Amended in Senate April 8, 2013

Senate BillNo. 459


Introduced by Senator Pavley

February 21, 2013


An act tobegin delete add Section 44266 toend deletebegin insert amend Sections 44062.3 and 44070.5 of, and to add and repeal Section 44062.5 of,end insert the Health and Safety Code, relating to vehicular air pollution.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 459, as amended, Pavley. begin deleteFuel-efficient vehicles: financial incentives: middle-income households. end deletebegin insertVehicle retirement: low-income motor vehicle owners.end insert

begin insert

(1) Existing law establishes a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program, referred to as a smog check program, developed, implemented, and administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The duty of enforcing and administering the program is vested in the Chief of the Bureau of Automotive Repair within the department. Existing law requires the department to permit vehicle retirement for a motor vehicle that has been continuously registered in the state for at least 2 years prior to vehicle retirement, and that fails any type of smog check inspection lawfully performed in the state. Existing law requires the department to pay a person who retires his or her vehicle $1,500 for a low-income motor vehicle owner, as defined, and $1,000 for all other motor vehicle owners, and authorizes additional payments above these amounts based on consideration of specified criteria.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would authorize the department to provide other forms of financial assistance for a motor vehicle owner when providing additional payments above those amounts, as specified.

end insert
begin insert

(2) Existing law provides for a repair assistance program available to an individual whose maximum income level does not exceed 225% of the federal poverty level and who is the owner of a motor vehicle that has failed a smog check inspection or received a notice to correct. Existing law requires the bureau to permit vehicle retirement of a motor vehicle that is a high polluter and that has been continuously registered in the state for at least 2 years or otherwise proven to have been driven in the state for the last 2 years, as specified, prior to vehicle retirement. Existing law requires the bureau to pay a person for the voluntary retirement of a high-polluting motor vehicle $1,500 for a low-income motor vehicle and $1,000 for all other motor vehicle owners, and authorizes additional payments above these amounts based on consideration of specified criteria.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2014, to establish a one-year pilot program to provide financial assistance to low-income motor vehicle owners, as defined, for the voluntary retirement of a gross-polluting vehicle, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from requiring proof of registration for the last 2 years prior to acceptance into the program.

end insert
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(3) Existing law requires the department to develop and continuously conduct a public information program, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, designed to develop and maintain public support and cooperation for the smog check program, as specified.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would require the department, for purposes of that public information program, to engage in multilingual outreach to underserved communities about the benefits of the program. The bill also would require the department to include car dealerships in the public information program.

end insert
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Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board (state board), in conjunction with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (energy commission), to develop and administer a program to provide grants to individuals, local governments, public agencies, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses, to encourage the purchase or lease of a new zero-emission vehicle.

end delete
begin delete

This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the energy commission, air pollution control and air quality management districts, and the Bureau of Automotive Repair, to submit a specified plan to the Legislature that identifies opportunities to utilize existing legal authorities to reduce fuel expenditures by middle-income households by accelerating the adoption of more fuel-efficient vehicles, as specified. The bill would require the state board to convene an advisory board to provide guidance in developing the plan, as specified.

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:

P3    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 44062.3 of the end insertbegin insertHealth and Safety Codeend insert
2begin insert is amended to read:end insert

3

44062.3.  

(a) The owner of a motor vehicle that has been
4continuously registered in the state for at least two years prior to
5vehicle retirement, and that has failed the most recent smog check
6inspection for that vehicle, may retire the vehicle from operation
7at a dismantler under contract with the Bureau of Automotive
8Repair, at any time after learning of the smog check failure. The
9department shall pay a person who retires his or her vehicle under
10this section one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) for a
11low-income motor vehicle owner, as defined in Section 44062.1,
12and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for all other motor vehicle
13owners. The department may pay a motor vehicle owner more than
14these amounts based on factors, including, but not limited to, the
15age of the vehicle, the emission benefit of the vehicle’s retirement,
16the emission impact of any replacement vehicle, and the location
17of the vehicle in an area of the state with the poorest air qualitybegin insert or
18may provide other forms of financial assistanceend insert
.

19(b) The department shall permit vehicle retirement pursuant to
20subdivision (a) for any motor vehicle that has been continuously
21registered in the state for at least two years prior to vehicle
22retirement, and that fails any type of smog check inspection
23lawfully performed in the state.

24begin insert

begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 44062.5 is added to the end insertbegin insertHealth and Safety
25Code
end insert
begin insert, to read:end insert

begin insert
26

begin insert44062.5.end insert  

(a) On or before July 1, 2014, the department shall
27establish a one-year pilot program to provide financial assistance
28to low-income motor vehicle owners, as defined in Section 44062.1,
29for the voluntary retirement of a gross-polluting vehicle. A vehicle
30retired pursuant to this section shall have been reasonably
31demonstrated to the department to have been operated primarily
32in the state for the last two years prior to acceptance into the pilot
P4    1program. The department shall not require proof of registration
2for the last two years prior to acceptance into the program.

3(b) The department shall report to the appropriate committees
4of the Legislature, as part of the supplemental report required
5pursuant to line item 1111-002-0582 of Chapter 268 of the Statutes
6of 2008, the number of vehicles retired pursuant to subdivision
7(a).

8(c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2015, and,
9as of January 1, 2016, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
10that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2016, deletes or
11extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

end insert
12begin insert

begin insertSEC. 3.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 44070.5 of the end insertbegin insertHealth and Safety Codeend insertbegin insert is
13amended to read:end insert

14

44070.5.  

(a)  The department shall develop and continuously
15conduct a public information program, in consultation with the
16state board. The program shall be designed to develop and maintain
17public support and cooperation for the motor vehicle inspection
18and maintenance program and shall include information on all of
19the following:

20(1)  The health damage caused by air pollution.

21(2)  The contribution of automobiles to air pollution and the
22gross polluter problem.

23(3)  Whether a motorist’s vehicle could be a gross polluter
24without the motorist knowing.

25(4)  The importance of maintaining a vehicle’s emission control
26devices in good working order and the importance of the program.

27(b)  That information shall be disseminated by all means that
28the department determines to be feasible and cost-effective,
29including, but not limited to, television, newspaper, and radio
30advertising and trailers in movie theaters. The department may
31also utilize grass roots community networks, including local
32opinion leaders, churches, the PTA,begin insert automobile dealerships,end insert and
33the workplace. Extensive marketing research shall be performed
34to identify the target population.

begin insert

35(c) The department shall engage in multilingual outreach to
36underserved communities about the benefits of the program.

end insert
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37

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
38following:

39(a) Millions of residents are stuck in an energy trap without
40access to alternatives and are forced to spend more of their income
P5    1on gasoline, repairs and maintenance, and financing for their cars
2than they spend on food, healthcare, and other critical expenses.

3(b) The average household spends $8,300 on transportation
4every year, nearly $2,000 more than is spent on food, and $5,000
5more than is spent on health care.

6(c) In 2011, residents spent more than $1 billion on gasoline
7every week, of which almost two-thirds left the state.

8(d) A resident who drives a 32-mile-per-gallon car instead of
9the average new vehicle will save over $3,000 in fuel expenses
10over five years, the average duration of vehicle ownership, and a
11resident who drives a typical zero-emission vehicle will save over
12$9,000 in fuel over the same number of years.

13(e) Higher up-front purchase costs are one of the primary barriers
14to the adoption of more fuel-efficient vehicles, including low- and
15zero-emission vehicles.

16(f) There is a direct correlation between increases in gasoline
17prices and increases in market prices for fuel-efficient vehicles,
18making it more difficult for potential car buyers to purchase more
19fuel-efficient vehicles when they are needed most.

20(g) More fuel-efficient vehicles, including low- and
21 zero-emission vehicles, certified to more stringent emissions
22standards provide significant public health benefits by reducing
23emissions of smog-forming and toxic air pollution, and are a critical
24solution to persistent air quality problems, particularly in air basins
25that historically fail to meet multiple National Ambient Air Quality
26Standards.

27(h) Currently, the majority of new vehicle buyers and nearly 80
28percent of zero-emission vehicle buyers in the state earn over
29$100,000 annually.

30(i) Eighty percent of potential tax filers are unable to take full
31advantage of federal tax credits that reduce the purchase cost of
32plug-in electric vehicles.

33(j) Current automotive lending practices generally fail to account
34for the decreased risk of default and enhanced credit-worthiness
35associated with buyers and lessors of more fuel-efficient cars,
36though some innovative creditors and nonprofit lenders have had
37success in the state and in other states issuing lower interest loans
38for fuel-efficient vehicles, including car buyers with subprime
39credit, who sometimes pay 30 percent interest on auto loans.

P6    1(k) It is in the public interest of the state to help residents out
2of the energy trap and into more fuel-efficient cars, including low-
3and zero-emissions vehicles, to reduce fuel expenditures, improve
4access to jobs, increase disposable income, and deliver broader
5public health, environmental, and economic benefits to the state.

6

SEC. 2.  

Section 44266 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
7to read:

8

44266.  

(a) On or before November 1, 2014, the state board,
9in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and
10Development Commission, districts, and the Bureau of Automotive
11Repair, shall submit a plan to the Legislature that identifies
12opportunities to utilize existing programs and funding sources to
13reduce fuel expenditures by middle-income households by
14accelerating the adoption of more fuel-efficient vehicles, including,
15but not limited to, low- and zero-emission vehicles.

16(b) (1) In developing the plan, pursuant to subdivision (a), the
17state board shall consider a wide range of opportunities, including,
18but not limited to, optimizing the use of existing funds, including
19the Air Pollution Control Fund, created pursuant to Section 43015;
20the Air Quality Improvement Fund, created by Section 44274.5;
21the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund,
22created by Section 44273; the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund,
23created by Section 9886 of the Business and Professions Code;
24and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to
25Section 16428.8 of the Government Code.

26(2) Pursuant to paragraph (1), the state board shall consider all
27of the following, among other strategies, to cost-effectively
28optimize the use of existing special funds:

29(A) Whether automotive dealers and lenders can be offered
30enhanced incentives to sell or lease more fuel-efficient vehicles,
31including low- and zero-emission vehicles.

32(B) Whether consumer automotive loan terms can better reflect
33the correlation between vehicle fuel efficiency and loan
34performance, rewarding customers who choose more efficient
35vehicles with better terms that reflect reduced fuel expenditures.

36(C) Whether public funds can be efficiently used to leverage
37more private investment.

38(D) Whether the value of federal tax credits for plug-in electric
39vehicle purchases can be passed through to households lacking
40sufficient federal tax liability to claim the credits.

P7    1(E) Whether the Consumer Assistance Program, established
2pursuant to Section 44062.1 and administered by the Bureau of
3Automotive Repair, is achieving the maximum benefits.

4(F) Whether enhanced point-of-sale rebates for middle-income
5households can increase the adoption of more fuel-efficient
6vehicles, including low- and zero-emission vehicles.

7(c) (1) The state board shall convene an advisory board to
8provide guidance in developing the plan pursuant to subdivision
9(a).

10(2) Membership of the advisory board created pursuant to
11paragraph (1) shall include, but is not limited to, experts in banking,
12consumer finance, automobile manufacturing, public health,
13environmental protection, transportation policy, consumer
14protection, and automobile retailing.

15(3) The advisory board shall be subject to the Bagley-Keene
16Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120)
17of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
18Code).

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