BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1135
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1135 (Skinner) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:8-5
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires vehicle owners to record their odometer
readings when applying for registration renewal. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Provides that this information, except for the name and
address of the vehicle owner and the license plate number of
the vehicle, is public information.
2)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to group the
information into census blocks and create a database that can
sort the data by block group, census tract, city and county.
3)Requires the data to be made available on DMV's website on an
annual basis.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time programming costs of $500,000 to DMV to revise and
accept registration renewal forms.
2)Because the current renewal process is largely automated,
introduction of handwritten information on odometer readings
will substantially increase the average time needed to process
renewals. The added time is likely to result in at least 40
PYs and over $3 million for processing .
3)Unknown but potentially significant costs to maintain data
that can be sorted by census tract on its website.
COMMENTS
AB 1135
Page 2
1)Background. SB 375 (Steinberg) Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008.
SB 375 requires Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to
include sustainable community strategies in their regional
transportation plans for the purpose of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions. It also aligns planning for transportation and
housing, and creates incentives for the implementation of
these strategies.
Given that transportation accounts for nearly 40% of all
California's greenhouse gas emissions, it is generally agreed
that meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will
require reductions in vehicle miles traveled (VMT).
2)Purpose . Supporters of this bill assert that current VMT
estimates are not reliable, particularly at the regional
level. They believe that more complete and accurate data will
assist local and regional decision-makers in better
understanding the impact of land use on driving patterns, and
help them measure effects of new transit investments,
transportation pricing, and other policies on VMT.
3)Key issue . Absent some enforcement mechanism (which would be
extremely costly to implement), it is questionable whether
data gathered from reported odometer readings will produce
more accurate estimates of VMT than existing methods. Given
this, a key question is whether the limited benefits of this
bill justify its high costs.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081