BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1691 Hearing Date: 6/21/2016
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|Author: |Gipson |
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|Version: |5/12/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Erin Riches |
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SUBJECT: Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program
DIGEST: This bill requires the state Air Resources Board (ARB)
to update the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program (EFMP),
relative to EFMP Plus-Up, to help increase efficiencies and
reduce program abuse.
ANALYSIS:
1)Existing federal law, the Clean Air Act, requires the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to establish National Ambient
Air Quality Standards for certain air pollutants due to their
negative impact on public health above specified
concentrations. Regions that do not meet the national
standards for any one of the standards are designated as
non-attainment areas.
2)Existing state law establishes the smog check program,
administered by the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). This
program generally requires vehicles registered in
non-attainment areas to undergo emission inspections.
Specifically, vehicle owners must have their vehicles tested
every two years, with some exceptions, including gas-powered
vehicles manufactured prior to 1976, alternatively-fueled
vehicles, and vehicles six years old or newer.
3)Existing state law also establishes the Consumer Assistance
Program (CAP) under BAR. CAP provides assistance to
low-income owners of vehicles that have failed a smog test in
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the form of a repair cost waiver, repair cost assistance, or a
monetary incentive of up to $1,500 to "retire" (scrap) the
vehicle.
4)Existing state law establishes the Enhanced Fleet
Modernization Program (EFMP), administered by the state ARB
and BAR. EFMP provides for the voluntary retirement of
passenger vehicles and light- and medium-duty trucks that are
high polluters. BAR determines whether an owner-applicant is
eligible for CAP or EFMP (or neither). EFMP offers a $1,000
voucher ($1,500 for low-income owners) to retire a
high-polluting vehicle.
EFMP includes a vehicle replacement component, now known as
EFMP Plus-Up, which is operated by the San Joaquin and South
Coast air districts in partnership with ARB. (These air
districts are the only ones in the state classified as extreme
non-attainment.) Under EFMP Plus-Up, a low-income owner who
lives in one of these districts can get a $2,500 "replacement"
voucher in addition to the $1,500 base EFMP "retirement"
voucher. The owner may use the funds to either purchase a car
that is less than eight years old or to obtain a public
transit voucher. If a low-income owner lives within a
disadvantaged community (DAC) in one of these air districts,
and wants to purchase a hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or battery
electric vehicle, he or she can "stack" additional incentives
on top of these two vouchers. Depending on the owner's income
and the type of replacement vehicle, the owner can get up to
$12,000 total toward the purchase of a new car.
This bill requires ARB to update the EFMP guidelines relative to
EFMP Plus-Up, no later than June 30, 2017 and effective until
July 1, 2022, to:
1)Require each air district with a backlog or wait list of
applicants to submit a plan to ARB with recommendations of how
to eliminate the backlog.
2)Require each air district to take steps to help prevent
program abuse, including but not limited to randomly verifying
income eligibility and contacting program participants at
least once after their vehicles are replaced.
3)Require each air district to partner with, and allocate a
minimum amount of outreach funds for community-based
AB 1691 (Gipson) Page 3 of ?
organizations to help ensure program accessibility for the
lowest income DACs in the state. Requires each district to
report to ARB every six months on outreach and partnerships.
4)Require each air district to enhance its pre-screening of
applicants, if determined by ARB to be appropriate.
5)Require each air district to prioritize retirement of vehicles
that are 15 years or older and with more than 75,000 miles.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author states that the current program does not
include requirements to prevent fraud or clear a backlog of
waitlisted applicants, leading to uneven program results. The
author states that this bill will establish a common framework
to help make program operations more efficient and better
equipped to replace the cars that damage the environment the
most. According to the author, this bill will also help focus
EFMP Plus-Up on DACs and on annually increasing the number of
vehicles replaced.
2)Need for the program. According to ARB, 75% of vehicular air
pollution is caused by just 25% of the fleet. While much
attention has been focused on the zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV)
mandate, which aims to have ZEVs comprise 15% of new cars sold
in California by 2025, programs such as EFMP and EFMP Plus-Up
are key to getting older, high-polluting cars off the road and
thereby achieving significant emissions reductions. Because
gross-polluting cars are often owned by lower-income
individuals, providing financial assistance can be an
essential element to helping them scrap these cars and replace
them with newer, cleaner cars.
3)Need for the bill. By requiring ARB to continuously evaluate
district programs, this bill aims to encourage the use of new
and innovative methodologies to better reach and assist
low-income participants and further encourage retirement and
replacement of the oldest and dirtiest cars. Tightening up
EFMP Plus-Up and focusing the district programs on outreach,
prevention of abuse, and prioritizing the oldest cars will
help improve air quality in some of the state's most highly
polluted areas.
4)How does EFMP Plus-Up work? EFMP Plus-Up has been
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particularly successful in the San Joaquin Valley, resulting
in the retirement of 292 high-polluting vehicles in the first
six months of the program. The San Joaquin Valley program
uses "grass roots" advertising and outreach to invite low- and
moderate-income vehicle owners to participate in "events"
where they can get a free smog test and undergo pre-screening
to determine whether they are eligible for various incentives.
The South Coast program uses more traditional outreach tools
such as flyers, billboards, and websites. While the South
Coast program is also successful, with a long wait list, it
does not necessarily provide the pre-screening that would
enable staff to prioritize applications for the oldest, most
high-polluting cars.
5)How much does it cost? According to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee analysis, funding for EFMP and EFMP
Plus-Up totals $12.8 million in 2015-16, which ARB estimates
will provide incentives for about 1,500 vehicles. For
2016-17, proposed funding for both programs totals $37.4
million (of which $30 million is Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Fund), and would provide incentives for about 4,500 vehicles.
6)South Coast concerns. The South Coast air district has taken
a "support with amendments" position on this bill. South
Coast states that it does not anticipate having a wait list
beyond fiscal year 2016-17, but also states that clearing the
backlog is partly dependent on state funding levels for EFMP
and EFMP Plus-Up. South Coast asks for amendments to allow a
district to provide backlog information in its quarterly
report instead of requiring a formal plan to ARB. South Coast
also requests amendments to help ensure that the programs are
available in areas of extreme non-attainment; make the vehicle
replacement component available in all districts containing
DACs; increase outreach funding; and allocate funding in equal
levels to EFMP and EFMP Plus-Up.
7)Double-referral. This bill has also been referred to the
Environmental Quality Committee.
Related Legislation:
AB 1965 (Cooper) - Requires ARB to expand EFMP, relative to EFMP
Plus-Up, in DACs and in areas with poor air quality. This bill
will also be heard by this committee today.
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SB 1275 (De Leon, Chapter 530, Statutes of 2014) - established
the Charge Ahead Initiative, to provide incentives to increase
the availability of ZEVs and near-zevs, particularly in DACs.
SB 459 (Pavley, Chapter 437, Statutes of 2013) - required ARB to
update the EFMP guidelines by June 30, 2015, to, among other
things, focus program assistance on lower-income vehicle owners.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 59-18
Appr: 15-5
Trans: 13-1
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 15, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
None received
OPPOSITION:
None received
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