BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 475
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 475 (Butler)
As Amended April 25, 2011
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 13-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Jeffries, Achadjian, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Buchanan, Eng, Furutani, | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| |Galgiani, Miller, Norby, | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Carter, Solorio | |Mitchell, Nielsen, |
| | | |Solorio |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Expands the type of vehicles, to include plug-in
electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), which are qualified to use
designated off-street parking facilities. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Authorizes a local authority, by ordinance or resolution, or a
person in possession of an off-street parking facility, to
designate stalls for the exclusive purpose of parking and
fueling an electric vehicle (EV), provided that the vehicle is
engaged in the process of charging and that the EV displays
the appropriate Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)-issued EV
decal or zero emission vehicle (ZEV) decal, issued by DMV
prior to January 1, 2012.
2)Specifies that an owner or person in lawful possession of a
privately- or locally-owned or operated off-street parking
facility may, after notifying law enforcement, remove a
vehicle, as specified, from an EV-designated stall if a valid
EV decal is not displayed on the vehicle and the vehicle is
not currently engaged in the process of charging.
3)Specifies an EV-designated stall posting must specifically
state that vehicles will be subject to towing, at the owner's
expense, unless an EV decal is displayed on the vehicle and
the vehicle is engaged in the process of charging.
4)Defines an EV as any car, truck, or other vehicle that does
not produce tailpipe or evaporative emissions or is a plug-in
AB 475
Page 2
hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), as that term is used by the
State Air Resources Board.
5)Specifies that vehicles may not use EV-designated stalls
unless the vehicle has a valid DMV-issued EV decal and the
vehicle engaged in the process of charging.
6)This bill makes related, clarifying amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires DMV to issue ZEV decals for the purposes of parking
and refueling in designated recharging parking spaces.
Vehicles that qualify for ZEV decals include cars, trucks, or
other vehicles that do not produce tailpipe or evaporative
emissions.
2)Authorizes local authorities or owners or operators of
off-street parking facilities to designate stalls strictly for
vehicles that display a valid ZEV decal and prohibits vehicles
without a ZEV decal from occupying or blocking ZEV-designated
parking spaces.
3)Authorizes the owner or person in lawful possession of an
off-street parking facility, after notifying the police or
sheriff, to remove a vehicle from a ZEV-designated stall to
the nearest public garage, if a valid ZEV decal is not
displayed on the vehicle.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor, absorbable one-time costs to DMV to design, produce,
and distribute EV decals to holders of existing ZEV stickers,
about 800 of which currently exist.
2)Minor, ongoing costs to DMV, in the range of no more than
$1,000 a year, to distribute EV stickers to owners of new EVs,
fully covered by fee revenue (Motor Vehicle Account). These
costs and revenues could become more significant should PHEV
sales increase dramatically, thereby requiring distribution of
a greater number of EV stickers. DMV reports, however, that
its conversions with automobile industry representatives lead
it to believe that PHEV sales will be fairly modest for the
AB 475
Page 3
next five years, at least.
COMMENTS : By introducing this bill, the author intends to make
current ZEV-designated stalls in off-street parking facilities
accessible to PHEVs so that drivers of PHEVs can utilize
available charging facilities. By providing PHEVs with
increased access to charging facilities, the author hopes to
increase vehicle miles traveled using electricity, which would
decrease dependency on fossil fuels and help California meet its
requirements.
Historically, EVs have been strictly electric, meaning that
electricity alone is used to power the vehicle. These vehicles
use batteries that are charged when plugged into an electricity
power source. Since electricity is the sole power source for
strictly electric vehicles, owners have a heightened awareness
regarding access to charging facilities. In fact, the term
"range anxiety" refers to a strictly electric vehicle owner's
fear of not being able to recharge, having the battery run down,
and being stranded.
As strictly EVs became more prevalent in the 1990s, there was an
interest in providing greater access to EV charging facilities
to reduce "range anxiety." AB 1314 (Havice) Chapter 640,
Statutes of 2002, sponsored by the California Public Parking
Association, was introduced to facilitate the establishment of
designated charging stations in parking garages. AB 1314
(Havice) authorized public and private parking garages to
designate stalls for the exclusive use of ZEVs that qualified
for a DMV-issued ZEV parking decal. AB 1314 (Havice), also
authorized parking enforcement provisions that allowed for
removal of unauthorized vehicles from ZEV-designated stalls.
PHEVs were developed to address "range anxiety" experienced by
strictly electric vehicle owners by providing an alternate power
source. PHEVs use electricity as the primary source of power
but have a gasoline-powered combustion engine that acts as a
back-up in the event there is insufficient battery charge to
complete a trip. The Chevrolet Volt is the first PHEV to come
to the marketplace. Because PHEVs utilize a combustion engine
which, when employed, results in the production of tailpipe
emissions, they do not meet the strict definition of a ZEV, as
provided in AB 1314 (Havice). As a result, PHEVs do not qualify
as a ZEV and cannot be issued a ZEV decal by DMV or utilize
AB 475
Page 4
ZEV-designated parking stalls.
It is unclear how many ZEV-designated stalls exist in public and
private parking garages, however, the DMV notes that only 807
ZEV decals have been issued statewide. The California League of
Cities (League) notes that generally, ZEV-designated parking
stalls are underutilized in the majority of city-owned garages
noting that antiquated or inoperable charging facilities could
be a contributing factor to such low usage.
Supporters of this bill note that promoting the use of PHEVs
will ultimately help California meet its air quality goals and
reduce overall dependence on fossil fuels. Supporters also
suggest that if drivers of PHEVs are provided with convenient
access to parking and charging facilities, the number of miles
driven using combustion engines will be reduced thereby
encouraging future purchases of PHEV or, preferably, strictly
electric vehicles.
One EV group expressed concern that allowing PHEVs to access
ZEV-designated stalls, could "edge out" strictly electric
vehicles since it is likely that PHEVs will significantly
outnumber strictly electric vehicles in the foreseeable future.
This group noted that strictly electric vehicles have a greater
need to access charging facilities due to inherent range
limitations and, if access to charging facilities is uncertain,
strictly electric vehicle owners will likely opt to use
standard, gasoline powered combustion engine vehicles to
complete required trips, resulting in increased emissions and
reduced consumer confidence in strictly electric vehicles. It
could be argued, however, that the influx of PHEVs into the
marketplace could help to drive installation of additional
charging stations, which would result in an overall increase in
charging opportunities for strictly electric vehicles. The
greater attention to the need for installing additional charging
stations is already evidenced by recent state and federal
government grant programs designed to expand the electric
vehicle charging infrastructure.
Previous legislation:
AB 475
Page 5
AB 1314 (Havice), Chapter 640, Statutes of 2002, allowed local
authorities and parking garage operators to designate spaces for
the exclusive use of ZEVs and authorized the towing of vehicles
and levying of fines for violations of such parking
restrictions.
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093
FN: 0000309