CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1218

Introduced by Assembly Members McCarty, Berman, and Medina

February 19, 2021

An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 43300) to Chapter 2 of, and to add Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 44257.5) to, Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vehicles.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1218, as introduced, McCarty. Motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards: civil penalty: Equitable Access to Zero-Emissions Vehicles Fund.
Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution and as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions to ensure that the statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030.
This bill would declare that, to help achieve the state’s climate and air quality goals and mandates, it is the goal of the state that 100% of new passenger and light-duty vehicle sales are zero-emission vehicles by 2035. The bill, on and after January 1, 2023, would require the total passenger vehicles and light-duty vehicles sold by a manufacturer in the state in a calendar year to meet specified greenhouse gas emissions standards pursuant to a tiered plan that would require the total passenger vehicles and light-duty vehicles to meet, on average, in the 2030 calendar year a greenhouse gas emissions standard that is 60% and 40% below the average greenhouse gas emissions level for those classes of vehicles in the 2020 calendar year, respectively. The bill would require the state board to impose an administrative civil penalty on a manufacturer who violates these requirements, as specified. The bill would require the state board to deposit any revenues from the administrative civil penalty into the Equitable Access to Zero-Emission Vehicles Fund, which the bill would establish. The bill would make moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for a new vehicle rebate program and for other specified purposes. The bill would require the state board to submit a biennial report to the Legislature that includes certain information relating to the expenditures from the fund.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Reducing emissions from vehicles is critical to the state achieving its air quality mandates and goals as well as its climate goals. Mobile sources, inclusive of all light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles along with other nonroad vehicles, are the largest contributors to the formation of ozone, greenhouse gas emissions, fine particulate matter, and toxic diesel particulate matter. In California, they are responsible for approximately 80 percent of smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
(2) Reducing emissions from light-duty vehicles has tangible impacts on public health, especially for those communities living near major roadways.
(3) The availability of zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) has dramatically increased in the past several years, and sales of ZEVs in California lead the nation; however, the state still needs a tenfold increase in the number of ZEVs on California’s roads to meet the goal of 5,000,000 ZEVs on the road by 2030 and 100 percent sales of new vehicles by 2035.
(4) Every purchase of a new internal combustion vehicle represents approximately 81 kilograms of future carbon dioxide emissions assuming it is driven 200,000 miles over its lifetime with an average of 404 grams per mile. Therefore, sales of vehicles with relatively high greenhouse gas emissions now will impede the climate and air pollution benefits of buying the alternative with zero tailpipe emissions.
(5) These emissions also have a disproportionate effect on communities of color. African Americans are almost three times more likely to die from asthma compared to the general population. Latinx children in the United States are twice as likely to die from asthma attacks, and research has shown that communities of color in California experience higher cancer risk from toxic air contaminants.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that any moneys collected as penalties for violations of this act be appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the purpose of improving access to ZEV purchases for all Californians.

SEC. 2.

 Article 3 (commencing with Section 43300) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
Article  3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards

43300.
 It is the goal of the state that 100 percent of new passenger and light-duty vehicle sales are zero-emission vehicles by 2035 to help achieve the state’s climate and air quality goals and mandates. To ensure strong interim progress is made toward achieving this goal, it is the intent of the Legislature to require manufacturers of those vehicles to comply with the requirements of this article.

43302.
 (a) No later than July 1, 2022, the state board shall determine what the average greenhouse gas emissions per mile was for all new passenger vehicles sold in the state in the 2020 calendar year and for all new light-duty vehicles sold in the state in the 2020 calendar year.
(b) Total new passenger vehicles sold by a manufacturer of those vehicles in the state in a calendar year shall, on average, meet the following greenhouse gas emissions per mile standards:
(1) In each of the 2023 to 2025, inclusive, calendar years, 10 percent lower than the figure determined for passenger vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) In each of the 2026 to 2029, inclusive, calendar years, 30 percent lower than the figure determined for passenger vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a).
(3) In each of the 2030 to 2034, inclusive, calendar years, 60 percent lower than the figure determined for passenger vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) Total new light-duty vehicles sold by a manufacturer of those vehicles in the state in a calendar year shall, on average, meet the following greenhouse gas emissions per mile standards:
(1) In each of the 2023 to 2025, inclusive, calendar years, 5 percent lower than the figure determined for light-duty vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) In each of the 2026 to 2029, inclusive, calendar years, 20 percent lower than the figure determined for light-duty vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a).
(3) In each of the 2030 to 2034, inclusive, calendar years, 40 percent lower than the figure determined for light-duty vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a).

43304.
 (a) A violation of Section 43302 is subject to a civil penalty, which shall be collected administratively by the state board.
(b) The state board shall determine the amount of the administrative civil penalty described in subdivision (a) based on the number of vehicles that the manufacturer sold in the state in the applicable calendar year and on the degree to which the manufacturer exceeded the applicable allowable greenhouse gas emissions standard.

43306.
 The state board shall deposit any revenues collected from the administrative civil penalty assessed pursuant to Section 43304 into the Equitable Access to Zero-Emission Vehicles Fund established pursuant to Section 44257.5.

43308.
 Notwithstanding any other law, a violation of this article is not a crime.

SEC. 3.

 Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 44257.5) is added to Part 5 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER  8.3. Equitable Access to Zero-Emission Vehicles Fund

44257.5.
 (a) The Equitable Access to Zero-Emission Vehicles Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury.
(b) All moneys deposited in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide funding for any of the following:
(1) The Clean Cars 4 All Program established pursuant Section 44124.5.
(2) The program established pursuant to Section 44257.6.
(3) Financial incentives to the dealership that completes the sale of a zero-emission vehicle under the program described in paragraph (1) or (2).
(c) For purposes of this chapter, “fund” means the Equitable Access to Zero-Emission Vehicles Fund.

44257.6.
 (a) No later than July 1, 2022, the state board shall establish a program to offer rebates for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles and other vehicles, as specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), from moneys made available from the fund.
(b) As part of the program, the state board shall do all of the following:
(1) Allow consumers to receive a rebate for the purchase of a qualifying vehicle at the time of sale.
(2) Restrict the availability of incentives for vehicles based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
(3) Consider offering incentives to vehicles with low greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions and that are of a vehicle type and weight in which there are no zero-emission vehicles available in the current model year. Incentives shall not be offered on any vehicle model pursuant to this paragraph for more than three model years.

44257.7.
 (a) On or before December 31, 2024, and every two years thereafter, the state board shall submit a report to the Legislature describing any rebates or other incentives provided by moneys made available from the fund, recommendations to improve the equitable distribution of the fund, and recommendations to make any changes to this chapter to better complement the Clean Cars 4 All Program. The report shall include information regarding the vehicle classes purchased using a rebate, income brackets of persons receiving a rebate, and the geographical area where rebates were received.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.