BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 470|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 470
Author: Halderman (R)
Amended: 6/30/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/14/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Rubio, Simitian
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/27/11
AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe,
Lowenthal, Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/5/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vehicle registration surcharge: air districts
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill allows air pollution control districts
and air quality management districts to use revenue
received from a surcharge on motor vehicle registrations
within its jurisdiction to fund the retrofit of school bus
emission equipment pursuant to the lower-emission school
bus program.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a basic vehicle
registration fee of $34, plus a $22 surcharge for
additional personnel for the California Highway Patrol, and
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authorizes local agencies to impose separate vehicle
registration fee surcharges in their respective
jurisdictions for a variety of special programs, including
authorizing a local air district, until January 1, 2015, to
levy a surcharge of up to $6 on registration fees of motor
vehicles registered within that district. After January 1,
2015 the maximum surcharge that an air district may levy is
reduced to $4 per registered vehicle. An air district may
only impose the fee if the district board adopts a
resolution providing for both the fee and a corresponding
program for the reduction of air pollution from motor
vehicles in order to meet its obligation under the
California Clean Air Act of 1988.
Upon request from an air district, the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) collects these fees upon renewal of a
vehicle's registration and, after deducting up to one
percent of the fees for administrative costs it incurs,
distributes the remaining revenues to the air district
based upon the amount of fees collected from motor vehicles
registered within that district.
Under existing law, revenue from the first $4 of the $6
surcharge must be used to reduce air pollution from motor
vehicles and to carry out related planning, monitoring,
enforcement, and technical studies necessary to implement
the California Clean Air Act of 1988. Revenue from the
next $2 may only be used to implement the following
programs that the district determines remediate air
pollution harms created by motor vehicles on which the
surcharge is imposed:
The purchase of new school buses pursuant to the
Lower-Emission School Bus Program adopted by the Air
Resources Board (ARB).
Projects eligible for grants under the Carl Moyer
Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program.
The purchase, retrofit, repower, or addition of equipment
for previously unregulated agricultural sources of air
pollution that become subject to regulation, but only
until the compliance date of the regulation.
An accelerated vehicle retirement or repair program
adopted by ARB.
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This bill allows air pollution control districts and air
quality management districts to use revenue from the $2
surcharge on vehicle registration to fund retrofit of
emission control equipment for existing school buses, in
addition to the purchase of new buses, pursuant to the
Lower-Emission School Bus program. This bill also ensures
that should it and AB 462 (Lowenthal, 2011) both get
enacted, the second bill signed will not chapter out the
first.
Comments
Purpose of the bill . Current law allows districts
throughout the state to impose a surcharge on motor vehicle
registration to pay for a number of air quality projects,
including the purchase of new buses under the
Lower-Emission School Bus Program. The goal of this
program is to reduce the exposure of school children to the
harmful effects of school bus exhaust. Because existing
law only allows air districts to use their registration
surcharge funds to purchase new buses, the author argues
that it limits maximum participation in the Lower-Emission
School Bus Program. In order to offer cost savings
alternatives, the author introduced this bill to grant
school districts the ability to retrofit the emissions
control equipment on existing school buses.
Lower-Emission School Bus Program . The primary goal of
ARB's Lower-Emission School Bus Program is to reduce school
children's exposure to both cancer-causing and smog-forming
pollution by, as a first priority, replacing buses
manufactured prior to 1977 (no match funds required). The
program provides grant funding for new, safer school buses
and to put air pollution control equipment (i.e., retrofit
devices) on buses that are already on the road. ARB staff,
in coordination with the California Energy Commission and
local air pollution control districts, has developed
guidelines for implementation of the program. For buses of
model years 1977-1986, the guidelines allow program funds
along with a match to pay to replace buses. For
middle-aged buses from 1987 model year and newer, the
guidelines allow program funds, again with a match, to pay
for emission control retrofits.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/11)
American Lung Association
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
California Air Pollution Control Officers Association
School Transportation Coalition
Union of Concerned Scientists
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Bay Area Air
Quality Management District (BAAQMD), "In 2004, the
Legislature passed AB 923, which allows air districts to
establish a $2 per vehicle per year fee on annual vehicle
registrations. The BAAQMD has used these funds to
cost-effectively cut emissions from a wide variety of
mobile sources in our region. Under current law, these
funds can be given as grants for the purchase of new,
cleaner school buses. AB 470 would expand this to allow
air districts, at their discretion, to also fund the
retrofit of existing school buses with particulate traps.
Because school children are particularly vulnerable to air
pollution, and school districts continue to have serious
funding challenges, we urge you to vote "aye" on this
measure."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/5/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Brownley,
Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Bradford, Furutani, Garrick,
Gorell, Hueso, Jones, Nielsen, Vacancy
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JJA:mw 6/30/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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