Amended in Assembly April 23, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 14, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1096

Introduced by Assembly Member Nestande

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez)

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February 22, 2013

An act to amend begin delete Sections 5155 and 5156 end delete begin insert Section 5151 end insert of, and to add Section 5162 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1096, as amended, Nestande. Vehicles: specialized license plates: Salton Sea.

begin delete Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue specialized license plates for a specialized license plate program sponsored by a state agency that complies with certain requirements. end delete begin insert Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles to sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the department is required to issue those license plates if the agency meets certain requirements. end insert Existing law also requires the department to charge specified fees for certain services related to the issuance of those plates.

This bill would begin delete require the department, in consultation with end delete begin insert include end insert the Salton Sea Joint Powers Authority begin delete , to design and make available for issuance end delete begin insert within the definition of state agency for the purposes of these provisions. The bill would authorize the authority to apply to the department to sponsor a end insert special Salton Sea begin delete environmental interest end delete license begin delete plates bearing end delete begin insert plate program, and would require the department to issue the license plates if the authority meets certain requirements. The bill would require the plates issued under the program to bear end insert a full-plate graphic design, as specified, begin delete upon end delete begin insert and would require the end insert payment of an additional fee by a person applying for the special plate. The bill would also begin delete create end delete begin insert end insert begin insert require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in end insert the Salton Sea Restoration Account begin insert created by the bill end insert in the Specialized License Plate Fund begin delete for expenditure, upon appropriation, to provide efforts to restore the Salton Sea end delete .

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 5151 of the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

5151.  

(a) As used in this article, “state agency” means a state
office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, or commission,
begin delete or end delete any other state body or begin delete agency. end delete begin insert agency, or the Salton Sea Joint
Powers Authority. end insert

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this article contain the
authority for specialized license plates for state agencies.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 5162 is added to the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 5162. end insert   

(a) The Salton Sea Joint Powers Authority may apply
to the department, pursuant to Section 5156, to sponsor a Salton
Sea license plate program. The department shall issue specialized
license plates for that program if the Salton Sea Joint Powers
Authority complies with the requirements of Section 5156.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 5155, the Salton Sea license plates
shall bear a full-plate graphic that the department determines, in
consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol,
does not obscure the readability of the license plate, and that
depicts an image to be designated by the Salton Sea Joint Powers
Authority.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 5157, the
additional fees prescribed by Section 5157 for the issuance,
renewal, or transfer of the specialized license plates shall be
deposited, after the department deducts its administrative costs,
in the Salton Sea Restoration Account, which is hereby created in
the Specialized License Plate Fund.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 5155 of the Vehicle Code is amended to
read:

5155.  

The design criteria for a specialized license plate are as
follows:

(a) Except as provided in Sections 5161 and 5162, the license
plate for a passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, or trailer shall
provide a space not larger than two inches by three inches to the
left of the numerical series and a space not larger than five-eighths
of an inch in height below the numerical series for a distinctive
design, decal, or descriptive message as authorized by this article.
The license plates shall be issued in sequential numerical order or,
pursuant to Section 5103, in a combination of numbers or letters.

(b) Specialized license plates authorized under this article may
be issued for use on a motorcycle. That license plate shall contain
a five-digit configuration issued in sequential numerical order or,
pursuant to Section 5103, in a combination of numbers or letters.
There shall be a space to the left of the numerical series for a
distinctive design or decal and the characters shall contrast sharply
with the uniform background color. A motorcycle plate containing
a full plate graphic design is not authorized.

(c) Specialized license plates may be issued as environmental
license plates, as defined in Section 5103.

SEC. 2.  

Section 5156 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:

5156.  

(a) (1) A state agency may apply to the department to
sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the department
shall issue specialized license plates for that program, if the agency
complies with all of the requirements of this article.

(2) The department shall not issue specialized license plates to
a state agency for a vehicle that is exempt from the payment of
registration fees pursuant to Section 9101 or 9103.

(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the department shall
not establish a specialized license plate program for an agency
until the department has received not less than 7,500 applications
for that agency’s specialized license plates. The agency shall collect
and hold applications for the plates. Once the agency has received
at least 7,500 applications, it shall submit the applications, along
with the necessary fees, to the department. The department shall
not issue a specialized license plate until the agency has received
and submitted to the department not less than 7,500 applications
for that particular specialized license plate within the time period
prescribed in this section. Advance payment to the department by
the agency representing the department’s estimated or actual
administrative costs associated with the issuance of a particular
specialized license plate shall not constitute compliance with this
requirement. The agency shall have 12 months, following the date
of approval of the agency’s initial application to sponsor a
specialized license plate program, to receive the required number
of applications. If, after that 12 months, 7,500 applications have
not been received, the agency shall immediately do either of the
following:

(1) Refund to all applicants all fees or deposits that have been
collected.

(2) Contact the department to indicate the agency’s intent to
undertake collection of additional applications and fees or deposits
for an additional period, not to exceed 12 months, in order to obtain
the minimum 7,500 applications. If the agency elects to exercise
the option under this subparagraph, it shall contact each applicant
who has submitted an application with the appropriate fees or
deposits to determine if the applicant wishes a refund of fees or
deposits or requests the continuance of the holding of the
application and fees or deposits until that time that the agency has
received 7,500 applications. The agency shall refund the fees or
deposits to an applicant so requesting. The agency shall not collect
and hold applications for a period exceeding 24 months following
the date of approval of the agency’s initial application to sponsor
a specialized license plate program.

(c) (1) If the number of outstanding and valid specialized license
plates in a particular program, except as provided in subdivision
(d), provided for in this article is less than 7,500, the department
shall notify the sponsoring agency of that fact and shall inform the
agency that if that number is less than 7,500 one year from the
date of that notification, the department will no longer issue or
replace those specialized license plates.

(2) Those particular specialized license plates that were issued
prior to the discontinuation provided by paragraph (1) may continue
to be used and attached to the vehicle for which they were issued
and may be renewed, retained, or transferred pursuant to this code.

(d) (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs may sponsor a Gold
Star Family specialized license plate program and the department
may establish this specialized license plate program in the absence
of 7,500 paid applications as provided in subdivision (d) of Section
5157.

(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs shall, upon receiving
proof of eligibility from an applicant, authorize the department to
issue Gold Star Family specialized license plates for a vehicle
owned by an eligible family member of a member of the Armed
Forces of the United States who was killed in the line of duty while
on active duty during wartime service, or during an international
terrorist attack that has been recognized by the United States
Secretary of Defense as an attack against the United States or a
foreign nation friendly to the United States, or during military
operations while serving outside the United States, including
commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States,
or as part of a peacekeeping force, which includes personnel
assigned to a force engaged in a peacekeeping operation authorized
by the United Nations Security Council. An eligible family member
is defined as all of the following:

(A) A person who is otherwise eligible under this article to
register a motor vehicle.

(B) A person who shows proof from the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense that
the member who was in the Armed Forces of the United States
was killed in the line of duty while on active duty in the military.

(C) A person who bears, and shows proof satisfactory to the
Department of Veterans Affairs of, one of the following
relationships to the member of the Armed Forces killed in the line
of duty while serving on active duty:

(i) Widow.

(ii) Widower.

(iii) Biological parent.

(iv) Adoptive parent.

(v) Stepparent.

(vi) Foster parent in loco parentis.

(vii) Biological child.

(viii) Adoptive child.

(ix) Stepchild.

(x) Sibling.

(xi) Half-sibling.

(xii) Grandparent.

(xiii) Grandchild.

(3) Upon the death of a person issued a Gold Star Family
specialized license plate, the license plate shall be transferred to
the surviving spouse, if he or she requests, or shall be returned to
the department within 60 days after the death of the plateholder
or upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs
first.

(e) For purposes of this section, “state agency” includes the
Salton Sea Joint Powers Authority.

SEC. 3.  

Section 5162 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:

5162.  

(a) Notwithstanding Sections 5154 and 5155, the
department, in consultation with the Salton Sea Joint Powers
Authority, shall design and make available for issuance pursuant
to this article special Salton Sea environmental design license
plates as described in this section. The special Salton Sea
environmental design license plates shall bear a full-plate graphic
design that the department determines, in consultation with the
Department of the California Highway Patrol, does not obscure
the readability of the license plate depicting an image to be
designated by the Salton Sea Joint Powers Authority. Any person
described in Section 5101 may, upon payment of the additional
fees set forth in subdivision (b), apply for and be issued a set of
special Salton Sea environmental design license plates. The special
Salton Sea environmental design license plates may be issued as
environmental license plates, as defined in Section 5103.

(b) In addition to the regular fees for an original registration or
renewal of registration, the following additional fees shall be paid
for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the special Salton Sea
environmental design license plates authorized pursuant to this
section:

(1) For the original issuance of the plates, fifty dollars ($50).

(2) For a renewal of registration with the plates, forty dollars
($40).

(3) For transfer of the plates to another vehicle, fifteen dollars
($15).

(4) For each substitute replacement plate, thirty-five dollars
($35).

(5) In addition, for the issuance of environmental license plates,
as defined in Section 5103, with a full-plate graphic design
described in subdivision (a), the additional fees prescribed in
Sections 5106 and 5108. The additional fees prescribed in Sections
5106 and 5108 shall be deposited in the California Environmental
License Plate Fund.

(c) Except as provided in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b), and
after deducting its administrative costs under this section, the
department shall deposit the additional revenue derived from the
issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of special
environmental design license plates in the Salton Sea Restoration
Account, which is hereby created in the Specialized License Plate
Fund. The funds in the account shall be used by the Salton Sea
Joint Powers Authority, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for
providing restoration efforts to the Salton Sea.

  

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