BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 286
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 286 (Yee and Pavley)
          As Amended  August 6, 2013
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :34-0  
           
           TRANSPORTATION      13-1        APPROPRIATIONS      16-1        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder,        |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow,   |
          |     |Achadjian, Ammiano,       |     |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian  |
          |     |Bonta, Buchanan, Daly,    |     |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
          |     |Frazier, Gatto, Holden,   |     |Gomez, Hall, Holden,      |
          |     |Nazarian, Patterson,      |     |Linder, Pan, Quirk,       |
          |     |Quirk-Silva               |     |Wagner, Weber             |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Morrell                   |Nays:|Donnelly                  |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Extends, from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2019, the  
          sunset date on provisions of existing law that allows certain  
          clean air vehicles to use high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes  
          regardless of vehicle occupancy levels; deletes obsolete and  
          redundant provisions; and resolves chaptering-out conflicts with  
          AB 266 (Blumenfield and Bloom).  

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Allows the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and local  
            authorities to reserve highway lanes within their respective  
            jurisdictions for the exclusive use of HOVs.  

          2)Prohibits the operation of single-occupant vehicles in HOV  
            lanes, with the exception of motorcycles and clean air  
            vehicles.  

          3)Directs the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue  
            stickers for the following clean air vehicles, until January  
            1, 2015, as follows:  

             a)   White clean air vehicle stickers are available to an  
               unlimited number of qualifying vehicles that meet  








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               California's super ultra-low emission vehicle standard for  
               exhaust emissions and the federal inherently low-emission  
               vehicle (ILEV) evaporative emission standard.  This  
               includes certain zero-emission vehicles.  Cars 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 to the  
               first 40,000 applicants with vehicles meeting California's  
               enhanced advanced technology partial zero-emission vehicles  
               (AT PZEV) standard.  These vehicles are also referred to as  
               "transitional zero emission vehicles (TZEVs).  Roughly  
               11,000 green stickers have been issued to date.  

          1)Allows single-occupant clean air vehicles to operate in HOV  
            lanes until such time as Caltrans determines that federal law  
            does not authorize the state to allow such vehicles to use  
            those lanes.  Requires Caltrans to submit a notice of such a  
            determination to the Secretary of State, at which time HOV  
            lane access privileges for single-occupant, clean air vehicles  
            will be terminated.  

          2)Requires Caltrans to remove individual HOV lanes, or HOV lane  
            segments, during periods of peak congestion from these access  
            provisions if it finds that a lane performs below a level of  
            service C (which generally means at or near free-flowing  
            traffic with minimal delays) and that the operation or  
            projected operation of clean air vehicles in the HOV lane will  
            significantly increase HOV lane congestion.  

          3)Requires, if the Metropolitan Transportation Commission,  
            serving as the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) grants toll-free  
            or reduced-rate passage on the Bay Area toll bridges, to also  
            grant the same toll-free or reduced-rate passage to a white  
            sticker vehicle; obsolete but related provisions also required  
            BATA to grant the same toll-free or reduced-rate passage to  
            yellow sticker vehicles (hybrids) but only if the hybrid  
            vehicle was registered to an address outside the region.  

          4)The federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act  
            (MAP-21), authorizes, until September 30, 2017, states to  
            allow low-emission, energy-efficient vehicles to use HOV lanes  
            regardless of occupancy levels.  








                                                                  SB 286
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           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, continued ongoing administrative cost (around  
          $60,000) for the equivalent of one-half position at Caltrans  
          associated with federally-required analysis and reporting  
          regarding HOV lanes allowing single-occupant vehicles.  With  
          extension of the sunsets, the one-time $700,000 cost for  
          removing freeway signs that inform clean vehicle motorists of  
          HOV land privileges would be deferred.  

           COMMENTS  :  An HOV lane, commonly referred to as a "carpool" or  
          "diamond" lane, is part of a traffic management strategy  
          designed to provide an incentive for commuters to form carpools  
          by offering reduced travel times.  The declared legislative  
          intent in establishing these lanes is to relieve traffic  
          congestion, conserve fuel, and reduce vehicular emissions.  Over  
          the years, advocates for many groups have suggested using HOV  
          lane access to reward certain behaviors or to ease the commute  
          for one class of motorists or another.  

          This bill would extend the green sticker clean air vehicle  
          program from 2015 to 2019.  

          The author has introduced this bill because he believes that  
          extending the HOV lane access to clean air vehicles is an  
          effective way to encourage the purchase and lease of low  
          polluting, alternative fuel vehicles.  According to the author,  
          "The state thus achieves three important and complementary  
          goals:  reduce vehicular air pollution, reduce petroleum  
          consumption, and increase economic activity through the sale of  
          technologically advanced cars."  

          Writing in support of this bill, Honda North America, Inc.,  
          asserts, "HOV lane access for single-occupant vehicles is a  
          non-financial incentive that has become one of the top reasons  
          cited by consumers for buying the Civic Natural Gas.  For  
          example, in California, the largest market for the Civic Natural  
          Gas, sales to consumers have steadily increased since 2000, the  
          year that single-occupant ILEV certified alternative fuel  
          vehicles were granted access to HOV lanes."  

           Related legislation  :  AB 266 (Blumenfield and Bloom) similarly  
          extends the white sticker program until January 1, 2019.  That  
          bill is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  








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           Previous legislation  :  SB 535 (Yee), Chapter 215, Statutes of  
          2010, allows enhanced AT PEZ vehicles (i.e., those eligible for  
          green stickers) access to HOV lanes regardless of vehicle  
          occupancy, until January 1, 2015.  

          AB 1500 (Lieu), Chapter 1500, Statutes of 2010, extended HOV  
          lane privileges for natural gas and electric vehicles for five  
          years, until January 1, 2015.  

          AB 2600 (Lieu), Chapter 614, Statutes of 2006, allowed an  
          additional 10,000 high-mileage hybrid vehicles to obtain  
          stickers allowing them to drive in HOV lanes regardless of the  
          number of occupants and extended the sunset date on the  
          authorization for these and other "Clean Air" vehicles to  
          operate in HOV lanes.  

          AB 2628 (Pavley), Chapter 725 Statutes of 2004, allowed AT PZEVs  
          to use HOV lanes.  


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 


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