BILL NUMBER: AB 414INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani FEBRUARY 23, 2009 An act to amend Section 44297 of, and to add Section 44297.5 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 414, as introduced, Galgiani. Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program: heavy-duty fleet modernization projects. Existing law establishes the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program (Carl Moyer program), which is administered by the State Air Resources Board, to provide grants to offset the incremental cost of eligible projects that reduce emissions of air pollutants from sources in the state. Under the Carl Moyer program, the state board is authorized to provide funding for, among other things, eligible heavy-duty fleet modernization projects, including a project that replaces an old engine or vehicle with a newer engine or vehicle certified to more stringent emissions standards than the engine or vehicle being replaced. The bill would require the state board to develop and implement a trade-down program that provides assistance to owners of high-use, newer model, heavy-duty fleet vehicles to convert those vehicles for lower use, commercial operations in a manner that reduces emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. The bill would provide that the trade-down program would be eligible for funding under the Carl Moyer program as an eligible heavy-duty fleet modernization project if it meets a specified criterion. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, approved by the voters as Proposition 1B at the November 7, 2006, general election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds for various purposes, including one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) for projects that improve air quality, which are presently designated for truck retrofits. (b) It is in the public interest to pursue all cost-effective efforts, consistent with the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 44275) of Part 5 of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code), to retire from service the oldest, most heavily polluting, heavy-duty diesel vehicles, and, through a trade-down program, replace those vehicles with newer, lower emission vehicles. SEC. 2. Section 44297 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 44297. (a) The state board, acting within its existing authority, shall, at its first opportunity following January 1, 2005, revise the grant criteria and guidelines adopted pursuant to Section 44287 to incorporate projects described in subdivision (c). (b) The guidelines may define eligible costs to include monitoring and verifying compliance with this article. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a project that meetseitherone of the following criteria constitutes a heavy-duty fleet modernization project and thus is eligible for funding under the program, if it complies with the guidelines established by the state board pursuant to subdivision (a): (1) Replaces an old engine or vehicle with a newer engine or vehicle certified to more stringent emissions standards than the engine or vehicle being replaced, pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 44281. (2) Provides the equivalent emission reductions as would be gained by a project that combines both of the following: (A) The purchase of a new very low or zero-emission covered vehicle pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 44281. (B) The replacement of an old engine or vehicle with a newer engine or vehicle certified to more stringent standards than the engine or vehicle being replaced, pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 44281. (3) The replacement of older model vehicles used in commercial operations with newer model vehicles in accordance with Section 44297.5. (d) In establishing guidelines pursuant to subdivision (a), the state board shall consider any existing heavy-duty fleet modernization program carried out by a district. The state board shall design a program that, to the extent feasible, includes fleet owners, independent truck owners, heavy-duty vehicle dealers, districts, and other participants it determines appropriate from existing local programs. (e) The grants provided pursuant to this article shall provide moneys to offset the incremental cost of projects that reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). (f) The state board shall determine an appropriate weighted cost-effectiveness standard for projects intended to reduce particulate matter. SEC. 3. Section 44297.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 44297.5. (a) The state board, in consultation with the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and the California Transportation Commission, shall develop and implement a trade-down program that provides assistance to owners of high-use, newer model, heavy-duty fleet vehicles to convert those vehicles for lower use, commercial operations in a manner that reduces emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. (b) The program developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be eligible for funding under the program if it meets the criterion set forth in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 44297, and under any other program if it meets the criteria set in those programs.