BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: ACR 112
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|Author: |Hadley |
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|Version: |6/6/2016 |Hearing |6/29/2016 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: | |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Dan Brumbaugh |
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SUBJECT: State Air Resources Board.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Under the federal Clean Air Act, authorizes the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to establish and
regulate emissions standards for mobile sources, including
vehicle emission limits for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxides, and particulates.
US EPA regulations require that, prior to introducing a
vehicle for sale in the U.S., manufacturers obtain a
certificate of conformity (COC). Certification requires
manufacturers to demonstrate that the vehicle meets emissions
standards. The COC application is required to list and
justify all "defeat devices."
2) Defines, pursuant to the Clean Air Act, a defeat device as
"an auxiliary emission control device (AECD) that reduces the
effectiveness of the emission control system under conditions
which may reasonably be expected to be encountered in normal
vehicle operation and use." A manufacturer may equip a
vehicle with a defeat device if it can justify the need for
it in terms of preventing damage or accident, the AECD does
not go beyond the requirements of engine starting, and the
manufacturer discloses this information in its application to
US EPA for its COC.
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3) Provides, pursuant to federal law, that violators be subject
to civil penalties up to $37,500 per non-compliant vehicle or
engine, $3,750 per tampering event or sale of defeat device,
and $37,500 per day for reporting and recordkeeping
violations.
4) Authorizes, pursuant to the Clean Air Act, California to
implement separate mobile emission standards from the federal
government. Other states may choose to follow either the
national standard or the stricter California standards.
5) Assigns, under state law, California Air Resources Board
(ARB) with primary responsibility for controlling
mobile-source air pollution, including adoption of rules for
reducing vehicle emissions and the specification of vehicular
fuel composition.
6) Requires that persons who violate any ARB order, rule, or
regulation, where there is not a penalty described for the
specific violation, shall be subject to a civil penalty not
to exceed $500 per vehicle, portable fuel container, spout,
engine, or other unit subject to regulation and that the
penalty be collected by the State Treasurer and deposited
into the Air Pollution Control Fund. (Health and Safety Code
§43016)
7) Prohibits new vehicles from being sold in California that do
not meet the emissions standard adopted by ARB, and provides
penalties of $5,000 per action, for manufacturers who sell,
attempt to sell, or offer for sale, a new vehicle that does
not meet ARB emission standards. (HSC §43211)
8) Provides that manufacturers or distributors who do not comply
with emission standards or test procedures adopted by ARB may
be subject to civil penalties of $50 per vehicle that is not
in compliance and that no further sales of the vehicles can
take place until the penalty is paid. (HSC §43212)
This Resolution:
1) Makes various findings relating to ARB's role in the
detection of Volkswagen's defeat devices and subsequent
oversight leading up to the company's admissions of
wrong-doing and ARB's refusal to certify emissions compliance
ACR 112 (Hadley) Page 3
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of affected 2016 diesel models.
2) Acknowledges, praises, and thanks ARB for its diligence and
dedication to preserving state air quality and uncovering
Volkswagen's defeat devices.
3) Supports ARB increasing its use of real-world emissions
testing, and enhanced authority by ARB for appropriate
penalties to deter further efforts to circumvent emissions
standards.
Background
1) Federal and state air quality laws. The federal Clean Air Act
and its implementing regulations are intended to protect
public health and environmental quality by limiting and
reducing pollution from various sources. Under the Clean Air
Act, the US EPA establishes National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS) that apply to outdoor air throughout the
country. These federal standards exist for several air
pollutants due to their negative impact on public health when
above specified thresholds, including ozone, particulate
matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx),
carbon monoxide, and lead. US EPA reviews each NAAQS at
five-year intervals to ensure that the standards are based on
the most recent scientific information.
Regions that do not meet the national standards for any one
of the standards are designated nonattainment areas. The
Clean Air Act sets deadlines for attainment based on the
severity of nonattainment and requires states to develop
comprehensive plans, known as the state implementation plan
(SIP), to attain and maintain air-quality standards for each
area designated nonattainment for an NAAQS.
California has some of the most severe air pollution problems
in the country. In particular, the South Coast and San
Joaquin air basins, which contain over half of the state's
population, are extreme nonattainment regions (the highest
degree of severity) for ozone pollution and are both
nonattainment regions for PM.
2) Why transportation emissions standards matter. Nationally
and statewide, the transportation sector is responsible for a
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major fraction of air pollution, especially NOx (including NO
and NO2), which contributes to both ozone and PM formation.
People who live and work in closer proximity to roadways are
especially exposed to and impacted by this pollution.
Nationwide, approximately 16% of US housing units (including
48 million people) are located within 300 ft. of a major
highway, railroad, or airport, and the affected population is
disproportionately economically disadvantaged and non-white.
Ground-level ozone (or tropospheric ozone) is a primary
component of smog and is formed from the reaction of NOx with
volatile organic compounds in sunlight. Ozone has a number of
negative health effects including irritated respiratory
system, reduced lung function, aggravated asthma, and
inflammation and damage of the lining of the lungs. Active
children are at highest risk from ozone exposure.
PM can be directly emitted or can be formed in the atmosphere
when gaseous pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and NOx react
to form fine particles. Very fine particulate matter is
particularly dangerous since it burrows deep into the lungs
where it can enter the bloodstream and harm the heart and
other organs. Fine particulate pollution poses an especially
critical health danger for children, the elderly, and people
with existing health problems. Exposure to PM 2.5 (i.e.,
particles or droplets that are 2.5 ?m or less in diameter) is
also linked to cardiovascular disease. A 2010 ARB analysis
based on scientific assessments by US EPA reported that
approximately 9,000 people in California are estimated to die
prematurely each year as a result of exposure to fine
particle pollution.
In addition, the specialized cancer agency of the World
Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on
Cancer, classified outdoor air pollution, and PM as a major
component of outdoor air pollution, as carcinogenic to
humans.
3) US EPA and ARB vehicle testing requirements. To address
transportation sector emissions, the federal Clean Air Act
authorizes the US EPA to establish and regulate standards for
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, NOx, and PM from mobile
sources of pollution. Because of its pre-existing
vehicle-emission standards and motor vehicle air pollution
ACR 112 (Hadley) Page 5
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problems, California is also authorized under the Clean Air
Act to implement separate stricter state mobile emission
standards. State law assigns ARB with primary responsibility
for control of mobile-source air pollution. Both US EPA and
ARB regulations require that, prior to introducing a vehicle
for sale, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the vehicle
meets certain federal and state emissions standards. In
particular, manufacturers must demonstrate that its vehicle's
exhaust and emission-control systems are durable and comply
with the emission standards for the vehicle's useful life.
Only after going through this "certification of conformity"
(COC) process are vehicles legal for sale. Manufacturers that
fail to comply are subject to civil penalties and other
enforcement actions. The current maximum federal penalty for
violating the Clean Air Act through the sale of new vehicles
without a valid COC is $37,500 per violation.
In California, applications for certification must be
concurrently submitted to and approved by both the ARB and US
EPA. By obtaining and testing a limited sample of vehicles
from a test group or engine family, and attempting to
duplicate the manufacturers' vehicle emissions certification
tests, ARB's In-Use Compliance Program aims to ensure that
manufacturers' vehicles meet emissions standards throughout
their useful lives.
4) The Volkswagen case and its lessons. As detailed in the
background paper of the Joint Oversight Hearing by the Senate
Transportation and Housing and Environmental Quality
Committees (Volkswagen's "Defeat Device:" Update and
Implications for California, March 8, 2016), a 2014 study by
researchers at the Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and
Emissions at West Virginia University, followed by an
expanded 2015 investigation by ARB and US EPA of
discrepancies between emissions during stationary tests and
while driving, led to admission by Volkswagen (VW) that
several of their "clean diesel" engines had been designed
with software-based defeat devices to bypass key elements of
the emissions control systems. As a result, these vehicles
were able to pass emissions tests despite exceeding federal
emissions standards by up to 40 times. According to vehicle
sales data, there are estimated to be 617,000 of these
vehicles nationally, 79,400 of which are in California.
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During the hearing, Members of the Senate Committees
expressed the need for stronger state penalties to discourage
further non-compliance by automobile manufacturers,
particularly given that federal penalties are substantially
higher and that state penalties in California were set in
1974 and have not been indexed to inflation. Members
suggested that existing ARB penalties do not provide
sufficient deterrent, particularly for egregious actions to
circumvent emissions requirements, such as with VW.
Federal and state investigations of Volkswagen continue, with
the strong likelihood of additional enforcement actions. In
addition, there are many individual and class action lawsuits
against the company. On April 21, 2016, several parties to
various lawsuits stated in federal court they have reached an
agreement in principle to address approximately 480,000 of the
2.0 liter engine vehicles with defeat devices. Details of the
settlement are currently being worked out, but it appears to
provide consumers several options to return their vehicles or
have their vehicles modified. The settlement will also deal
with compensation for consumers and how to remediate excess
emissions.
Comments
1) Purpose of bill. According to the author, "the ARB was the
regulatory body that distinguished itself in uncovering VW's
malfeasance. ACR 112 is meant to show the Legislature is
open-minded in overseeing the agency. After all, you're only
credible if you are fair-minded enough to acknowledge good
work when it's done."
2) Legislative versus ARB authority? The language of ACR 112 can
be seen to suggest that ARB has the authority to enhance its
penalties for emissions cheaters, but maximum penalties are
specified by the Legislature in statute. AB 1685 (Gomez),
which is currently working its way through the Senate,
proposes to increase the specified maximum state penalties
for such emissions violations to the level of federal
penalties, with periodic increases scaled to inflation
thereafter.
Similarly, ACR 112 states that it supports the ARB in
increased use of real-world emissions testing. Because such
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testing is more difficult and costly than conventional
testing, however, ARB may need additional budgetary support
to significantly expand their real-world testing program.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 1402 (Dutton, Chapter 413, Statutes of 2010) requires ARB to
provide a specified written explanation prior to imposing an
administrative or civil penalty for a violation of air pollution
law, make these explanations available to the public, annually
report specified administrative penalties imposed, and publish a
penalty policy pertaining to vehicular air pollution control.
AB 1685 (Gomez) increases and clarifies the civil penalties for
certain emissions violations by vehicle and engine manufacturers
and distributors. AB 1685 passed out of the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee (4-2) on June 8, 2016, and will be heard by
the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on June 21,
2016.
SOURCE: Author
SUPPORT:
Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG)
OPPOSITION:
None received
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