BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2013 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2013 (Muratsuchi) As Amended August 7, 2014 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |63-4 |(May 1, 2014) |SENATE: |25-6 |(August 19, | | | | | | |2014) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: TRANS. SUMMARY : Increases from 55,000 to 70,000 the number of advanced technology partial zero-emission vehicles (enhanced AT PZEVs) that may be allowed access to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, regardless of vehicle occupancy levels. The Senate amendments reduce the proposed number of clean air vehicles that would be allowed in HOV lanes regardless of occupancy levels from 85,000 to 70,000, delete the bill's urgency clause, and resolve potential chaptering out conflicts with AB 1721 (Linder) of the current legislative session. EXISTING LAW : 1)Directs the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue stickers for clean air vehicles, until January 1, 2019, as follows: a) White clean air vehicle stickers are available for an unlimited number of vehicles that meet California's super ultra-low emission vehicle standard for exhaust emissions and the federal inherently low-emission vehicle (ILEV) evaporative emission standard. Vehicles that meet these requirements are typically certified pure zero-emission vehicles (100% battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell) and compressed natural gas vehicles; and, b) Green clean air vehicle stickers are available for 55,000 vehicles that meet California's enhanced AT PZEV requirement or transitional zero-emission vehicles (TZEV) standard. (Both vehicles types will be referred to throughout the remainder of the analysis as AT PZEVs.) FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations AB 2013 Page 2 Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : HOV lane access to single-occupant, clean air vehicles was first authorized in 1999 with the passage of AB 71 (Cunneen), Chapter 330, Statutes of 1999, for super ultra-low emission vehicles and ILEVs (white sticker vehicles). The intent of this original authority (and subsequent authorities) was to incentivize the purchase of clean air vehicles. The 40,000-sticker limit was reached on May 9, 2014. In response, SB 853 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 27, Statutes of 2014, immediately raised the limit by 15,000 vehicles to allow stickers to continue to be issued. Despite the success of clean air vehicle programs there continue to be concerns that allowing additional cars in the HOV lanes could result in degraded performance of the lanes. The fear is that, if HOV lanes become sufficiently degraded, their benefits (i.e., traffic congestion relief, fuel conservation, and reduced emissions) will be lost and carpooling will be discouraged. Consequently, both state and federal existing laws require California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to monitor the performance of HOV lanes and to take action to remedy the degradation if it occurs. The latest HOV performance monitoring report issued by Caltrans (based on 2011 data), indicates that in the first half of 2011, 43% of the HOV lanes were degraded. That number rose to 49% for the second half of 2011. (This upward turn in HOV lane degradation is particularly notable because this was the time period immediately after an 85,000-yellow sticker clean air vehicle program for hybrid vehicles expired and those hybrid vehicles were no longer allowed in HOV lanes.) According to Caltrans, data indicate that recurrent congestion and other contributing factors are primary causes for HOV lane degradation. Consistent with federal law, Caltrans submitted to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) an action plan to remedy the degradation. That plan called for, among other strategies, increased enforcement, improved incident management response times, and improved detection. The action plan specifically stated that Caltrans is not considering prohibiting clean air vehicles from HOV lanes at this time because: AB 2013 Page 3 1)These vehicles constitute a very low percentage of the users of HOV lanes; and, 2)Prohibiting these vehicles runs counter to an existing Governor's Executive Order that directs state agencies to take action to support and incentivize the purchase and use of these vehicles. FHWA responded to Caltrans' proposed action plan in January 2014, indicating that the plan did not adequately provide "proactive or tangible strategies to affect immediate mitigation for bringing the facilities into compliance or at least leading towards that goal." As a result, Caltrans will be considering other options (reportedly not including removal of clean air vehicles) to improve HOV lane performance, such as raising vehicle occupancy levels. While raising the existing cap from 55,000 to 70,000 will likely not help the HOV lane degradation problem, past experience indicates it is unlikely to make the situation significantly worse. Writing in opposition to this bill, however, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is concerned that the landscape of California's HOV lanes has changed considerably since clean air vehicles were first allowed in them. In particular, MTC notes that virtually every metropolitan region in the state is operating or is planning to operate high-occupancy toll lanes whereby single-occupant vehicles may access HOV lanes for a fee. MTC does not believe access to these lanes should be given away for free. Related legislation: AB 1721 provides that clean air vehicles may be charged reduced-rate passage in high-occupancy toll lanes. AB 1721 is pending in the Senate. Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0004520 AB 2013 Page 4