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