BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 475
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 475 (Butler)
          As Amended  June 21, 2011
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |67-7 |(May 19, 2011)  |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 18,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2011)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    TRANS.

          SUMMARY  :  Expands the type of vehicles, to include plug-in 
          hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which are qualified to use 
          designated offstreet parking facilities.  

           The Senate amendments  :

          1)Delete the requirement that electric vehicles (EVs) display a 
            valid Department of Motor Vehicle-issued (DMV-issued) EV decal 
            to utilize designated EV charging stalls in offstreet parking 
            facilities and instead require that vehicles utilizing a 
            designed EV charging stall must be connected for electric 
            charging purposes.  

          2)Authorize the owner-operator of an offstreet parking facility 
            to have a vehicle removed from an EV-designated charging stall 
            if the vehicle is not connected for electric charging 
            purposes.  

          3)Require that designated EV charging stalls in offstreet 
            parking facilities must be signed to indicate that vehicles 
            using the stalls must be connected for electric charging.  

          4)Delete the requirement that DMV issue EV decals.  

          5)Delete the definition of EVs, for the purpose EV charging 
            stall use in offstreet parking facilities.  

          6)Make related clarifying amendments.  

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Requires DMV to issue zero emission vehicle (ZEV) decals for 
            the purposes of parking and refueling in designated recharging 








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            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 
            offstreet 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 
            offstreet 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.  

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill was substantially similar 
          to the version passed by the Senate.  

           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 conversations with automobile industry representatives 
            lead it to believe that PHEV sales will be fairly modest for 
            the next five years, at least.  

           COMMENTS  :  By introducing this bill, the author intends to make 
          current ZEV-designated stalls in offstreet 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.  









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          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 
          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.  










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          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 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: 0001607 












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