BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 513 (Beall) - Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards
Attainment Program: fees
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|Version: May 12, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 10 - 0, |
| | E.Q. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Marie Liu |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 513 would expand the eligible uses of funds raised
by local air districts under the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality
Standards Attainment Program and the local AB 923 incentive
programs. This bill would allow all air districts, regardless of
their attainment status of state or federal ambient air quality
standards.
Fiscal
Impact:
Minor and absorbable costs to the Air Pollution Control Fund
(special) to the Air Resources Board (ARB) to update
regulations in accordance with this bill.
Unknown cost pressures, at least in the millions of dollars,
from the Air Pollution Control Fund (special) for increased
uses of the AB 923 program.
Unknown costs pressures, at least in the millions of dollars,
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to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (special) for projects
that may seek funding from both the GGRF and the Moyer
Program.
Background: The Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment
Program (Moyer Program) (AB 1571 (Villaraigosa), Chapter 923,
Statutes of 1999), administered by ARB and local air districts,
funds the incremental cost of cleaner-than-required vehicles,
engines, and equipment. The primary objective of the program is
to achieve air quality emission reductions that would not
otherwise occur through regulations or other legal mandates. The
Moyer Program was expanded by AB 923 (Firebaugh), Chapter 707,
Statutes of 2004 to cover additional pollutants and engines
while also increasing funding to the program by increasing the
allowable vehicle registration surcharge and increasing the fees
paid on tire sales, with a portion of that increase going to the
Moyer Program. AB 8 (Perea) Chapter 401, Statutes of 2013
extended the assessment of the higher tire fee and the ability
for locals to assess the $6 vehicle registration surcharge until
January 1, 2024.
Local Moyer Programs are funded by the motor vehicle
registration fees while the statewide Moyer Program is funded by
the tire surcharge and fines and penalties from the Air
Pollution Control Fund.
AB 8 also required ARB to convene a workgroup to evaluate the
program. ARB and the air districts convened two public meetings
of the workgroup, in June and October 2014, to solicit input
from stakeholders.
Proposed Law:
This bill would make various changes to the Carl Moyer
Program. Specifically, this bill would:
Allow all air districts, regardless of its state attainment
designation, to levy the vehicle registration surcharge for
the Moyer Program. This bill would allow these surcharges to
be used for the attainment or maintenance of state and federal
ambient air quality standards or the reduction of toxic air
contaminant emissions from motor vehicles, in addition to the
SB 513 (Beall) Page 2 of
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current purpose of implementing the California Clean Air Act.
Expand eligible uses of the local surcharges under the
Lower-Emission School Bus Program to include:
o The repowering of schoolbuses (in addition to
purchases of new buses and retrofits)
o High costs for replacement of onboard natural gas
fuel tanks on school busses and deteriorating natural gas
fueling dispensers by removing the statutory cap on grant
amounts for these purposes.
o Alternative fuel and electric infrastructure
projects solicited through a competitive bid process.
Expand eligibility in the state's Moyer Program to include:
o Energy infrastructure (rather than just
electrification infrastructure) to fuel or power covered
sources.
o Emissions from all marine vessels (not just diesel
ones) and all categories necessary for the state and air
districts to meet air quality goals.
Require that all funded projects, except infrastructure
projects, follow-cost effective criteria established by the
ARB in collaboration with the districts. The cost effective
criteria would be required to take into account the ability
for the project to provide ancillary benefits, the cost of
emission control technologies, and the cost effectiveness
values for NOx, particulate matter, or reactive organic gases
for any adopted rule or control measure in the district's
implementation plan.
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Defines "ancillary benefits" to include air quality, climate
and public health benefits beyond the reductions in covered
emissions, including reductions in GHG emissions, short-lived
climate pollutant reductions, and benefits to disadvantaged
communities. The ARB would be required to identify ancillary
benefits in its grant criteria.
This requirement would be in place of statutory cost effective
limits set currently set in statute.
Change what funding should be considered into the cost of the
project.
Allow other funding sources to be used for a project without
those other funds being factored into the cost effectiveness
calculations, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Require the ARB to update grant criteria by July 1, 2017.
Require the ARB instead of the California Energy Commission to
publish procedures to monitor and audit infrastructure
projects.
Make various changes to the spending requirements of grants,
including the process for when grants are not spent and
liquidation requirements.
Increase the amount of funds that can be used for program
support and outreach by the ARB and the air districts.
Change the cost basis to determine incremental cost for the
purpose of judging the programs.
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Staff
Comments: This bill makes numerous changes to the Moyer
Program, including some changes that give ARB additional
discretion such as establishing cost effective calculations
(which are currently set in statute) and identifying ancillary
benefits. ARB is required to update the grant criteria by July
1, 2017 to incorporate these changes. According to the ARB,
these costs will be minor and absorbable.
According to the author, the changes in this bill are driven by
the continued growing demand for cleaner technologies and the
need for emission reductions. By expanding the authorized uses
of the Moyer and AB 923 funding, this bill places cost pressures
on the funds that support those programs. These cost pressures
are at least in the millions of dollars considering the cost of
energy infrastructure products.
Existing law gives local air districts the authority to levy a
vehicle motor registration surcharge. In order to collect these
surcharges, the boards of the local air districts (or the board
of supervisors in the case of the Sacramento air district) must
adopt a resolution providing for both the fee and the
corresponding program for the spending of those fees. By
expanding the types of eligible projects that can receive grants
from the locally-levied fee, this bill may change the way that
the boards of the air districts approve the vehicle registration
surcharge in order to be consistent with Proposition 26. Given
that the previous authority to levy the registration surcharge
was scheduled to sunset in 2015 before that date was extended by
AB 8, most of the local air districts are likely to need to
adopt a new resolution to collect the fees.
According to the author, the bill aims to enable leveraging of
Moyer and AB 923 program funds with outside funding support of
emission reduction projects, including the GGRF. By allowing
projects to draw down on funds supporting the Moyer and AB 923
programs as well the GGRF, there will be cost pressures to all
funds as projects will be able to simultaneously seek funding
from multiple sources. These cost pressures are also in the
millions of dollars.
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