BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2565
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2565 (Muratsuchi)
As Amended May 27, 2014
Majority vote
HOUSING 4-2 JUDICIARY 7-3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Chau, Gordon, Brown, |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Alejo, Chau, |
| |Yamada | |Dickinson, Garcia, |
| | | |Muratsuchi, Stone |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Beth Gaines, Maienschein |Nays:|Wagner, Gorell, |
| | | |Maienschein |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Makes a term in a lease of a commercial or
residential property, executed, renewed, or extended on or after
January 1, 2015, void and unenforceable if it prohibits or
unreasonably restricts the installation of an electric vehicle
(EV) charging station in a parking space. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines "electric vehicle charging station" or "charging
station" to mean a charging station that is designed in
compliance with the National Electric Code (NEC) Article 625
and delivers electricity from a source outside an electric
vehicle into one or more electric vehicles.
2)Defines "reasonable costs" to include but not be limited to
costs associated with those items specified in the "Permitting
Checklist" of the "Zero-Emission Vehicles in California:
Community Readiness Guidebook" published by the California
Office of Planning and Research.
3)Defines "reasonable restrictions" or "reasonable standards" as
restrictions or standards that do not significantly increase
the cost of the EV charging station, its installation, or
significantly decrease the charging station's efficiency or
performance.
4)Requires an EV charging station to meet appropriate state and
local health and safety standards and requirements, and all
applicable zoning, land use, or other ordinances or land use
AB 2565
Page 2
permit requirements.
5)Provides that this bill does not grant a lessee the ability to
install EV charging stations in more parking spaces than those
allotted to the lessee in the lease.
6)Provides that if a lessee does not have assigned parking
spaces then the number of parking spaces that will be allotted
to the lessee is determined by multiplying the total number of
parking spaces located at the property by the total square
feet rented by the lease holder divided by the total rentable
square feet at the property.
7)Provides that if the approval of the landlord is required for
installation of an EV charging station the application must be
processed and approved in the same manner as an application
for approval of a lessee modification to the property and must
not be willfully avoided or delayed.
8)Provides that to the extent installation of an EV charging
station would have the effect of granting a lessee a reserved
parking space, where no such reserved parking space existed
before, the owner of the property may charge a reasonable
monthly rental amount for the parking space.
9)Provides that the bill does not apply to commercial property
where there are already EV charging stations for tenants use
in a ratio equal to or greater than two available parking
spaces for every 100 parking spaces on the property.
10)Exempts the following types of properties from the bill:
a) Commercial property where EV charging stations already
exist for use by tenants in a ratio that is equal to or
greater than two available parking spaces for every 100
parking spaces at the property;
b) Commercial properties with less than 50 parking spaces;
and
c) Residential properties with less than five rental units.
1)Requires the written approval or denial of a lessee's
application to install an EV charging
AB 2565
Page 3
station.
2)Provides that if the lessor's approval is required for
installation of an EV charging station then the application
shall not be willfully avoided or delayed.
3)Provides that if the lessor approval is required and obtained
by the lessee, the lessor shall approve the installation, if
the lessee complies with the applicable provisions of the
lease consistent with the following:
a) Comply with the lessor's reasonable standards for the
installation of the charging station;
b) Engage a licensed contractor to install the charging
station; and
c) Within 14 days of approval provide a certificate of
insurance for $1,000,000 that names the lessor as an
additional insured.
1)Requires that the lessee is responsible for the following:
a) Costs for damage to property and the EV charging station
resulting from the installation, maintenance, repair,
removal, or replacement of the EV charging station;
b) Costs for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the EV
charging station; and
c) The cost of electricity associated with the EV charging
station.
d) Maintain lessee liability coverage for $1,000,000 naming
the lessor as an additional insured under the policy with a
right to notice of cancellation and property insurance
covering any damage or destruction caused by the EV
charging station, named lessor as it interests may appear.
1)Exempts residential rental properties where an EV charging
station has already been installed or where parking is not
provided as part of the lease agreement.
2)Requires a lessee in a residential property to provide as part
AB 2565
Page 4
of the request to install a EV charging station written
agreement to the following:
a) Compliance with the lessor's requirements for the
installation, use, and removal of the EV charging station
and installation of the infrastructure for the charging
station.
b) Compliance with the lessor's requirements for the lessee
to provide an analysis of the financial and physical
feasibility of the installation of the EV charging station
and its infrastructure.
c) Obligation of the lessee to pay the lessor all costs
associated with installing the EV charging station and its
infrastructure prior to any modification or improvement
being made to the leased premises.
d) Written identification of how, where, and when the
modifications and improvements will be made, and the
permits, construction contracts, performance bond, and
assessments identify for the proposed modification; and
e) Obligation of the lessee to pay for the costs associated
with the electrical usage of the charging station, damage,
maintenance, repair, removal, and replacement of the
charging station and modifications or improvements made to
the leased premises associated with the charging station.
1)Requires a lessee in a common interest development to comply
with existing requirements for installing an EV charging
station in Civil Code Section 4745.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to a 2012 study completed by the California
Center for Sustainable Energy in coordination with the
California Air Resources Board (ARB), Californians own more than
12,000 plug-in EVs, roughly 35% of all plug-in vehicles in the
United States. Approximately 1,000 new plug-in vehicles are
being sold in the state every month.
In 2012, the Governor issued an Executive Order directing ARB,
the California Energy Commission, the California Public
Utilities Commission, and other relevant agencies working with
AB 2565
Page 5
the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaboration and the Fuel Cell
Partnership to develop benchmarks to help support and facilitate
the rapid commercialization of zero-emission vehicles. The order
directed these agencies to establish benchmarks to help the
state's zero-emission vehicle infrastructure support 1.5 million
EVs by 2025. In furtherance of this goal, the Office of
Planning and Research and the State Architect published
guidelines to address physical accessibility standards and
design guidelines for the installation of plug-in EV charging
stations throughout California. These guidelines are voluntary
and apply to public and private sites and eventually could
become regulations within California Building Code Chapter 11B:
Accessibility to Public Buildings, Public Accommodations,
Commercial Buildings and Public Housing.
Last year, AB 1092 (Levine), Chapter 410, Statutes of 2012,
required the California Building Standards Commission to adopt
mandatory standards for the installation of EV charging
infrastructure for parking spaces in newly constructed
multifamily dwellings and nonresidential development in the next
triennial edition of the California Building Standards Code
(Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations). The first
drafts of these guidelines were recently released and are
expected to be adopted in 2015.
SB 209 (Corbett), Chapter 121, Statutes of 2011, prohibited the
governing documents of an association from denying or
restricting the installation of an EV charging station by an
owner in a common interest development (CID). The bill
specified conditions for the installation of an EV charging
station in the common area of a CID. This bill is modeled after
SB 209 but it applies to rental commercial or residential
properties. SB 209 prohibited an HOA from unreasonably
restricting an owner's right to install an EV charging station.
Whereas in a CID the members have a shared ownership of the
common space in a commercial or residential tenant has no
ownership of the common space.
Purpose of the bill: According to the author, "In order to
address the lack of EV infrastructure, AB 2565 seeks to remove
an impediment to EV charging station installation. Property
owners may refuse to allow the installation of a charging
station even if the tenant is willing to pay for the
installation and operation of the station. AB 2565 would remove
this impediment by stating that a property owner cannot deny a
AB 2565
Page 6
tenant the ability to install a charging station if the tenant
is willing to pay for all expenses related to the installation
and operation of the station."
Arguments in support: According to ChargePoint, the sponsor of
the bill, EV charging infrastructure is not keeping up with
electric vehicle adoption. In 2013, there were 75,000 EVs
registered in California and 7,542 charging ports for a ratio of
nearly 10 vehicles for every port causing congestion to charging
stations. The sponsor states that individual businesses have
realized the financial and environmental incentive of offering
EV charging. By offering EV charging, an employer can give
employees the equivalent of a 5% raise through reduced fuel and
maintenance costs and time saved through HOV lane access.
Further, 41% of California residents live in multi-family
housing. The sponsor contends that without the ability to
charge at home, Californians are unlikely to purchase EVs and
therefore do not get the benefits which include saving thousands
on gas and maintenance costs and helping the environment.
Arguments in opposition: Opponents of this bill have both broad
policy as well as operational concerns with the bill. According
to opponents, "AB 2565 uses the language from SB 209 (Corbett)
in an attempt to give a lessee of a commercial or residential
property the ability to install an EV charging station.
However, SB 209 was written to assure that homeowners (property
owners) would be able to install EV charging stations at their
residence over any "unreasonable" objections made by the HOA.
This makes sense: a homeowner should be able to make this
decision for their property. But simply transferring the
language to commercial and residential rental environment
creates a significant change in that it reverses the roles and
gives the power to the party that does not own the property."
In addition, the opponents have concerns with the bill's use of
the term "unreasonable" to judge as to whether or not a property
owner is in compliance with its provisions. "Even though the
bill's intent is to include all costs of installing and
maintaining an EV charger we are not sure that a future
interpretation of the unreasonable standard would actually
include all costs."
Reasonable restrictions on installation of EV charging stations:
The bill requires the lessee to comply with a lessor's
reasonable restrictions and standards for installing an EV
charging station. Reasonable restrictions and standards are
AB 2565
Page 7
defined as restrictions or standards that do not significantly
increase the cost of the EV charging station or installation or
significantly decrease the charging station's efficacy or
performance. There is going to be a lack of uniformity in
application throughout the state and even within an individual
jurisdiction on what is a reasonable restriction. A charging
station that is functional may cost significantly less than one
that is both functional and esthetically pleasing. Beyond just
the need to agree to a standard, if a landlord and tenant
disagree on the correct approach, and the landlord denies the
tenant's request to install, then the landlord may be seen as
unreasonable. Although the bill includes a definition of
"reasonable costs" to include but not be limited to costs
associated with items specified in the "Permitting Checklist" of
the "Zero-Emission Vehicles in California: Community Readiness
Guidebook" published by the California Office of Planning and
Research, the term reasonable costs is not used in the bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085
FN: 0003851