BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1459
                                                                  Page 1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1459 (Huber)
          As Amended  June 18, 2012
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |74-0 |(April 26,      |SENATE: |36-0 |(July 6, 2012) |
          |           |     |2012)           |        |     |               |
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           Original Committee Reference:   NAT. RES.  

           SUMMARY  :  Repeals the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act of 1988 
          (Act), which established the Atmospheric Acidity Protection 
          Program (AAPP).  The AAPP lasted from 1983 to 1993 and is no 
          longer in existence. 

           The Senate amendments  expanded the bill to repeal the entire 
          Act. 

           EXISTING LAW  created the AAPP to investigate how and if 
          atmospheric acidity has affected public health and the state's 
          ecosystems.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill repealed the Scientific 
          Advisory Committee on Acid Deposition (Committee) that was 
          appointed to assist the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 
          the implementation of the AAPP.  The Committee issued its final 
          assessment in October 2000 and is no longer active. 
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. 
           

           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 








                                                                  AB 1459
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          controls. 

          The CARB's Air Quality Monitoring Network currently measures 
          nitrogen oxide in many of the state's 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.  

          This bill repeals the obsolete Act.  

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 
          319-2092 


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