BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1402 (Dutton)
Hearing Date: 05/17/2010 Amended: 04/27/2010
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: EQ 7-0
SB 1402 (Dutton), Page 2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1402, an urgency measure, requires written
communications from the Air Resources Board alleging a violation
of air pollution laws to contain specific information about the
alleged violation. The bill requires the Air Resources Board to
establish a policy for the assessment of civil or administrative
penalties.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Providing information on Absorbable within existing
resources Special *
alleged violations
Development of penalty Up to $150 Special
*
policy
* Air Pollution Control Fund.
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STAFF COMMENTS:
Under current law, the Air Resources Board and/or local air
pollution control districts are authorized to impose civil or
administrative penalties for a variety of violations of state
air pollution laws and regulations. Administrative penalties of
up to $100,000 may be assed for certain violations. The Air
Resources Board and the courts are required to consider several
factors when determining the amount of an administrative or
civil penalty - including the harm to the public, the compliance
history of the defendant, preventative efforts made by the
defendant, and other factors.
Fine and penalty revenues are generally deposited in the Air
Pollution Control Fund (where they are available, upon
appropriation of the Legislature, for environmental cleanup,
abatement, or pollution prevention) or the General Fund.
SB 1402 requires the Air Resources Board to provide specified
information in any letter alleging that an administrative or
SB 1402 (Dutton), Page 2
civil penalty may be assessed for a violation of air pollution
laws. Specifically, the Air Resources Board must disclose 1) the
manner in which the penalty amount was determined, 2) whether
there were direct pollution emissions in violation of the law
and a quantification of those emissions, and 3) the provision of
law or regulations under which the alleged violation is being
assessed.
The bill also requires that all of the information above and any
mutual settlement agreements reached between the Air Resources
Board and the violator be made available to the public.
The bill requires the Air Resources Board to report annually to
the Legislature on the administrative penalties imposed by the
Board.
The bill requires the Air Resources Board to develop a policy
for the imposition of civil or administrative penalties. The
bill directs the Board to take into consideration several
specified issues when developing the policy.
This bill is an urgency measure.
The Air Resources Board has indicated that there would be
considerable additional costs to provide the required
information to alleged violators of air pollution laws. However,
staff believes that the Air Resources Board needs this
information in order to determine whether a penalty is to be
assessed. Therefore staff does not believe that significant
additional resources will be needed to provide this information.
The Air Resources Board has recently been considering its
enforcement policies and has held several public workshops to
discuss these issues. Given the work that the Board has already
done in this area, staff believes that the additional cost to
adopt a formal penalty policy should not be significant.
Staff recommends the bill be amended to clarify that the Air
Resources Board is required to provide quantitative information
on pollution emissions to alleged violators of air quality laws,
only when the violation is based on emissions of pollution that
exceed specified limits.