BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 470
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 470 (Halderman)
As Amended June 30, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |71-0 |(May 5, 2011) |SENATE: |37-0 |(July 11, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Authorizes an air pollution control district or a regional
air quality management district (district), until January 1, 2015,
to use motor vehicle registration fee revenues (the last $2 increase
of the $6 dollar surcharge, as specified) for retrofit of emissions
control equipment for existing school buses.
The Senate amendments incorporate provisions of AB 462 (Bonnie
Lowenthal) of 2011 and add double-jointing language to both this
bill and AB 462. This bill is substantially similar to the version
as previously passed in the Assembly.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a district, until January 1, 2015, to establish a fee
of up to $6 on the registration of motor vehicles registered in
the district.
2)Requires the revenues from the first $4 of the fee be used for
specified purposes. Requires that the revenues from the last $2
of the fee be used to implement programs to remediate
the air pollution harms caused by motor vehicles under the Carl
Moyer program, the new purchase, retrofit, repower, or add-on of
equipment for previously unregulated agricultural sources, the new
purchase of schoolbuses pursuant to the Lower-Emission School Bus
Program (LESBP), and an accelerated vehicle retirement or repair
program.
3)Establishes, under the Federal Clean Air Act passed in 1970,
requirements and standards for the national air pollution control
program. Basic elements of the act include national ambient air
quality standards for major air pollutants, hazardous air
pollutants standards, state attainment plans, motor vehicle
emissions standards, stationary source emissions standards and
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permits, acid rain control measures, stratospheric ozone
protection, and enforcement provisions.
4)Confers, under state law, authority to the California Air
Resources Board (ARB) over emission standards for mobile sources.
The law does not confer authority to ARB to issue permits directly
to stationary sources of air pollution. Instead, state law
provides that districts have jurisdiction over emission standards
for non-mobile, or stationary, sources.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill authorized an air pollution
control district or a regional air quality management district
(district), until January 1, 2015, to use motor vehicle registration
fee revenues (the last $2 increase of the $6 dollar surcharge, as
specified) for retrofit of emissions control equipment for existing
school buses.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Current law allows districts throughout the state to
impose a surcharge on motor vehicle registration. This surcharge is
used to pay for a number of air quality projects, including the
LESBP. The goal of the LESBP is to reduce the exposure of school
children to the harmful effects of school bus exhaust. Current laws
only allow the motor vehicle registration surcharge funds to be used
to purchase brand new buses. The surcharge cannot be used for
retrofitting older buses with pollution control equipment. The
author contends, however, that to ensure maximum participation in
the LESBP and in order to offer cost saving alternatives, the law
must be changed to grant school districts the ability to retrofit
the emissions control equipment on existing school buses that use
diesel fuels.
According to the author, this bill "gives school districts greater
flexibility in how to use available funds, and offers a
cost-effective alternative to having to purchase brand new school
buses. This legislation only extends the use of new school bus
funds for the retrofitting of existing school buses with emission
reduction equipment especially as funds for the purchasing of new
buses are limited."
Lower-Emission School Bus Program (LESBP): The primary goal of the
ARB's LESBP is to reduce school children's exposure to both
cancer-causing and smog-forming pollution by first replacing buses
manufactured prior to 1977 (no match funds required). The program
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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. The ARB staff, in coordination with the
California Energy Commission (CEC) and the local air pollution
control districts, has developed guidelines for implementation of
the LESBP funds. For buses of model years 1977-1986, LESBP funds
can be used for replacement buses with a match requirement. For
middle-aged buses from 1987 model years and newer, the program can
be used for emission control retrofits with match requirements.
Support: According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
(BAAQMD) writing in support of this bill, "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."
Related bill: AB 462 (Bonnie Lowenthal) of 2011, a similar bill,
allows districts, until January 1, 2015, to use motor vehicle
registration fee revenues to replace natural gas fuel tanks on
school buses or replace fueling dispenser nozzles. Both this bill
and AB 462 are double-jointed.
AB 923 (Firebaugh and Pavley) Chapter 707, Statutes of 2004,
authorized districts to impose an additional $2 of the $4 surcharge
on motor vehicle registrations to implement clean air programs as
specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0001470