BILL NUMBER: AB 1176 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Perea
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 44272 of, to add Section 44271.3 to, and
to add Chapter 8.8 (commencing with Section 44269) to Part 5 of
Division 26 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to vehicular air
pollution, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1176, as amended, Perea. Vehicular air pollution.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Alternative and
Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction
Act of 2007, which includes the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and
Vehicle Technology Program, administered by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the Air
Quality Improvement Program, administered by the State Air Resources
Board. Existing law requires the emphasis of the Alternative and
Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program to be to develop and
deploy technology and alternative and renewable fuels in the
marketplace, without adopting any one preferred fuel or technology.
Existing law requires the primary purpose of the Air Quality
Improvement Program to be the funding of projects to reduce criteria
air pollutants, to improve air quality, and to fund research to
determine and improve the air quality impacts of alternative
transportation fuels and vehicles, vessels, and equipment
technologies.
This bill would establish the Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels
Access Program, to be administered by the commission, in
consultation with the state board, for the purpose of reducing
the greenhouse gas emissions of diesel motor vehicles by
providing capital assistance for projects that expand advanced
low-carbon diesel fueling infrastructure in communities that are
disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and additionally
where the greatest air quality impacts can be identified.
This bill would require the commission and the state board to
allocate no less than 50% of the available moneys under the
Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program and the
Air Quality Improvement Program to projects that provide direct
benefits to or serve or are located in disadvantaged communities.
This bill would authorize the commission as part of the
Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, to
amend a contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award to extend
the terms of that contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award
by 2 years if the moneys are reprioritized by the commission to apply
toward a project that provides benefits to disadvantaged
communities.
(2) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates
the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based
compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for
fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or
sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to
be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be
available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law
requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state
board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified,
a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Fund.
This bill would appropriate $35,000,000 from the fund to the state
board to implement the Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access
Program.
(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean
Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007 (Chapter 8.9 (commencing with
Section 44270) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety
Code) continue the state's implementation of Assembly Bill 118
(Chapter 750, 750 of the Statutes of
2007) by directing resources to the state's most impacted and
disadvantaged communities to ensure activities taken pursuant to that
authority will provide economic and health benefits to these
communities as well.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The California Communities Environmental Health Screening
Tool, also known as CalEnviroScreen, which was developed by the
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment at the request of
the California Environmental Protection Agency, is a science-based
tool that identifies the California communities most burdened by
pollution from multiple sources and most vulnerable to its effects.
(2) Using CalEnviroScreen, the California Environmental Protection
Agency has identified the top 25 percent highest-scoring census
tracts in the state based on geographic, socioeconomic, public
health, and environmental hazard criteria and has designated these
most impacted regions of the state as disadvantaged communities.
(3) A significant number of the total identified top 25 percent
highest-scoring census tracts of disadvantaged communities are
located in the San Joaquin Valley, which is impacted by heavy freight
traffic moving along the Interstate 5 and Highway 99
corridors, corridors and along Interstate 710,
which runs 18 miles from the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to
the Pomona Freeway (SR-60) in east Los Angeles and encompasses 15
cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County adjacent to the
freeway corridor.
(4) Both regions consistently rate in the top 25 most polluted
locations in the United States and frequently exceed by significant
amounts the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and fine
particulate matter.
(5) Medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles operating on petroleum
diesel fuel and traveling along these heavy freight corridors, which
are located adjacent to or within many of the state's most
environmentally impacted disadvantaged communities, are a significant
contributor to emissions from greenhouse gases and criteria
pollutants.
(6) However, the majority of diesel motor vehicles on the state's
roads today can immediately reduce their emissions of greenhouse
gases, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, and other emissions of
concern by using low-carbon alternative and renewable biomass-based
diesel fuels, such as renewable hydrocarbon diesel and low blends of
biodiesel.
(7) The state's policymakers can facilitate immediate and tangible
reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and criteria pollution and
amplify near-term health cobenefits to the state's most impacted and
disadvantaged communities by funding the development and deployment
of alternative and renewable fueling infrastructure to facilitate
greater access to these advanced low-carbon diesel fuels.
(8) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide the state's
most impacted and disadvantaged communities with reasonable and
cost-effective opportunities to proactively participate in the state'
s greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies, which can provide
immediate benefits in air quality, public health, the environment,
and the economy.
SEC. 2. Chapter 8.8 (commencing with Section 44269) is added to
Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 8.8. ADVANCED LOW-CARBON DIESEL FUELS ACCESS PROGRAM
44269. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Biomass-based diesel fuel" means a diesel fuel that is an
"alternative fuel," as defined in Section 43867.
(a) "Commission" means the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission.
(b) "Disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards" means
public health or environmental effects from the emission or discharge
of substances in a geographic area, including environmental
pollution for all sources whether in a single medium or in multiple
media, routinely, accidently, or otherwise released into the
environment, taking into account sensitive populations and
socioeconomic factors, where applicable and to the extent data is
available.
(c) "Low-carbon diesel fuel" means a biomass-based diesel fuel
that is used in diesel engines and meets all of the following
criteria:
(1) Meets the definition of low-carbon diesel fuel pursuant to the
Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulation (Subarticle 7 (commencing with
Section 95480) of Article 4 of Subchapter 10 of Chapter 1 of Division
3 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations).
(2) Contains a minimum of 21 percent biomass-based content.
(3) Complies with the Commercialization of Alternative Diesel
Fuels regulation (Subarticle 2 (commencing with Section 2293) of
Article 3 of Chapter 5 of Division 3 of Title 13 of the California
Code of Regulations), once that regulation becomes final.
(4) Has a recognized carbon intensity under the Low Carbon Fuel
Standard regulation (Subarticle 7 (commencing with Section 95480) of
Article 4 of Subchapter 10 of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 17 of
the California Code of Regulations) of at least 50 percent lower than
the petroleum diesel baseline carbon intensity valuation.
(5) Does not produce higher levels of oxides of nitrogen or
particulate matter than petroleum diesel fuel.
(c)
(d) "Low-carbon diesel fueling infrastructure" means
the equipment used to store and dispense biomass-based
low-carbon diesel fuel to motor vehicles
according to industry codes and standards and that is open to the
public. Types of eligible equipment include, but are not limited
to, storage, tanks, piping, fittings, fuel dispensers, signage,
point-of-sale systems, and their associated construction.
44269.2. (a) The Advanced Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access Program
is hereby established. The commission, in consultation with the
state board board, shall
administer the program for the purpose of reducing the
greenhouse gas emissions of diesel motor vehicles by providing
capital assistance for projects that expand advanced low-carbon
diesel fueling infrastructure in communities that are
disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and where
additionally the greatest air quality impacts can be identified.
(b) Moneys shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant
to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, for the purposes of
carrying out this chapter.
44269.4. On or before March 1, 2016, the state board
commission shall do both of the following:
(a) Develop guidelines for the implementation of this chapter. The
guidelines shall ensure that the program is focused on communities
that are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and
where the greatest vehicular air pollution impact is identified.
(b) Select, in consultation with the California Environmental
Protection Agency, the disadvantaged communities identified pursuant
to Section 39711.
44269.6. (a) In evaluating projects to be allocated moneys
pursuant to this chapter, the state board
commission shall give priority to a project with all of the
following characteristics:
(1) Occurs in or near communities identified pursuant to Section
39711.
(2) Demonstrates the potential for cobenefits or multibenefit
attributes, including reducing significant emissions of criteria
pollutants or toxic air contaminants.
(3) Quantifies and measures cost-effectiveness and impacts on
disadvantaged and low-income populations.
(4) Demonstrates the ability to leverage additional public or
private funding.
(5) Demonstrates the ability to obtain immediate benefits.
(6) Includes marketing and education outreach strategies designed
to increase the effectiveness of the program's goals.
(b) A project required to be undertaken pursuant to state,
federal, or local laws shall not be allocated moneys pursuant to this
chapter.
SEC. 3. Section 44271.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
44271.3. The commission and the state board shall allocate no
less than 50 percent of the moneys available pursuant to this chapter
to projects that meet either of the following criteria:
(a) Provide direct benefits to communities identified pursuant to
Section 39711.
(b) Serve or are located within communities described in Section
39711.
SEC. 4. Section 44272 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
44272. (a) The Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle
Technology Program is hereby created. The program shall be
administered by the commission. The commission shall implement the
program by regulation pursuant to the requirements of Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code. The program shall provide, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, competitive grants, revolving loans, loan
guarantees, loans, or other appropriate funding measures, to public
agencies, vehicle and technology entities, businesses and projects,
public-private partnerships, workforce training partnerships and
collaboratives, fleet owners, consumers, recreational boaters, and
academic institutions to develop and deploy innovative technologies
that transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help attain the
state's climate change policies. The emphasis of this program shall
be to develop and deploy technology and alternative and renewable
fuels in the marketplace, without adopting any one preferred fuel or
technology.
(b) A project that receives more than seventy-five thousand
dollars ($75,000) in funds from the commission shall be approved at a
noticed public meeting of the commission and shall be consistent
with the priorities established by the investment plan adopted
pursuant to Section 44272.5. Under this article, the commission may
delegate to the commission's executive director, or his or her
designee, the authority to approve either of the following:
(1) A contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award that
receives seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or less in funds
from the commission.
(2) Amendments to a contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or
award as long as the amendments do not increase the amount of the
award, change the scope of the project, or modify the purpose of the
agreement.
(c) The commission shall provide preferences to those projects
that maximize the goals of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and
Vehicle Technology Program, based on the following criteria, as
applicable:
(1) The project's ability to provide a measurable transition from
the nearly exclusive use of petroleum fuels to a diverse portfolio of
viable alternative fuels that meet petroleum reduction and
alternative fuel use goals.
(2) The project's consistency with existing and future state
climate change policy and low-carbon fuel standards.
(3) The project's ability to reduce criteria air pollutants and
air toxics and reduce or avoid multimedia environmental impacts.
(4) The project's ability to decrease, on a life-cycle basis, the
discharge of water pollutants or any other substances known to damage
human health or the environment, in comparison to the production and
use of California Phase 2 Reformulated Gasoline or diesel fuel
produced and sold pursuant to California diesel fuel regulations set
forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 2280) of Chapter 5 of
Division 3 of Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5) The project does not adversely impact the sustainability of
the state's natural resources, especially state and federal lands.
(6) The project provides nonstate matching funds. Costs incurred
from the date a proposed award is noticed may be counted as nonstate
matching funds. The commission may adopt further requirements for the
purposes of this paragraph. The commission is not liable for costs
incurred pursuant to this paragraph if the commission does not give
final approval for the project or the proposed recipient does not
meet requirements adopted by the commission pursuant to this
paragraph.
(7) The project provides economic benefits for California by
promoting California-based technology firms, jobs, and businesses.
(8) The project uses existing or proposed fueling infrastructure
to maximize the outcome of the project.
(9) The project's ability to reduce on a life-cycle assessment
greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10 percent, and higher
percentages in the future, from current reformulated gasoline and
diesel fuel standards established by the state board.
(10) The project's use of alternative fuel blends of at least 20
percent, and higher blend ratios in the future, with a preference for
projects with higher blends.
(11) The project drives new technology advancement for vehicles,
vessels, engines, and other equipment, and promotes the deployment of
that technology in the marketplace.
(d) The commission shall rank applications for projects proposed
for funding awards based on solicitation criteria developed in
accordance with subdivision (c), and shall give additional preference
to funding those projects with higher benefit-cost scores.
(e) Only the following shall be eligible for funding:
(1) Alternative and renewable fuel projects to develop and improve
alternative and renewable low-carbon fuels, including electricity,
ethanol, dimethyl ether, renewable diesel, natural gas, hydrogen, and
biomethane, among others, and their feedstocks that have high
potential for long-term or short-term commercialization, including
projects that lead to sustainable feedstocks.
(2) Demonstration and deployment projects that optimize
alternative and renewable fuels for existing and developing engine
technologies.
(3) Projects to produce alternative and renewable low-carbon fuels
in California.
(4) Projects to decrease the overall impact of an alternative and
renewable fuel's life cycle life-cycle
carbon footprint and increase sustainability.
(5) Alternative and renewable fuel infrastructure, fueling
stations, and equipment. The preference in paragraph (10) of
subdivision (c) shall not apply to renewable diesel or biodiesel
infrastructure, fueling stations, and equipment used solely for
renewable diesel or biodiesel fuel.
(6) Projects to develop and improve light-, medium-, and
heavy-duty vehicle technologies that provide for better fuel
efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions, alternative fuel usage
and storage, or emission reductions, including propulsion systems,
advanced internal combustion engines with a 40 percent or better
efficiency level over the current market standard, lightweight
materials, intelligent transportation systems, energy storage,
control systems and system integration, physical measurement and
metering systems and software, development of design standards and
testing and certification protocols, battery recycling and reuse,
engine and fuel optimization electronic and electrified components,
hybrid technology, plug-in hybrid technology, battery electric
vehicle technology, fuel cell technology, and conversions of hybrid
technology to plug-in technology through the installation of safety
certified supplemental battery modules.
(7) Programs and projects that accelerate the commercialization of
vehicles and alternative and renewable fuels including buy-down
programs through near-market and market-path deployments, advanced
technology warranty or replacement insurance, development of market
niches, supply-chain development, and research related to the
pedestrian safety impacts of vehicle technologies and alternative and
renewable fuels.
(8) Programs and projects to retrofit medium- and heavy-duty
onroad and nonroad vehicle fleets with technologies that create
higher fuel efficiencies, including alternative and renewable fuel
vehicles and technologies, idle management technology, and
aerodynamic retrofits that decrease fuel consumption.
(9) Infrastructure projects that promote alternative and renewable
fuel infrastructure development connected with existing fleets,
public transit, and existing transportation corridors, including
physical measurement or metering equipment and truck stop
electrification.
(10) Workforce training programs related to alternative and
renewable fuel feedstock production and extraction, renewable fuel
production, distribution, transport, and storage, high-performance
and low-emission vehicle technology and high tower electronics,
automotive computer systems, mass transit fleet conversion,
servicing, and maintenance, and other sectors or occupations related
to the purposes of this chapter.
(11) Block grants or incentive programs administered by public
entities or not-for-profit technology entities for multiple projects,
education and program promotion within California, and development
of alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle technology centers. The
commission may adopt guidelines for implementing the block grant or
incentive program, which shall be approved at a noticed public
meeting of the commission.
(12) Life cycle and multimedia analyses, sustainability and
environmental impact evaluations, and market, financial, and
technology assessments performed by a state agency to determine the
impacts of increasing the use of low-carbon transportation fuels and
technologies, and to assist in the preparation of the investment plan
and program implementation.
(13) A program to provide funding for homeowners who purchase a
plug-in electric vehicle to offset costs associated with modifying
electrical sources to include a residential plug-in electric vehicle
charging station. In establishing this program, the commission shall
consider funding criteria to maximize the public benefit of the
program.
(f) The commission may make a single source or sole source award
pursuant to this section for applied research. The same requirements
set forth in Section 25620.5 of the Public Resources Code shall apply
to awards made on a single source basis or a sole source basis. This
subdivision does not authorize the commission to make a single
source or sole source award for a project or activity other than for
applied research.
(g) The commission may do all of the following:
(1) Contract with the Treasurer to expend funds through programs
implemented by the Treasurer, if the expenditure is consistent with
all of the requirements of this article and Article 1 (commencing
with Section 44270).
(2) Contract with small business financial development
corporations established by the Governor's Office of Business and
Economic Development to expend funds through the Small Business Loan
Guarantee Program if the expenditure is consistent with all of the
requirements of this article and Article 1 (commencing with Section
44270).
(3) Advance funds, pursuant to an agreement with the commission,
to any of the following:
(A) A public entity.
(B) A recipient to enable it to make advance payments to a public
entity that is a subrecipient of the funds and under a binding and
enforceable subagreement with the recipient.
(C) An administrator of a block grant program.
(4) Amend a contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or award to
extend the terms of that contract, grant, loan, or other agreement or
award by two years if the moneys are reprioritized by the commission
to apply toward a project that complies with Section 44271.3.
SEC. 5. Notwithstanding Section 39718 of the Health and Safety
Code, the sum of thirty-five million dollars ($35,000,000) is hereby
appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant
to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, to the State Air
Resources Board for the purpose of implementing the Advanced
Low-Carbon Diesel Fuels Access Program (Chapter 8.8 (commencing with
Section 44269) of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety
Code).
SEC. 6. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
To ensure stable funding for programs to reduce vehicular air
pollution for the protection of the public health and safety, it is
necessary for this act to take effect immediately.