Amended in Assembly June 25, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 16, 2014

Amended in Senate April 21, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1077

Introduced by Senator DeSaulnier

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Lowenthal)

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February 19, 2014

An act to add and repeal Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3090) of Division 2 of, and to repeal Chapter 7 (commencing with former Section 3100) of Division 2 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1077, as amended, DeSaulnier. Vehicles: mileage-based fee pilot program.

Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which consists of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the California Transportation Commission, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun.

This bill would establish a Mileage-Based Fee (MBF) Task Force within the California Transportation Commission, as specified. The bill would require the task force to study MBF alternatives to the gas tax and to make recommendations to the Department of Transportation and the commission on the design of a pilot program, as specified. The bill would also authorize the task force to make recommendations on the criteria to be used to evaluate the pilot program. The bill would require the task force to consult with specified entities and to consider certain factors in carrying out its duties. The bill would require the Transportation Agency, based on the recommendations of the task force, to develop and implement a pilot program by January 1, 2016, to identify and evaluate issues related to the potential implementation of a MBF program in California. The bill would require the agency to prepare and submit a report of its findings to the task force, the commission, and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature by no later than June 30, 2017, as specified. The bill would also require the commission to include its recommendations regarding the pilot program in its annual report to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2018.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) An efficient transportation system is critical for California’s
economy and quality of life.

(b) The revenues currently available for highways and local
roads are inadequate to preserve and maintain existing
infrastructure and to provide funds for improvements that would
reduce congestion and improve service.

(c) The gas tax is an ineffective mechanism for meeting
California’s long-term revenue needs for all of the following
reasons because it will steadily generate less revenue as cars
become more fuel efficient and alternative sources of fuel are
identified. By 2030, as much as half of the revenue that could have
been collected will be lost to fuel efficiency. Additionally, bundling
fees for roads and highways into the gas tax makes it difficult for
users to understand the amount they are paying for roads and
highways.

(d) Other states have begun to explore the potential for a
mileage-based fee to replace traditional gas taxes, including the
State of Oregon, which established the first permanent road user
fee program in the nation.

(e) A mileage-based fee program has the potential to distribute
the gas tax burden across all vehicles regardless of fuel source and
to minimize the impact of the current regressive gas tax structure.

(f) Experience to date in other states across the nation
demonstrates that mileage-based user fees can be implemented in
a way that ensures data security and maximum privacy protection
for drivers.

(g) It is therefore important that the state begin to explore
alternative revenue sources that may be implemented in lieu of the
antiquated gas tax structure now in place.

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(h) Any exploration of alternative revenue sources shall take
into account the privacy implications, especially those of location
data, which need not be personally identifiable to raise serious
privacy concerns because studies have shown it is easy to
reidentify.

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SEC. 2.  

Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3090) is added
to Division 2 of the Vehicle Code, to read:

 

Chapter  7. Mileage-Based Fee Pilot Program

 

3090.  

(a) The Mileage-Based Fee (MBF) Task Force is hereby
established within the California Transportation Commission.

(b) The purpose of the task force is to guide the development
and evaluation of a pilot program to assess the potential for
mileage-based revenue collection for California’s roads and
highways as an alternative to the gas tax system.

(c) The task force shall consist of begin delete 14 end delete begin insert 15 end insert members, as follows:

(1) Two members of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker
of begin insert the end insert Assembly.

(2) Two members of the Senate, appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules.

(3) Two members of the commission, appointed by the
chairperson of the commission.

(4)  begin delete Eight end delete begin insert Nine end insert begin insert end insert members appointed by the Governor. In making
these appointments, the Governor shall consider individuals who
are representative of the telecommunications industry, highway
user groups, the data security and privacy industry, begin delete the
transportation research community, end delete begin insert privacy rights advocacy
organizations, regional transportation agencies, end insert and national
research and policymaking bodies, including, but not limited to,
the Transportation Research Board and the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

(d) Members of the task force are entitled to compensation and
expenses as authorized by the commission.

(e) The Department of Transportation shall provide staff to the
task force.

(f) The task force shall study MBF alternatives to the gas tax.
The task force shall gather public comment on issues and concerns
related to the pilot program and shall make recommendations to
the department and the commission on the design of a pilot
program to test alternative MBF approaches. The task force may
also make recommendations to the department and the commission
on the criteria to be used to evaluate the pilot program.

(g) In studying alternatives to the current gas tax system and
developing recommendations on the design of a pilot program to
test alternative MBF approaches pursuant to subdivision (f), the
task force shall take all of the following into consideration:

(1) The availability, adaptability, reliability, and security of
methods that might be used in recording and reporting highway
use.

(2) The necessity of protecting all personally identifiable
information used in reporting highway use.

(3) The ease and cost of recording and reporting highway use.

(4) The ease and cost of administering the collection of taxes
and fees as an alternative to the current system of taxing highway
use through motor vehicle fuel taxes.

(5) Effective methods of maintaining compliance.

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(6) The ease of reidentifying location data, even when personally
identifiable information has been removed from the data.

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(7) Risks for privacy concerns when used with other
technologies, such as automatic license plate readers.

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(8) Public and private agency access, including law
enforcement, to data collected and stored for purposes of the MBF
to ensure individual privacy rights are protected pursuant to
Section 1 of Article I of the California Constitution.

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(h) The task force shall consult with highway users and
transportation stakeholders, including representatives of vehicle
users, vehicle manufacturers, and fuel distributors as part of its
duties pursuant to subdivision (g).

3091.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert Based on the recommendations of the MBF Task
Force, the Transportation Agency shall develop and implement,
by January 1, 2016, a pilot program to identify and evaluate issues
related to the potential implementation of an MBF program in
California.

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(b) At a minimum, the pilot program shall accomplish all of the
following:

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(1) Analyze alternative means of collecting road usage data,
including at least one alternative that does not rely on electronic
vehicle location data.

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(2) Collect a minimum amount of personal information including
location tracking information, necessary to implement the MBF
program.

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(3) Ensure that processes for collecting, managing, storing,
transmitting, and destroying data are in place to protect the
integrity of the data and safeguard the privacy of drivers.

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(c) The agency shall not disclose, distribute, make available,
sell, access, or otherwise provide for another purpose, personal
information or data collected through the MBF program to any
private entity or individual unless authorized by a court order, as
part of a civil case, by a subpoena issued on behalf of a defendant
in a criminal case, by a search warrant, or in aggregate form with
all personal information removed for the purposes of academic
research.

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3092.  

(a) The Transportation Agency shall prepare and submit
a report of its findings based on the results of the pilot program to
the MBF Task Force, the California Transportation Commission,
and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature
by no later than June 30, 2017. The report shall, include, but not
be limited to, a discussion of all of the following issues:

(1) Cost.

(2) Privacy begin insert , including recommendations regarding public and
private access, including law enforcement, to data collected and
stored for purposes of the MBF to ensure individual privacy rights
are protected pursuant to Section 1 of Article I of the California
Constitution end insert .

(3) Jurisdictional issues.

(4) Feasibility.

(5) Complexity.

(6) Acceptance.

(7) Use of revenues.

(8) Security and compliance begin insert , including a discussion of processes
and security measures necessary to minimize fraud and tax evasion
rates end insert .

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(9) Data collection technology, including a discussion of the
advantages and disadvantages of various types of data collection
equipment and the privacy implications and considerations of the
equipment.

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(9)

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begin insert (10) end insert  Potential for additional driver services.

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(10)

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begin insert (1 end insert begin insert 1) end insert  Implementation issues.

(b) The California Transportation Commission shall include its
recommendations regarding the pilot program in its annual report
to the Legislature as specified in Sections 14535 and 14536 of the
Government Code.

3093.  

This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 3.  

Chapter 7 (commencing with former Section 3100) of
Division 2 of the Vehicle Code is repealed.