BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1459
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:  March 26, 2012

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
                  AB 1459 (Huber) - As Introduced:  January 9, 2012
           
          SUBJECT  :  Scientific Advisory Committee on Acid Deposition

           SUMMARY  :  Repeals the Scientific Advisory Committee on Acid 
          Deposition (Committee) that was appointed to assist the 
          California Air Resources Board (CARB) in the implementation of 
          the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Program (AAPP).  The AAPP 
          lasted from 1983 to 1993 and is no longer in existence. 

           EXISTING LAW  

          1)Created the AAPP to investigate how and if atmospheric acidity 
            has affected public health and the state's ecosystems.

          2)Established the Committee to assist CARB in the development of 
            the AAPP.

           THIS BILL  repeals the Committee, which issued its final 
          assessment in October 2000 and is no longer active. 
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  The AAPP required air districts to charge fees to 
          support and mitigate acid deposition, and it set standards and 
          reporting requirements.  The fees, standards, and reporting were 
          discontinued beginning in 1994, and the Committee oversaw and 
          prepared AAPP's Final Assessment in October 2000.  

          The report concluded that acidic pollutants were a moderate to 
          minor problem in California.  Additionally, atmospheric nitrogen 
          levels (concentrations of gaseous nitrogen oxides and particle 
          nitrate), one of the main causes of acidity, have been on the 
          decline since the 1970s as a result of other ambient air 
          controls. 

          CARB's Air Quality Monitoring Network currently measures 
          nitrogen oxide in many of the air basins, and Title 17, section 
          70200 of the California Code of Regulations sets the current 
          ambient air standards for nitrogen dioxide below the federal 
          average.  








                                                                  AB 1459
                                                                  Page 2


          This bill repeals the obsolete Scientific Advisory Committee.  
          Health & Safety Code 39603 provides that advisory committee 
          members only receive compensation for work performed as an 
          active committee, and once the committee has given its advice, 
          it shall cease to function.  Thus, there may be a question as to 
          whether this bill is even needed, but other than that, it 
          appears to be non-controversial.













































                                                                  AB 1459
                                                                  Page 3

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          The American Federation of State, County and Municipal 
          Employees, AFL-CIO

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :  Marianna Dietrich / NAT. RES. / (916) 
          319-2092