California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1176


Introduced by Assembly Member Perea

February 27, 2015


An act to amend Section 44272 of, to add Section 44271.3 to, and to add Chapter 8.8 (commencing with Section 44269) to Part 5 of Division 26 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to vehicular air pollution, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1176, as introduced, Perea. Vehicular air pollution.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007, which includes the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the Air Quality Improvement Program, administered by the State Air Resources Board. Existing law requires the emphasis of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program to be to develop and deploy technology and alternative and renewable fuels in the marketplace, without adopting any one preferred fuel or technology. Existing law requires the primary purpose of the Air Quality Improvement Program to be the funding of projects to reduce criteria air pollutants, to improve air quality, and to fund research to determine and improve the air quality impacts of alternative transportation fuels and vehicles, vessels, and equipment technologies.

This bill would establish the Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access Program, to be administered by the state board, for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions of diesel motor vehicles by providing capital assistance for projects that expand advanced low-carbon diesel fueling infrastructure in communities that are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and additionally where the greatest air quality impacts can be identified.

This bill would require the commission and the state board to allocate no less than 50% of the available moneys under the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program and the Air Quality Improvement Program to projects that provide direct benefits to or serve or are located in disadvantaged communities.

This bill would authorize the commission as part of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, to amend a contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award to extend the terms of that contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award by 2 years if the moneys are reprioritized by the commission to apply toward a project that provides benefits to disadvantaged communities.

(2) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

This bill would appropriate $35,000,000 from the fund to the state board to implement the Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access Program.

(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: 23. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
2California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology,
P3    1Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007 (Chapter 8.9
2(commencing with Section 44270) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the
3Health and Safety Code) continue the state’s implementation of
4Assembly Bill 118 (Chapter 750, Statutes of 2007) by directing
5resources to the state’s most impacted and disadvantaged
6communities to ensure activities taken pursuant to that authority
7will provide economic and health benefits to these communities
8as well.

9(b) The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
10following:

11(1) The California Communities Environmental Health
12Screening Tool, also known as CalEnviroScreen, which was
13developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
14Assessment at the request of the California Environmental
15Protection Agency, is a science-based tool that identifies the
16California communities most burdened by pollution from multiple
17sources and most vulnerable to its effects.

18(2) Using CalEnviroScreen, the California Environmental
19Protection Agency has identified the top 25 percent highest-scoring
20census tracts in the state based on geographic, socioeconomic,
21public health, and environmental hazard criteria and has designated
22these most impacted regions of the state as disadvantaged
23communities.

24(3) A significant number of the total identified top 25 percent
25highest-scoring census tracts of disadvantaged communities are
26located in the San Joaquin Valley, which is impacted by heavy
27freight traffic moving along the Interstate 5 and Highway 99
28corridors, and along Interstate 710, which runs 18 miles from the
29Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the Pomona Freeway
30(SR-60) in east Los Angeles and encompasses 15 cities and
31unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County adjacent to the
32freeway corridor.

33(4) Both regions consistently rate in the top 25 most polluted
34locations in the United States and frequently exceed by significant
35amounts the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone
36and fine particulate matter.

37(5) Medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles operating on
38petroleum diesel fuel and traveling along these heavy freight
39corridors, which are located adjacent to or within many of the
40state’s most environmentally impacted disadvantaged communities,
P4    1are a significant contributor to emissions from greenhouse gases
2and criteria pollutants.

3(6) However, the majority of diesel motor vehicles on the state’s
4roads today can immediately reduce their emissions of greenhouse
5gases, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, and other emissions
6of concern by using low-carbon alternative and renewable
7biomass-based diesel fuels, such as renewable hydrocarbon diesel
8and low blends of biodiesel.

9(7) The state’s policymakers can facilitate immediate and
10tangible reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and criteria
11pollution and amplify near-term health cobenefits to the state’s
12most impacted and disadvantaged communities by funding the
13development and deployment of alternative and renewable fueling
14infrastructure to facilitate greater access to these advanced
15low-carbon diesel fuels.

16(8) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide the state’s most
17impacted and disadvantaged communities with reasonable and
18cost-effective opportunities to proactively participate in the state’s
19greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies, which can provide
20immediate benefits in air quality, public health, the environment,
21and the economy.

22

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 8.8 (commencing with Section 44269) is added
23to Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

24 

25Chapter  8.8. Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access
26Program
27

 

28

44269.  

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
29the following meanings:

30(a) “Biomass-based diesel fuel” means a diesel fuel that is an
31“alternative fuel,” as defined in Section 43867.

32(b) “Disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards”
33means public health or environmental effects from the emission
34or discharge of substances in a geographic area, including
35environmental pollution for all sources whether in a single medium
36or in multiple media, routinely, accidently, or otherwise released
37into the environment, taking into account sensitive populations
38and socioeconomic factors, where applicable and to the extent data
39is available.

P5    1(c) “Low-carbon diesel fueling infrastructure” means the
2equipment used to store and dispense biomass-based diesel fuel
3to motor vehicles according to industry codes and standards and
4that is open to the public.

5

44269.2.  

(a) The Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access
6Program is hereby established. The state board shall administer
7the program for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
8of diesel motor vehicles by providing capital assistance for projects
9that expand advanced low-carbon diesel fueling infrastructure in
10communities that are disproportionately impacted by environmental
11hazards and where additionally the greatest air quality impacts can
12be identified.

13(b) Moneys shall be available, upon appropriation by the
14Legislature, from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created
15pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, for the
16purposes of carrying out this chapter.

17

44269.4.  

On or before March 1, 2016, the state board shall do
18both of the following:

19(a) Develop guidelines for the implementation of this chapter.
20The guidelines shall ensure that the program is focused on
21communities that are disproportionately impacted by environmental
22hazards and where the greatest vehicular air pollution impact is
23identified.

24(b) Select, in consultation with the California Environmental
25Protection Agency, the disadvantaged communities identified
26pursuant to Section 39711.

27

44269.6.  

(a) In evaluating projects to be allocated moneys
28pursuant to this chapter, the state board shall give priority to a
29project with all of the following characteristics:

30(1) Occurs in or near communities identified pursuant to Section
3139711.

32(2) Demonstrates the potential for cobenefits or multibenefit
33attributes, including reducing significant emissions of criteria
34pollutants or toxic air contaminants.

35(3) Quantifies and measures cost-effectiveness and impacts on
36disadvantaged and low-income populations.

37(4) Demonstrates the ability to leverage additional public or
38private funding.

39(5) Demonstrates the ability to obtain immediate benefits.

P6    1(6) Includes marketing and education outreach strategies
2designed to increase the effectiveness of the program’s goals.

3(b) A project required to be undertaken pursuant to state, federal,
4or local laws shall not be allocated moneys pursuant to this chapter.

5

SEC. 3.  

Section 44271.3 is added to the Health and Safety
6Code
, to read:

7

44271.3.  

The commission and the state board shall allocate no
8less than 50 percent of the moneys available pursuant to this
9chapter to projects that meet either of the following criteria:

10(a) Provide direct benefits to communities identified pursuant
11to Section 39711.

12(b) Serve or are located within communities described in Section
1339711.

14

SEC. 4.  

Section 44272 of the Health and Safety Code is
15amended to read:

16

44272.  

(a) The Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle
17Technology Program is hereby created. The program shall be
18administered by the commission. The commission shall implement
19the program by regulation pursuant to the requirements of Chapter
203.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
21Title 2 of the Government Code. The program shall provide, upon
22appropriation by the Legislature, competitive grants, revolving
23loans, loan guarantees, loans, or other appropriate funding
24measures, to public agencies, vehicle and technology entities,
25businesses and projects, public-private partnerships, workforce
26training partnerships and collaboratives, fleet owners, consumers,
27recreational boaters, and academic institutions to develop and
28deploy innovative technologies that transform California’s fuel
29and vehicle types to help attain the state’s climate change policies.
30The emphasis of this program shall be to develop and deploy
31technology and alternative and renewable fuels in the marketplace,
32without adopting any one preferred fuel or technology.

33(b) A project that receives more than seventy-five thousand
34dollars ($75,000) in funds from the commission shall be approved
35at a noticed public meeting of the commission and shall be
36consistent with the priorities established by the investment plan
37adopted pursuant to Section 44272.5. Under this article, the
38commission may delegate to the commission’s executive director,
39or his or her designee, the authority to approve either of the
40following:

P7    1(1) A contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award that
2receives seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or less in funds
3from the commission.

4(2) Amendments to a contract, grant, loan, or other agreement
5or award as long as the amendments do not increase the amount
6of the award, change the scope of the project, or modify the purpose
7of the agreement.

8(c) The commission shall provide preferences to those projects
9that maximize the goals of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel
10and Vehicle Technology Program, based on the following criteria,
11as applicable:

12(1) The project’s ability to provide a measurable transition from
13the nearly exclusive use of petroleum fuels to a diverse portfolio
14of viable alternative fuels that meet petroleum reduction and
15alternative fuel use goals.

16(2) The project’s consistency with existing and future state
17climate change policy and low-carbon fuel standards.

18(3) The project’s ability to reduce criteria air pollutants and air
19toxics and reduce or avoid multimedia environmental impacts.

20(4) The project’s ability to decrease, on a life-cycle basis, the
21discharge of water pollutants or any other substances known to
22damage human health or the environment, in comparison to the
23production and use of California Phase 2 Reformulated Gasoline
24or diesel fuel produced and sold pursuant to California diesel fuel
25regulations set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 2280)
26of Chapter 5 of Division 3 of Title 13 of the California Code of
27Regulations.

28(5) The project does not adversely impact the sustainability of
29the state’s natural resources, especially state and federal lands.

30(6) The project provides nonstate matching funds. Costs incurred
31from the date a proposed award is noticed may be counted as
32nonstate matching funds. The commission may adopt further
33requirements for the purposes of this paragraph. The commission
34is not liable for costs incurred pursuant to this paragraph if the
35commission does not give final approval for the project or the
36proposed recipient does not meet requirements adopted by the
37commission pursuant to this paragraph.

38(7) The project provides economic benefits for California by
39promoting California-based technology firms, jobs, and businesses.

P8    1(8) The project uses existing or proposed fueling infrastructure
2to maximize the outcome of the project.

3(9) The project’s ability to reduce on a life-cycle assessment
4greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10 percent, and higher
5percentages in the future, from current reformulated gasoline and
6diesel fuel standards established by the state board.

7(10) The project’s use of alternative fuel blends of at least 20
8percent, and higher blend ratios in the future, with a preference
9for projects with higher blends.

10(11) The project drives new technology advancement for
11vehicles, vessels, engines, and other equipment, and promotes the
12deployment of that technology in the marketplace.

13(d) The commission shall rank applications for projects proposed
14for funding awards based on solicitation criteria developed in
15accordance with subdivision (c), and shall give additional
16preference to funding those projects with higher benefit-cost scores.

17(e) Only the following shall be eligible for funding:

18(1) Alternative and renewable fuel projects to develop and
19improve alternative and renewable low-carbon fuels, including
20electricity, ethanol, dimethyl ether, renewable diesel, natural gas,
21hydrogen, and biomethane, among others, and their feedstocks
22that have high potential for long-term or short-term
23commercialization, including projects that lead to sustainable
24feedstocks.

25(2) Demonstration and deployment projects that optimize
26alternative and renewable fuels for existing and developing engine
27technologies.

28(3) Projects to produce alternative and renewable low-carbon
29fuels in California.

30(4) Projects to decrease the overall impact of an alternative and
31renewable fuel’s life cycle carbon footprint and increase
32sustainability.

33(5) Alternative and renewable fuel infrastructure, fueling
34stations, and equipment. The preference in paragraph (10) of
35subdivision (c) shall not apply to renewable diesel or biodiesel
36infrastructure, fueling stations, and equipment used solely for
37renewable diesel or biodiesel fuel.

38(6) Projects to develop and improve light-, medium-, and
39heavy-duty vehicle technologies that provide for better fuel
40efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions, alternative fuel
P9    1usage and storage, or emission reductions, including propulsion
2systems, advanced internal combustion engines with a 40 percent
3or better efficiency level over the current market standard,
4lightweight materials, intelligent transportation systems, energy
5storage, control systems and system integration, physical
6measurement and metering systems and software, development of
7design standards and testing and certification protocols, battery
8recycling and reuse, engine and fuel optimization electronic and
9electrified components, hybrid technology, plug-in hybrid
10technology, battery electric vehicle technology, fuel cell
11technology, and conversions of hybrid technology to plug-in
12technology through the installation of safety certified supplemental
13battery modules.

14(7) Programs and projects that accelerate the commercialization
15of vehicles and alternative and renewable fuels including buy-down
16programs through near-market and market-path deployments,
17advanced technology warranty or replacement insurance,
18development of market niches, supply-chain development, and
19research related to the pedestrian safety impacts of vehicle
20technologies and alternative and renewable fuels.

21(8) Programs and projects to retrofit medium- and heavy-duty
22onroad and nonroad vehicle fleets with technologies that create
23higher fuel efficiencies, including alternative and renewable fuel
24vehicles and technologies, idle management technology, and
25aerodynamic retrofits that decrease fuel consumption.

26(9) Infrastructure projects that promote alternative and renewable
27fuel infrastructure development connected with existing fleets,
28public transit, and existing transportation corridors, including
29physical measurement or metering equipment and truck stop
30electrification.

31(10) Workforce training programs related to alternative and
32renewable fuel feedstock production and extraction, renewable
33fuel production, distribution, transport, and storage,
34high-performance and low-emission vehicle technology and high
35tower electronics, automotive computer systems, mass transit fleet
36conversion, servicing, and maintenance, and other sectors or
37occupations related to the purposes of this chapter.

38(11) Block grants or incentive programs administered by public
39entities or not-for-profit technology entities for multiple projects,
40education and program promotion within California, and
P10   1development of alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle
2technology centers. The commission may adopt guidelines for
3implementing the block grant or incentive program, which shall
4be approved at a noticed public meeting of the commission.

5(12) Life cycle and multimedia analyses, sustainability and
6environmental impact evaluations, and market, financial, and
7technology assessments performed by a state agency to determine
8the impacts of increasing the use of low-carbon transportation fuels
9and technologies, and to assist in the preparation of the investment
10plan and program implementation.

11(13) A program to provide funding for homeowners who
12purchase a plug-in electric vehicle to offset costs associated with
13 modifying electrical sources to include a residential plug-in electric
14vehicle charging station. In establishing this program, the
15commission shall consider funding criteria to maximize the public
16benefit of the program.

17(f) The commission may make a single source or sole source
18award pursuant to this section for applied research. The same
19requirements set forth in Section 25620.5 of the Public Resources
20Code shall apply to awards made on a single source basis or a sole
21source basis. This subdivision does not authorize the commission
22to make a single source or sole source award for a project or
23activity other than for applied research.

24(g) The commission may do all of the following:

25(1) Contract with the Treasurer to expend funds through
26programs implemented by the Treasurer, if the expenditure is
27consistent with all of the requirements of this article and Article
281 (commencing with Section 44270).

29(2) Contract with small business financial development
30corporations established by the Governor’s Office of Business and
31Economic Development to expend funds through the Small
32Business Loan Guarantee Program if the expenditure is consistent
33with all of the requirements of this article and Article 1
34(commencing with Section 44270).

35(3) Advance funds, pursuant to an agreement with the
36commission, to any of the following:

37(A) A public entity.

38(B) A recipient to enable it to make advance payments to a
39public entity that is a subrecipient of the funds and under a binding
40and enforceable subagreement with the recipient.

P11   1(C) An administrator of a block grant program.

begin insert

2(4) Amend a contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award
3to extend the terms of that contract, grant, loan, or other agreement
4or award by two years if the moneys are reprioritized by the
5commission to apply toward a project that complies with Section
644271.3.

end insert
7

SEC. 5.  

Notwithstanding Section 39718 of the Health and
8Safety Code, the sum of thirty-five million dollars ($35,000,000)
9is hereby appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,
10created pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, to
11the State Air Resources Board for the purpose of implementing
12the Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access Program (Chapter
138.8 (commencing with Section 44269) of Part 5 of Division 26 of
14the Health and Safety Code).

15

SEC. 6.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
16immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
17the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
18immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

19To ensure stable funding for programs to reduce vehicular air
20pollution for the protection of the public health and safety, it is
21necessary for this act to take effect immediately.



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