BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1459 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1459 (Huber) As Amended June 18, 2012 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(April 26, |SENATE: |36-0 |(July 6, 2012) | | | |2012) | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES. SUMMARY : Repeals the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act of 1988 (Act), which established the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Program (AAPP). The AAPP lasted from 1983 to 1993 and is no longer in existence. The Senate amendments expanded the bill to repeal the entire Act. EXISTING LAW created the AAPP to investigate how and if atmospheric acidity has affected public health and the state's ecosystems. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill repealed the Scientific Advisory Committee on Acid Deposition (Committee) that was appointed to assist the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in the implementation of the AAPP. The Committee issued its final assessment in October 2000 and is no longer active. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : The AAPP required air districts to charge fees to support and mitigate acid deposition, and it set standards and reporting requirements. The fees, standards, and reporting were discontinued beginning in 1994, and the Committee oversaw and prepared AAPP's Final Assessment in October 2000. The report concluded that acidic pollutants were a moderate to minor problem in California. Additionally, atmospheric nitrogen levels (concentrations of gaseous nitrogen oxides and particle nitrate), one of the main causes of acidity, have been on the decline since the 1970s as a result of other ambient air AB 1459 Page 2 controls. The CARB's Air Quality Monitoring Network currently measures nitrogen oxide in many of the state's air basins, and Title 17, Section 70200 of the California Code of Regulations sets the current ambient air standards for nitrogen dioxide below the federal average. This bill repeals the obsolete Act. Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0004399