BILL NUMBER: SB 981 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 3, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senators Soto and Romero
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Division 29 (commencing with Section 38000) to the
Public Resources Code, relating to petroleum pollution , and
making an appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 981, as amended, Soto. Children's Health and
Petroleum Pollution Cleanup and Prevention
Remediation Act of 2003.
Existing law establishes the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality
Standards Attainment Program, administered by the State Air Resources
Board, which authorizes grants by air quality management districts
and air pollution control districts to offset the incremental cost of
projects that reduce the emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from
onroad trucks, offroad nonrecreational equipment and vehicles,
locomotives, diesel marine vessels, stationary agricultural engines,
and other high-emitting diesel engines. Existing law requires the
state board to endeavor to achieve the maximum degree of emission
reduction possible from vehicular and other mobile sources in order
to accomplish the attainment of state ambient air quality standards
by the earliest practicable date. Existing state board guidelines
establish criteria for a lower emission schoolbus program, a
replacement and particulate matter retrofit program for diesel
schoolbuses in the state that is administered by the state board and
implemented in part by the districts. Existing law requires, until
January 1, 2007, any district with a population of 1,000,000
residents or greater, in consultation with the state board, to expend
not less than 50% of the moneys appropriated until January 1, 2007,
for the Carl Moyer Air Quality Standards Attainment Program, on
programs to fund the purchase of reduced emission schoolbuses, and
diesel mitigation programs, in a manner that directly reduces air
contaminants or the public health risks associated with air
contaminants, in communities with the most significant exposure to
air contaminants or localized air contaminants, or both, including
communities of minority populations or low-income populations, or
both.
(1) Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the
state agency charged with coordinating efforts to attain and maintain
ambient air quality standards. Existing law designates the state
board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the
control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control
districts and air quality management districts with the primary
responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources
other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires the state board
to compile, and make generally available to the public, emission
inventory data from throughout the state.
This bill would enact the Children's Health and Petroleum
Pollution Remediation Act of 2003, which would require the operator
of every refinery to pay the equivalent of a $0.30 fee for
each barrel of crude oil received at a refinery within the state
that is used for the production of gasoline and diesel fuel
to the State Board of Equalization on a monthly basis based on
the number of barrels of crude oil received during the previous
month.
The bill would establish the continuously appropriated
Children's Health and Petroleum Pollution Remediation Trust
Fund in the State Treasury.
The bill would require that a certain percentage of the
fees imposed on each barrel of crude oil received, as determined
annually by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission, be imposed on the amount of crude oil refined into
transportation fuel, as defined. The bill would require the revenues
generated by the imposition of the fees to be deposited in the fund.
The bill would require that, of those moneys in the fund, $0.40 of
each dollar deposited in the fund be utilized to fund the Carl Moyer
Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program administered by the
state board and districts, and $0.20 of each dollar so deposited be
utilized to fund the lower-emission schoolbus program administered by
the state board. The bill would require $0.40 of each dollar
deposited in the fund to be utilized by districts to fund a grant
program for the intervention, treatment, and education of sensitive
populations suffering from exposure to petroleum-related air
pollution, and would authorize districts to establish and administer
the program within its jurisdiction. the state board,
on January 1 of each year, to provide a breakdown of each district's
relative contribution to the state emissions inventory, and would
require the Controller, as soon as practicable, but not later than
March 1 of each year, to allocate moneys from the fund to each
district in proportion to each district's share of the state emission
inventory. The bill would prohibit the Controller from
transferring less than $250,000 to a district. The bill would
require the moneys allocated to each district from the fund to be
expended to fund petroleum pollution source reduction programs and
public health remediation programs, to the extent the district
determines those revenues relate to the relative harm caused, or are
intended to mitigate or prevent the relative harm created, by diesel
and gasoline fuel in that district's jurisdiction.
The bill would require each district that receives moneys from the
fund to develop and adopt at a regularly noticed public hearing, a
districtwide petroleum pollution mitigation program comprised of
petroleum pollution source reduction and public health remediation
programs that it determines will mitigate or prevent the relative
harm caused by diesel and gasoline fuel in that district. The bill
would require each district to make a determination that a clear
nexus exists between the relative public health harm caused by the
refining and combustion of gasoline and diesel fuels within its
jurisdiction and the pollution source reduction programs and public
health programs funded.
The bill would require each district that receives moneys from the
fund to establish funding priorities for public health programs and
petroleum pollution source reduction projects, and to coordinate with
any local, state, and federal agencies, and private organizations
concerned with mitigating the public health harm caused by the
refining and combustion of gasoline and diesel fuels that it
determines appropriate. The bill would impose additional
requirements on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, the San
Diego Air Pollution Control District, the San Joaquin Valley Unified
Air Pollution Control District, and the South Coast Air Quality
Management District relating to the solicitation of public comments
and identification of additional funding for district petroleum
pollution mitigation programs, and would require each of those
districts to annually review and adopt its petroleum pollution
mitigation program.
The bill would require the moneys allocated to each district from
the fund to be expended in a manner that directly addresses air
pollution or health impacts resulting from the refining and
combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel in communities with the most
significant exposure to air pollution.
The bill would authorize up to 3% of the moneys allocated to each
district to be used for administration and overhead costs.
By requiring each district that receives moneys from the fund to
perform specific duties, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:
no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Petroleum products have been shown to cause public health and
environmental degradation problems, and these problems have
stimulated a movement to address these concerns. The Carl Moyer
Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program was established
soon after the State Air Resources Board determined that diesel
particulate is a cancer-causing toxic air contaminant. The
Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement Program was created shortly
thereafter.
(b) Recent studies indicate that there are 2.5 million people in
California with asthma, 500,000 of them children. Asthma is the most
common chronic childhood disease, which affects more than one in 20
children, and is the leading cause of school absences and hospital
admissions for children in California. Additional studies
establish generally support a direct correlation
between air quality and respiratory health.
(c) Some toxic air pollutants found in gasoline and the
exhaust from the combustion of petroleum products , including,
but not limited to, benzene and diesel particulate matter, are also
known to cause cancer in humans. Studies have linked particulate
pollution to lung cancer and at least one investigation found a
possible link between brain cancer and air pollution.
(d) Combustion of transportation fuel, including, but not limited
to, gasoline and diesel, is the major source of ozone precursors and
of fine particulate matter throughout the
particulate matter throughout the urbanized state, and
particularly in the South Coast Air Basin.
(e) To clean up current petroleum-related air pollution and to
protect public health, it is necessary to establish a stable funding
source dedicated specifically to the purposes of air pollution
cleanup and prevention, and the treatment and education of sensitive
populations suffering from exposure to petroleum-related pollution.
(f) Air pollution control districts and air quality
management districts are primarily responsible for reducing the local
health effects associated with air quality in their respective air
basins. Districts have experience in identifying and prioritizing
cost-effective programs aimed at reducing public health risks
associated with air pollution, and have demonstrated proficiency in
developing, negotiating, implementing, and monitoring public health
solutions that take into consideration the localized sources of air
pollution, the interests and unique vulnerability of sensitive
populations, the availability of emission-reduction technologies, and
the specialized resources of health professionals, health care
facilities, and health risk-reduction programs.
(g) In order to ensure the necessary level of funding and
continued operation of these programs, it is necessary to create a
sustainable, consistent funding mechanism. A fee per barrel of
petroleum refined within the state, imposed at the refinery gate,
provides that mechanism.
(g)
(h) The fee per barrel imposed by the act adding this
section is proportionate to the harm resulting from petroleum
pollution within the state, and is a fair and reasonable means to
mitigate the past, present, and future harm to public health and
safety resulting from petroleum pollution in the state.
(h)
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that the fee imposed
by the act adding this section not be passed through to consumers.
SEC. 2. Division 29 (commencing with Section 38000) is added to
the Public Resources Code, to read:
DIVISION 29. CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND PETROLEUM POLLUTION
REMEDIATION ACT OF 2003
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS
38000. This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Children's Health and Petroleum Pollution Remediation Act of 2003.
38001. For purposes of this division, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Air pollution and brain cancer research" means any research
that explores the correlation between brain cancer and emissions of
air contaminants that can be used to better asses the potential for
reducing cancer incidence by improving air quality.
(b) "Asthma research consortium" means any research consortium on
asthma and outdoor air quality, that utilizes the expertise of the
University of California and other researchers to develop a firmer
scientific foundation for public policy on asthma prevention.
(c)
(a) "Barrel of crude oil" has the same meaning as that term
is defined in Section 2241 of Title 18 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(d) "Childhood asthma initiative" means the joint project of the
Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Control, the Children's
Medical Services Branch and the Environmental Health Investigations
Branch of the State Department of Health Services, whose goals are to
decrease asthma morbidity and improve the quality of life of
children up to 5 years old with asthma.
(e)
(b) "Crude oil" means petroleum in an unrefined or natural
state, including condensate and natural gasoline.
(f)
(c) "Crude oil producer" means any person or entity
producing crude oil within the state that does not refine crude oil
into a product.
(g)
(d) "Diesel fuel" means a liquid that is commonly or commercially
known or sold as fuel that is suitable for use in a diesel-powered
highway vehicle. A liquid meets this requirement if, without further
processing or blending, the liquid has practical and commercial
fitness for use in the engine of a diesel-powered highway vehicle.
(e) "District" means any air quality management district or
air pollution control district in the state.
(h)
(f) "Fund" means the Children's Health and Petroleum
Pollution Remediation Trust Fund established pursuant to
Section 38050.
(i)
(g) "Gasoline" means a volatile mixture of hydrocarbons, generally
containing small amounts of additives, suitable for use as a fuel in
spark-ignition internal combustion engines.
(h) "Mobile asthma clinic" means a mobile asthma clinic that
is used to augment health services for children and seniors with
asthma in areas in the state where underserved populations do not
have access to adequate transportation, schools, Head-Start Centers,
senior centers, and health clinics to provide asthma screening and
treatment to low-income and uninsured residents.
(j)
(i) "Petroleum" means any petroleum product, including, but
not limited to, petroleum additives.
(k)
(j) "Petroleum additive" includes, but is not limited to,
benzene, toluene, cthylbenzene, and xylene.
(l)
(k) "Petroleum contamination" means pollution of the air
from any petroleum product, including petroleum additives, or by any
action related to the extraction, refinement, transport, storage,
sale, combustion, or usage of petroleum.
(m)
(l) "Refinery" means a facility or location that refines
crude oil, including, but not limited to, condensate and natural
gasoline, into petroleum products, lubricating oils, coke, or
asphalt.
(n) "Transportation fuel" means any petroleum-based product used
in the propulsion of an internal combustion engine, including, but
not limited to, engines required to operate onroad or offroad
vehicles, aircraft, marine vessels, and locomotives, and any
petroleum-based product used to fuel stationary internal and external
combustion engines.
CHAPTER 2. CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND PETROLEUM POLLUTION
REMEDIATION FUND
38050. (a) The Children's Health and Petroleum
Pollution Remediation Fund is hereby established in the
State Treasury. The money in the fund shall be expended for purposes
of this division, upon appropriation by the Legislature for that
purpose. Remediation Trust Fund is hereby established
in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the money deposited in the fund is continuously
appropriated to the Controller, without regard to fiscal years, for
allocation to districts pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 38051
for the purposes described in Section 38100.
(b) Every operator of a refinery shall pay a fee in the
amount of an amount equivalent to thirty cents
($0.30) for each barrel of crude oil received at a refinery within
the state that is used for the production of gasoline and diesel
fuel .
(c) The State Board of Equalization shall administer the fee
imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) in accordance with the Fee
Collection Procedures Law (Part 30 (commencing with Section 55001) of
Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code).
(d) (1) The fee imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) is
due and payable to the State Board of Equalization monthly on or
before the 25th day of the calendar month following the monthly
period for which the fee is imposed. Each fee payer, on or before
the 25th day of the month following each monthly period, shall make
out a return for the preceding monthly period, in the form prescribed
by the State Board of Equalization.
(2) Each fee payer shall include with the payment required by this
subdivision, information detailing actual fuel production used in
the calculation of the fee payment, including, but not limited to, a
breakdown of amounts of diesel and gasoline fuels produced. A fee
payer may designate any portion of the fuel production information as
trade secret information and that portion may not be released except
to the state employees specifically designated by the State Board of
Equalization, unless the State Board of Equalization, after an
investigation, determines that the portion is not in fact a trade
secret. Any state employee having access to the trade secret shall
maintain its confidentiality. For the purposes of this paragraph,
the term "trade secret" has the same meaning as described in Section
6254.7 of the Government Code.
(e) All fees imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be paid in
the form of remittances payable to the State Board of Equalization.
The State Board of Equalization shall transmit the payment to the
fund and shall annually notify the Controller of the ratio of
gasoline to diesel fuels, on an aggregate basis, of the fuels
produced from crude oil that were subject to the fee imposed by this
section .
(f) The money deposited to the credit of the fund may be expended
for the following purposes:
(1) To pay for refunds pursuant to Part 30 (commencing with
Section 55001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(2) To pay for the administrative costs of the State Board of
Equalization of collection, auditing, and making refunds associated
with the fund.
(3) The balance shall be allocated and expended as
provided in Section 38051.
38051. (a) The moneys in the fund shall be expended as follows:
(1) Forty cents ($0.40) of each dollar deposited in the fund
pursuant to this subdivision shall be allocated to the Carl Moyer
Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Trust Fund, established
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 44299 of the Health and Safety
Code, to fund diesel emissions exposure reduction incentive projects
and programs through districts as described in Section 44280 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(2) Twenty cents ($0.20) of each dollar deposited in the fund
pursuant to this subdivision shall be allocated to the State Air
Resources Board to provide funding to the Lower-Emission School Bus
Program administered by the State Air Resources Board, which provides
funding to purchase new, lower emitting school buses and to retrofit
school buses with particulate trap and emissions reduction
technology.
(3) Forty cents ($0.40) of each dollar deposited in the fund
pursuant to this subdivision shall be allocated to districts for the
grant program described in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 38150),
for the intervention, treatment, and education of sensitive
populations suffering from exposure to petroleum-related air
pollution.
(b) Not more than 3 percent of each allocation described in
paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a) may be used for
38051. (a) On January 1 of each year, the State Air Resources
Board shall provide a breakdown of each district's relative
contribution to the state emissions inventory based on the emission
data compiled pursuant to Section 44345 of the Health and Safety
Code.
(b) (1) As soon as practicable, but not later than March 1 of each
year, the Controller shall allocate moneys from the fund to each
district in proportion to each district's share of the state emission
inventory provided to the Controller pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) The Controller may not transfer less than two hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($250,000) to each district pursuant to this
subdivision.
(3) The Controller shall provide each district, with the
allocation of moneys pursuant to paragraph (1), the aggregate ratio
of gasoline to diesel fuel used in the calculation of total moneys
collected annually pursuant to Section 38050.
(c) The moneys allocated to each district from the fund pursuant
to subdivision (b) shall be expended by the district to fund
petroleum pollution source reduction programs pursuant to Section
38100 and public health remediation programs pursuant to Section
38105, to the extent the district determines those revenues relate to
the relative harm caused, or are intended to mitigate or prevent the
relative harm created, by diesel and gasoline fuel in that district.
(d) Not more than 3 percent of the allocation described in
subdivision (c) may be used for program administration and
overhead costs.
(c)
(e) All interest earned on moneys deposited in the fund
shall be deposited in the fund.
CHAPTER 3. PETROLEUM POLLUTION EXPOSURE REMEDIATION
CHAPTER 3. PETROLEUM POLLUTION MITIGATION PROGRAM AND
EXPENDITURE PLAN PROGRAM
38150.
38100. (a) Each district that receives moneys pursuant to Section
38051 shall develop and adopt at a regularly noticed public hearing,
a districtwide petroleum pollution mitigation program that it
determines will mitigate or prevent the relative harm caused by
diesel and gasoline fuel in that district. The program shall
incorporate pollution source reduction programs, including, but not
limited to, programs authorized pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing
with Section 44275) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety
Code, and public health programs pursuant to Section 38105, that the
district determines have a clear nexus with the relative public
health harm caused by the refining and combustion of gasoline and
diesel fuels within the jurisdiction of the district.
(b) Each district shall establish funding priorities for
pollution source reduction projects by considering all of the
following factors:
(1) The cost-effectiveness of the project.
(2) The use of new pollution control technologies in conjunction
with traditional fuels as a means of reducing emissions of air
contaminants.
(3) Potential effects of public health, ambient air quality.
(4) Any other factors determined to be relevant by the district.
(c) Each district shall establish funding priorities for public
health programs pursuant to Section 38105.
(d) Each district shall coordinate with any local, state, and
federal agency, and any private organization concerned with
mitigating the public health harm caused by the refining and
combustion of gasoline and diesel fuels that it determines
appropriate.
38101. In addition to the requirements imposed on districts by
Section 38100, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, the San
Diego Air Pollution Control District, the San Joaquin Valley Unified
Air Pollution Control District, and the South Coast Air Quality
Management District shall also do all of the following:
(a) Prior to adopting a petroleum pollution mitigation program or
expending any moneys for the program, do both of the following:
(1) Adopt an expenditure plan describing any proposed program or
project expenditure, including the expected costs, and the
qualitative and quantitative benefit of each project to be funded.
(2) Make a determination that each program or project to be funded
will not duplicate any other past or present program or project
funded by the State Air Resources Board, the State Department of
Health Services, or the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission. This paragraph is not intended, and may not
be interpreted, to prevent funding for program or projects that are
jointly funded with another public or private agency where the
district determines there is no duplication.
(b) Hold at least one public workshop to solicit public comment
on, and annually review and adopt, the district petroleum pollution
mitigation program, and provide the public and any interested party
at last 30 days notice prior to the annual public hearing.
(c) Identify potential sources of matching funds, including, but
not limited to, any of the following:
(1) State moneys.
(2) Federal moneys.
(3) Private moneys.
(4) Revenues from district permit, variance, and emission fees.
(5) Proceeds from settlements and judgments derived from penalties
imposed by the district.
(6) Moneys from other sources within the jurisdiction of the
district.
(d) Establish an advisory group to advise the district board on
the programs and projects to be funded.
(e) On or before March 31 of each year that a district petroleum
pollution mitigation program is adopted in the district, prepare and
make available to the public a report that includes all of the
following information:
(1) A description of the programs and project funded in the
petroleum pollution mitigation program, including, but not limited
to, a list of recipients, funding contributors, matching funds, and
the expected or actual results from each program or project.
(2) An analysis of the overall impact of the district's petroleum
pollution mitigation program on public health within its
jurisdiction.
(3) A summary of the actual progress made toward the goals of the
petroleum pollution mitigation program.
(4) Identification of funding priorities for the following fiscal
year.
38105. (a) The purpose of this chapter
section is to establish a competitive grant program for
the intervention, treatment, prevention, and education of
sensitive populations suffering from exposure to petroleum-related
air pollution.
(b) Each district may establish and administer an air quality
grant program to provide grants to organizations that it
determines provide respiratory and health services to children
and other sensitive populations for unhealthful conditions caused by
exposure to air pollution from crude oil refining and
vehicular emissions. pollution from the refining and
combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel. Each district shall consult
with the State Department of Health Services and the State Air
Resources Board regarding the development and administration of the
grant program.
(c) Each participating district shall determine the parties,
projects, and costs eligible for grants moneys through a competitive
grant solicitation process. A district may provide a grant to
any eligible organization for any project or program that the
district determines has a clear nexus with the relative public health
harm caused by the refining and combustion of gasoline and diesel
fuels within the jurisdiction of the district.
(d) Organizations eligible to receive a grant pursuant to this
section include, but are not limited to, all of the following
:
(1) Organizations that provide respiratory health services to
children and other sensitive populations.
(2) Mobile asthma clinics.
(3) The Childhood Asthma Initiative.
(4) The Asthma Research Consortium.
(5) Any air pollution and brain cancer research organization.
(6) , to the extent that the district determines
that each organization provides health services to children and other
sensitive populations for unhealthful conditions created by exposure
to air pollution caused by the relative refining and combustion of
gasoline and diesel fuel:
(1) Organizations dedicated to the prevention of the health
consequences.
(2) Organizations dedicated to the treatment, prevention, or
education of the impacts of air pollution on the health and welfare
of affected communities.
(3) Mobile asthma clinics.
(4) Organizations dedicated to the treatment or prevention of
asthma in children and other sensitive populations.
(5) Organizations dedicated to asthma research.
(6) Organizations engaged in researching the link between air
pollution and cancer-related health impacts.
(7) Any organization that researches the health effects of
air pollution from crude oil refining and vehicular emissions.
(e) Funds allocated pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a)
of Section 38051 shall be allocated to districts for the purposes of
this chapter on the basis of the population served.
(f)
(e) Each participating district that administers a grant
program pursuant to this section shall establish an advisory
committee made up of stakeholders to review the program
implementation, with special emphasis on areas with environmental
justice concerns, and provide a report to the Legislature reviewing
the implementation of the program not later than 24 months after the
date the program is established.
(g) If a district determines that it is not feasible for it to
establish and administer a grant program, any county health agency
within the jurisdiction of that district may establish and administer
a program consistent with this chapter within the jurisdiction of
the county health agency.
CHAPTER 4. AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION
38160. The moneys allocated to each project funded pursuant to
Sections 38051 and 38150 shall be expended in a manner that directly
addresses air pollution in communities that are severely impacted by
air pollution, consistent with subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section
43023.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
38161. The parties, projects, and costs eligible for the moneys
allocated to the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment
Trust Fund pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section
38051 are the same as those described in Chapter 9 (commencing with
Section 44275) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety
Code.
38162. The parties, projects, and costs eligible for funds
allocated to the Lower-Emission School Bus Program pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 38051 are those that the
State Air Resources Board has defined as eligible for that program.
made up of stakeholders to review and comment on
implementation of the program. The advisory committee may also
recommend criteria for the awarding of grants, including
qualifications of grant applicants, eligibility of programs and
projects submitted for funding, overall goals of the program, and
funding priorities.
38110. The moneys allocated to each district pursuant to Section
38051 shall be expended in a manner that directly addresses air
pollution or health impacts resulting from the refining and
combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel in communities with the most
significant exposure to air pollution, consistent with subdivisions
(a) and (b) of Section 43023.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.