BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | ACR 112|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 112
Author: Hadley (R), et al.
Amended: 6/6/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/29/16
AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Read and adopted, 6/6/16
SUBJECT: State Air Resources Board
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution outlines the events that led to the
discovery of the Volkswagen (VW) defeat devices, and declares
that the Legislature thanks the State Air Resources Board (ARB)
for its exemplary role in uncovering the defeat devices. This
resolution declares the Legislature's support for the increased
use of real-world emissions verification testing and enhanced
penalty authority for ARB to deter future efforts to circumvent
emissions standards.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes, under the federal Clean Air Act, 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,
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nitrogen oxides, and particulates.
US EPA regulations require that, prior to introducing a vehicle
for sale in the US, 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.
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, 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. (Health and Safety Code §43013)
6)Requires that persons who violate any ARB order, rule, or
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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. (HSC §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 VW's defeat devices and subsequent oversight leading up to
the company's admissions of wrong-doing and ARB's refusal to
certify emissions compliance of affected 2016 diesel models.
2)Acknowledges, praises, and thanks ARB for its diligence and
dedication to preserving state air quality and uncovering VW'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.
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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, 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, 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 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 U.S. housing units (including
48 million people) are located within 300 ft. of a major
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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 PM 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 problems, California
is also authorized under the Clean Air Act to implement
separate stricter state mobile emission standards. State law
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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 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 VW 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, 2016),
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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 testing is
more difficult and costly than conventional testing, however,
ARB may need additional budgetary support to significantly
expand their real-world testing program.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 7/7/16)
Professional Engineers in California Government
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/7/16)
None received
Prepared by:Dan Brumbaugh / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
7/29/16 10:50:13
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