Amended in Assembly January 4, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 742

Introduced by Assembly Member Gallagher

February 25, 2015

An act to add Section 43018.3 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to vehicular air pollution.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 742, as amended, Gallagher. Heavy-duty diesel-fueled vehicles: begin delete safety review: end delete begin insert study: end insert filters.

Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution. Existing law requires the state board to adopt and implement motor vehicle emission standards, in-use performance standards, and motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants, including standards for off-road and nonvehicle engine categories.

This bill would prohibit the state board from enforcing a certain regulation that restricts emissions from begin delete in-use, end delete begin insert in-use end insert diesel-fueled vehicles until the state board begin delete completes a review end delete begin insert end insert begin insert receives from an independent private firm a completed comprehensive study end insert of the safety of any particulate-matter filters required to be installed on affected vehicles.

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.  

Section 43018.3 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

43018.3.  

(a) (1) For a regulation for the reduction of emissions
of diesel particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, and other criteria
pollutants from in-use diesel-fueled begin delete vehicles, end delete begin insert vehicles end insert applicable
to any person, business, federal government agency, school district,
or school transportation provider that owns or operates, leases, or
begin delete rents, end delete begin insert rents end insert affected vehicles that operate in California and to
persons that sell affected vehicles in California, the state board
shall not enforce that regulation until the state board begin delete completes a
review end delete begin insert receives from an independent private firm a completed
comprehensive study end insert of the safety of any particulate-matter filters
required to be installed on those affected vehicles.

(2) The state board shall notify the Secretary of State of both
of the following:

(A) The suspension of the enforcement of a regulation pursuant
to paragraph (1).

(B) The resumed enforcement of a regulation following the
completion of the begin delete safety review end delete begin insert comprehensive study end insert required
pursuant to paragraph (1).

(b) As used in this section, “affected vehicles” means vehicles
that operate on diesel fuel, dual fuel, or alternative diesel fuel that
are registered to be driven on public highways, vehicles that were
originally designed to be driven on public highways whether or
not they are registered, yard trucks with on-road engines or yard
trucks with off-road engines used for agricultural operations, both
engines of two-engine sweepers, schoolbuses, and vehicles that
have a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating greater than
14,000 pounds, except as exempted by the state board.