BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                SB 570
                                                                       

                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                        Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
                              2011-2012 Regular Session
                                           
           BILL NO:    SB 570
           AUTHOR:     Rubio
           AMENDED:    April 25, 2011
           FISCAL:     Yes               HEARING DATE:     May 2, 2011
           URGENCY:    No                CONSULTANT:       Randy Pestor
            
           SUBJECT  :    HIGH EMITTING SCHOOLBUSES

            SUMMARY  :    
           
            Existing law  :

           1) Provides the California Air Resources Board (ARB) with 
              primary responsibility for control of mobile source air 
              pollution, including adoption of rules for reducing vehicle 
              emissions and the specification of vehicular fuel 
              composition.  (Health and Safety Code §39000 et seq. and 
              §39500 et seq.).  The ARB must coordinate efforts to attain 
              and maintain ambient air quality standards.  (§39003).

           2) Provides that air pollution control districts (APCDs) and 
              air quality management districts (AQMDs) have primary 
              responsibility for controlling air pollution from all 
              sources, other than emissions from mobile sources.  (§40000 
              et seq.).  Certain APCDs and AQMDs are established, with 
              related authority, including the San Joaquin Valley Unified 
              Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD).  (§40600 et 
              seq.).

           3) Requires the SJVUAPCD to develop, in consultation with ARB, 
              a voluntary program to improve air quality by exchanging 
              high polluter vehicles within the district for donated 
              vehicles; authorizes interest from funds allocated to the 
              SJVUAPCD from the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund to be used 
              to administer this program; and requires the SJVUAPCD to 
              submit a report to the Legislature on implementation of the 
              program by January 1, 2012.  This vehicle exchange program 
              sunsets January 1, 2013.










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            This bill  replaces the SJVUAPCD vehicle exchange program (#3 
           above) with a voluntary program to replace or retrofit high 
           emitting schoolbuses in the San Joaquin Valley.  SJVUAPCD must 
           follow ARB's 2008 Lower-Emission School Bus Program Guidelines 
           and give priority to model year 1987 and older schoolbuses.  
           SJVUAPCD must also report to the Legislature on or before 
           January 1, 2013, and January 1, 2014, on implementation of the 
           program, including the number of schoolbuses replaced and the 
           estimated emission reductions achieved through the program.  
           This schoolbus replacement and retrofit program sunsets 
           January 1, 2014.

           COMMENTS  :

            1) Purpose of Bill  .  According to the author, "School buses 
              serve a vital need in the state by transporting students to 
              and from school.  However, school buses that were built 
              prior to 1987 are also one of the biggest mobile polluters 
              in the state.  In the Central Valley alone, there are over 
              100 school buses in operation that were manufactured prior 
              to 1987.  Most alarmingly, more than one out of every four 
              school age children in Kern County has been diagnosed with 
              asthma, a much higher percentage than most counties in the 
              state.  Allocating funds to replace pre-1987 buses will 
              improve air quality in communities throughout the Central 
              Valley and California."

           The author notes that "SB 570 would allow for the ÝSJVUAPCD] 
              to administer a program that would replace older 
              high-emitting school buses within the district by using 
              existing interest revenue generated . . . "

            2) Background  .  Voters approved Proposition 1B (the Highway 
              Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security 
              Bond Act of 2006) November 7, 2006.  This bond act provided 
              for a bond issue not to exceed $19,925,000,000 for certain 
              purposes, including $200 million for schoolbus retrofit and 
              replacement to reduce air pollution and children's exposure 
              to diesel exhaust.

           SB 88 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 181, 
              Statutes of 2007, contained various provisions to implement 










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              Proposition 1B, including the California Clean Schoolbus 
              Program (Health and Safety Code §44299.90 et seq.) which 
              requires ARB to allocate funds in accordance with the 
              following:  a) replace all schoolbuses in operation with a 
              1976 model year or earlier; and b) remaining funds 
              apportioned to local APCDs and AQMDs based on the number of 
              schoolbuses with 1977 to 1986 model years (each school 
              district must determine the percentage of its allocation to 
              spend between replacement of schoolbuses of model years 
              1977 to 1986, and retrofit of schoolbuses of any model 
              year).  All schoolbuses replaced under this program must be 
              scrapped.  SB 88 also requires ARB to prepare guidelines 
              for the program, which are the 2008 Lower-Emission School 
              Bus Program Guidelines referenced in SB 570.

           SB 1662 (Burton) Chapter 656, Statutes of 2000, and AB 2928 
              (Torlakson) Chapter 91, Statutes of 2000, created the 
              Traffic Congestion Relief Act of 2000.  The Act provided 
              funding for several programs, including $25 million for the 
              San Joaquin Valley Emergency Clean Air Attainment Program 
              to reduce emissions from heavy-duty diesel engines 
              operating within the eight-county San Joaquin Valley 
              region.  (Government Code §14556.40(a)(100)).  SJVUAPCD is 
              the lead applicant under the Act for this program.  While 
              most of the funds for the program have been expended for 
              projects, SB 23 (Cogdill) Chapter 634, Statutes of 2007, 
              created the vehicle exchange program and funded the program 
              with interest from the San Joaquin Valley Emergency Clean 
              Air Attainment Program.  However, the SB 23 vehicle 
              exchange program has not proceeded as expected because 
              there was no entity to donate vehicles for the program.

           SB 570 replaces the SB 23 vehicle exchange program with the 
              schoolbus replacement and retrofit program, and retains the 
              SB 23 funding source (there is approximately $2.5 million 
              available for the program).  SB 570 also revises the 
              reporting requirements and dates for reports, and extends 
              the sunset from January 1, 2013, to January 1, 2014.

            SOURCE  :        Senator Rubio  

           SUPPORT  :       American Lung Association in California, 










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                          Breathe California, Coalition for Clean Air, 
                          Fresno-Madera Medical Society (Air Quality 
                          Sub-Committee), Kings Canyon Unified 
                          Transportation, Natural Resources Defense 
                          Council, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution 
                          Control District, School Transportation 
                          Coalition, Union of Concerned Scientists  

           OPPOSITION  :    None on file