BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 124|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) |Version: |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 124
Author: Oropeza (D), et al
Amended: 8/27/09
Vote: 21
SEN. TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-4, 5/12/09
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Oropeza, Pavley,
Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Huff, Ashburn, Harman, Hollingsworth
SENATE FLOOR : 26-13, 5/26/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Denham,
DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu,
Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla,
Pavley, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins, Wolk,
Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Cox, Dutton,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters,
Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-28, 8/31/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Schoolbus idling and idling at schools
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill acknowledges the existing state
regulation that limits school bus idling and idling near
schools, and conforms the minimum penalty for a violation
CONTINUED
SB 124
Page
2
of this rule to the minimum penalty ($300) for a violation
of the rule to limit the idling of commercial motor
vehicles.
Assembly Amendments revise the bill to acknowledge existing
state regulations rather than codify them, and add
Assemblyman Blumenfield as a co-author.
ANALYSIS : The California Toxic Air Contaminant
Identification and Control Program requires ARB to identify
and control toxic air contaminants (TAC). Following the
identification of a substance as a TAC, existing law
requires ARB to prepare a report on the need and
appropriate degree of regulation for that substance. ARB
identified diesel particulate matter (diesel PM) as a TAC
in August 1998. A needs assessment for diesel PM was
published in October 2000 as the "Risk Reduction Plan to
Reduce Particulate Matter Emissions from Diesel-Fueled
Engines and Vehicles." In this Risk Reduction Plan, ARB
indicated that idling measures could be used to "limit the
amount of time heavy-duty vehicle engines are allowed to
operate while not performing useful work, e.g., moving the
vehicle or operating essential equipment."
In December 2002, ARB adopted a regulation to limit school
bus idling and idling at schools in order to reduce
children's and the general public's exposure to diesel PM
and other pollutants from school buses, school pupil
activity buses, youth buses, general paratransit vehicles,
transit buses, and heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles
that operate at or near schools.
Effective July 2003, this regulation requires the driver of
a school bus, school pupil activity bus, youth bus, general
paratransit vehicle, transit bus, and a commercial motor
vehicle to turn off the engine upon arriving at a school
and to restart it no more than 30 seconds before departing.
A driver of a bus or vehicle whose primary purpose is the
transport of children (i.e., a school bus, school pupil
activity bus, youth bus, or general public paratransit
vehicle) is subject to the same requirement when operating
within 100 feet of a school and is prohibited from idling
more than five minutes at locations beyond schools. A
driver of a transit bus or other commercial motor vehicle,
SB 124
Page
3
whose primary purpose is not the transport of children, is
prohibited from idling more than five minutes within 100
feet of a school.
In addition, the regulation requires a motor carrier of an
affected bus or vehicle to ensure that drivers are informed
of the idling requirements, to track complaints and
enforcement actions regarding the requirements, and to keep
records of such driver education and tracking activities.
The regulation exempts specific idling situations where
health, safety, or operational concerns take precedence.
For example, exemptions are provided for idling in the
midst of traffic; to ascertain safe operating conditions of
a bus or vehicle; for test, service, repair, or diagnostic
purposes, to accomplish work, other than transportation,
for which a vehicle was designed (e.g., controlling cargo
temperature or operating a lift, drill, etc.); to operate
equipment needed by persons with disabilities and heaters
or air conditioners for special needs children; to operate
defrosters or other equipment to prevent a safety or health
emergency; and to recharge a hybrid electric bus or
vehicle.
The regulation to limit school bus idling and idling at
schools may be enforced by ARB, peace officers, or air
districts. A violation of any provision is subject to a
minimum civil penalty of $100 ad specified criminal
penalties.
In 2004, ARB adopted a rule that, effective February 2005,
prohibits the idling of diesel-fueled commercial vehicles
for more than five minutes, regardless of the location. At
the time, the minimum civil penalty accompanying a
violation of this rule was $100. In 2007, however, the
Legislature passed AB 233 (Jones), Chapter 593, which
increased the minimum penalty to $300.
This bill acknowledges existing state regulations that
limit school bus idling and idling near schools, and
conforms the minimum penalty for a violation of this rule
to the minimum penalty ($300) for a violation of the rule
to limit the idling of commercial motor vehicles.
SB 124
Page
4
Prior Legislation
In 2004, the Legislature passed AB 2644 (Oropeza), a
nearly identical measure to this one. The Governor
vetoed the bill with the following message:
"Improving the quality of our air is a priority of my
administration. Through the budget and other
legislative efforts we have committed millions of
dollars towards clean air programs that are assured to
make significant improvements in air quality, including
upgrading our aging school bus fleet to new cleaner
burning less polluting busses.
"However, AB 2644 is duplicative of existing state
regulations for idling school buses and is unnecessary.
This bill will limit the California air Resources
Boards [sic] discretionary authority to modify the
program. Future refinements, such as changes to
reporting and training provisions and other substantive
and nonsubstantive amendments would need to go through
the legislative process and be approved by the
Governor. This is an unnecessary level of
micro-management that the states regulatory system is
designed to address."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/09)
California Environmental Rights Alliance
OPPOSITION : (Verified >)
>
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : >
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : >
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
SB 124
Page
5
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torrico, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller,
Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva,
Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Adams, Portantino, Torres, Vacancy
JJA:cm 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
**** END ****