BILL NUMBER: SCR 76	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Emmerson

                        MARCH 15, 2012

   Relative to vehicular air pollution.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 76, as introduced, Emmerson. Vehicular air pollution: school
buses.
   This measure would urge the State Air Resources Board to exempt
school buses from a specified regulation until there is full funding
available through the Lower-Emission School Bus Program. The measure
also would urge the State Air Resources Board to focus all its
efforts on using funds from the Lower-Emission School Bus Program in
addition to obtaining new funding to replace the oldest school buses
that do not have seat belts and do not have any emissions controls to
limit the dangerous diesel particulate matter and oxides of
nitrogen.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, School transportation in the state is the safest mode of
ground transportation; and
   WHEREAS, School districts and school transportation providers in
the state care deeply about the health and safety of the pupils that
they serve; and
   WHEREAS, The State Air Resources Board has adopted Section 2025 of
Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations, commonly known as
the Truck and Bus Regulation; and
   WHEREAS, School buses are one of the classes of on-road, heavy
duty, diesel vehicles that are required to comply with the
regulation; and
   WHEREAS, The State Air Resources Board has mandated school
districts to retrofit school buses manufactured after April 1, 1977,
pursuant to the Truck and Bus Regulation, and has provided limited
funding under the Lower-Emission School Bus Program to complete the
retrofits, with school districts required to provide matching funds;
and
   WHEREAS, The required funding match is much greater for school
districts that want to purchase natural gas and other alternative
fueled school buses; and
   WHEREAS, The State Air Resources Board has not provided full
funding to school districts to reimburse the school districts for the
retrofit mandate under the Truck and Bus Regulation, the school bus
replacement mandate for school buses manufactured before April 1,
1977, under the Truck and Bus Regulation, and the Proposition 1B
(Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security
Bond Act of 2006) funding match mandate under the Lower-Emission
School Bus Program; and
   WHEREAS, The State Air Resources Board was never given explicit
statutory authority or explicit authority by the voters to require
match requirements of school districts; and
   WHEREAS, School transportation funding in the state has been
severely underfinanced for the past 27 years, pays for less than 45
percent of the overall operational costs, and currently is facing an
additional 20 percent funding cut; and
   WHEREAS, Many school districts are severely burdened with the
largest funding cuts seen in a generation, and many school districts
are reducing or eliminating school transportation service; and
   WHEREAS, Those decisions have forced many pupils to use far more
dangerous modes of travel to school; and
   WHEREAS, The pressure to comply with the State Air Resources Board'
s regulations without a full funding mechanism is additionally
forcing school districts to park buses and eliminate service; and
   WHEREAS, This action unwittingly creates more exhaust emissions
because more pupils ride in single automobiles; now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature urges the State Air
Resources Board to exempt school buses from Section 2025 of Title 13
of the California Code of Regulations until there is full funding
available through the Lower-Emission School Bus Program; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the State Air Resources Board is urged to focus all
its efforts on using funds from the Lower-Emission School Bus
Program in addition to obtaining new funding to replace the oldest
school buses that do not have seat belts and do not have any
emissions controls to limit the dangerous diesel particulate matter
and oxides of nitrogen; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.