BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1964
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1964 (Bloom) - As Amended April 11, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill:
1)Extends access to HOV lanes, regardless of vehicle occupancy
levels, for advanced technology partial zero-emission vehicles
(enhanced AT PZEVs-mainly plug-in electric hybrids (PHEVs))
from the current January 1, 2019 sunset date to January 1,
AB 1964
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2021, for such vehicles issued a decal (green sticker) from
the DMV between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2019.
2)Stipulates that decals issued after January 1, 2019, are valid
until January 1 of the third year after issuance. (September
30, 2025, is the federal sunset date for unrestricted use of
HOV lanes by PHEVs.)
3)Eliminates the 85,000 vehicle cap on issuance of green
stickers and instead prohibits the issuance of any additional
green stickers if the sale of PHEVs constitutes more than 8.6%
of the California new car market share for two consecutive
years.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Costs to the DMV are minor and absorbable. Caltrans will
continue to incur annual special fund costs of around $100,000
beyond the current sunset date for one position associated with
federally required analysis and reporting regarding compliance
of HOV lanes with federal performance standards.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. In 2012, Governor Brown issued an executive order
calling for 1.5 million zero- or near-zero emission vehicles
to be on California's roadways by 2025 (referred to as the ZEV
mandate). Given this, and given the importance of these
vehicles in meeting climate change goals, federal and state
governments offer incentives to spur the commercial success of
these vehicles. Typical incentives include: reduced purchase
prices, tax credits, rebates, sales tax exemptions, HOV
access, and free parking.
AB 1964
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HOV lanes are part of a traffic management strategy designed
to provide an incentive for commuters to form carpools by
offering reduced travel times. The declared legislative
intent in establishing these lanes is to relieve traffic
congestion, conserve fuel, and reduce vehicular emissions.
Since 1999, numerous bills have been enacted providing access
to carpool lanes, generally for specified numbers of each new
generation of clean-air vehicles.
The success of HOV access programs for clean air vehicles
triggers concerns that allowing these additional cars in the
HOV lanes may result in degraded performance of the lanes.
The fear is that, if HOV lanes become sufficiently degraded,
their benefits (i.e., traffic congestion relief, fuel
conservation, and reduced emissions) will be lost and
carpooling will be discouraged. Consequently, both state and
federal existing law require Caltrans to monitor the
performance of HOV lanes and to take action to remedy the
degradation if it occurs.
Caltrans has proposed certain actions to the Federal Highway
Administration in order to address degradation of the state's
HOV lanes. These steps do not include prohibiting clean air
vehicles from HOV lanes. Caltrans notes that such vehicles
constitute a relatively small percentage of peak HOV traffic
volume.
AB 1964
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2)Purpose. According to the author, AB 1964 is necessary to
provide long-term certainty for consumers of PHEVs. As the
2019 sunset date approaches, the author asserts that the value
of the green sticker and the incentive for purchasing a PHEV
will continually diminish.
3)Related Legislation. The Administration is proposing budget
trailer bill language to remove the cap on the number of
decals that can be issued in the green sticker progam.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081