BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1685|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1685
Author: Gomez (D)
Amended: 8/18/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 4-2, 6/8/16
AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Gaines, Bates
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 7-4, 6/21/16
AYES: Beall, Allen, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NOES: Cannella, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 6/28/16
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Moorlach, Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 48-29, 5/12/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Vehicular air pollution: zero-emission vehicles: civil
penalties
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill increases from $500 to $37,500 the maximum
civil penalty that may be imposed upon a person who violates
specified provisions of California's Vehicular Air Pollution
Control statute, or any order, rule, or regulation of the
California Air Resources Board adopted pursuant to those
provisions. This bill provides that the Board shall adjust the
maximum civil penalty for inflation based on the California
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Consumer Price Index. This bill provides certain exceptions to
the increased maximum civil penalty, including violations
involving portable fuel containers or small off-road engines, and
provides that automobile dealers who violate specified provisions
of the statute shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed
$10,000. This bill adjusts from per vehicle to per violation the
frequency for which certain penalties may be imposed.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/16 clarify that the increased
maximum penalties do not apply to failure to meet zero-emission
vehicle (ZEV) credit requirements. In addition, the amendments
re-define that the civil penalties apply per action of a violator,
to be further defined in regulations, and clarify that both
payment of penalties and making vehicles compliant with emissions
control regulations may be required for continued vehicle sales in
the state.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires that persons who violate any California Air Resources
Board (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)
2) Prohibits residents or businesses from importing, delivering,
purchasing, renting, leasing, acquiring, or receiving a new
motor vehicle or vehicle engine for use or resale in the state
unless the engine has been certified compliant with ARB
standards, as specified, with violations set at $5,000 per
vehicle. (HSC §43151)
3) Prohibits new vehicles from being sold in California that do
not meet the emissions standard adopted by ARB. (HSC §43211)
4) Provides penalties of $5,000 per action, for manufacturers who
sell, attempt to sell, or offer for sale, a new vehicle that
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does not meet ARB emission standards. (HSC §43211)
5) 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)
6) 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.
(42 U.S. Code §7524; 69(30) Federal Register 7121 [Feb. 13,
2004]; 73(239) Federal Register §75340 [Dec. 11, 2008]; 78(215)
Federal Register §66643 [Nov. 6, 2013])
This bill:
1) Increases civil penalties for violations of certain air quality
orders, rules, or regulations adopted by ARB from a maximum
amount of $50 per vehicle, or $500 or $5,000 per action,
depending on the provision, to a maximum of $37,500 per vehicle
or action, as specified.
2) Authorizes, for violations committed by a manufacturer or
distributor, that payment of penalties may be a condition for
further sales by the manufacturer or distributor in the state
of vehicle models that are alleged or found to be in violation
by the state board.
3) Specifies that violations involving portable fuel containers or
small off-road engines retain maximum civil penalties of $500
per unit.
4) Expands prohibitions for commerce in new motor vehicles or
engines in the state that do not meet ARB requirements to
include businesses or persons who reside outside the state.
5) States that the penalty for failure to meet ZEV credit
requirements, as specified, shall not exceed $5,000 per ZEV
credit.
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6) Increases from $5,000 to $37,500, per violation, the maximum
penalty for any manufacturer who sells, as specified, any new
motor vehicle that fails to meet other applicable emissions
standards.
7) Authorizes ARB to order a manufacturer to bring its vehicles
into compliance with the emissions configuration they were
certified to meet, and specifies that compliance with this
order may be a condition of further sale of motor vehicles in
California of vehicle models that are alleged or found to be in
violation by the state board.
8) Authorizes ARB to adjust the maximum penalties for failure to
comply with specified regulations for inflation based on the
California Consumer Price Index without the requirement to go
through rulemaking procedures.
9) Makes related clarifying amendments.
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
United States Environmental Protection Agency (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
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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 feet 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.
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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
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 described 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 academic
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researchers, 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 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/19/16)
American Lung Association in California
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Breathe California
California Air Pollution Control Officers Association
CALPIRG
Clean Power Campaign
Coalition for Clean Air
Environment California
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/19/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 48-29, 5/12/16
AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Holden,
AB 1685
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Irwin, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian,
O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gray, Grove, Harper,
Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner,
Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Burke, Hadley, Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:Dan Brumbaugh / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
8/19/16 18:49:19
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