act of 1988.

          Upon request from an air district, the Department of Motor 
          Vehicles (DMV) collects these fees upon renewal of a 
          vehicle's registration and, after deducting up to one 
          percent of the fees for administrative costs it incurs, 
          distributes the remaining revenues to the air district 
          based upon the amount of fees collected from motor vehicles 
          registered within that district.
          Under existing law, revenue from the first $4 of the $6 
          surcharge must be used to reduce air pollution from motor 
          vehicles and to carry out related planning, monitoring, 
          enforcement, and technical studies necessary to implement 
          the California Clean Air Act of 1988.  Revenue from the 
          next $2 may only be used to implement the following 
          programs that the district determines remediate air 
          pollution harms created by motor vehicles on which the 
          surcharge is imposed:

           The purchase of new school buses pursuant to the 
            Lower-Emission School Bus Program adopted by the Air 
            Resources Board (ARB).

           Projects eligible for grants under the Carl Moyer 
            Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program.

           The purchase, retrofit, repower, or addition of equipment 
            for previously unregulated agricultural sources of air 
            pollution that become subject to regulation, but only 
            until the compliance date of the regulation.
           An accelerated vehicle retirement or repair program 
            adopted by ARB.

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          This bill allows air pollution control districts and air 
          quality management districts to use revenue from the $2 
          surcharge on vehicle registration to fund retrofit of 
          emission control equipment for existing school buses, in 
          addition to the purchase of new buses, pursuant to the 
          Lower-Emission School Bus program.  This bill also ensures 
          that should it and AB 462 (Lowenthal, 2011) both get 
          enacted, the second bill signed will not chapter out the 
          first.

           Comments  

           Purpose of the bill  .  Current law allows districts 
          throughout the state to impose a surcharge on motor vehicle 
          registration to pay for a number of air quality projects, 
          including the purchase of new buses under the 
          Lower-Emission School Bus Program.  The goal of this 
          program is to reduce the exposure of school children to the 
          harmful effects of school bus exhaust.  Because existing 
          law only allows air districts to use their registration 
          surcharge funds to purchase new buses, the author argues 
          that it limits maximum participation in the Lower-Emission 
          School Bus Program.  In order to offer cost savings 
          alternatives, the author introduced this bill to grant 
          school districts the ability to retrofit the emissions 
          control equipment on existing school buses.  

           Lower-Emission School Bus Program  .  The primary goal of 
          ARB's Lower-Emission School Bus Program is to reduce school 
          children's exposure to both cancer-causing and smog-forming 
          pollution by, as a first priority, 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.  ARB staff, 
          in coordination with the California Energy Commission and 
          local air pollution control districts, has developed 
          guidelines for implementation of the program.  For buses of 
          model years 1977-1986, the guidelines allow program funds 
          along with a match to pay to replace buses.  For 
          middle-aged buses from 1987 model year and newer, the 
          guidelines allow program funds, again with a match, to pay 
          for emission control retrofits. 

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           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/30/11)

          American Lung Association
          Bay Area Air Quality Management District
          California Air Pollution Control Officers Association
          School Transportation Coalition
          Union of Concerned Scientists

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the Bay Area Air 
          Quality Management District (BAAQMD), "In 2004, the 
          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." 


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  71-0, 5/5/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill 
            Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Brownley, 
            Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, 
            Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, 
            Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, 
            Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, 
            Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, 
            Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, 
            Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, 
            Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, 
            Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alejo, Bradford, Furutani, Garrick, 
            Gorell, Hueso, Jones, Nielsen, Vacancy

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          JJA:mw  6/30/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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