81R4299 SMH-D
By: Bohac H.B. No. 3656
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas emissions reduction plan, including the motor
vehicle purchase or lease incentive program under the plan.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 382.0622, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) Money deposited to the credit of the clean air account
that is not otherwise dedicated by law for another purpose may be
used to implement and administer the motor vehicle purchase or
lease incentive program established under Subchapter D, Chapter
386. This subsection expires on the date Chapter 386 expires.
SECTION 2. Section 386.153, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 386.153. LIGHT-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLE PURCHASE OR LEASE
INCENTIVE SCHEDULE. (a) In this section, "total consideration"
has the meaning assigned by Section 152.002, Tax Code.
(b) A new light-duty motor vehicle is eligible for an
incentive according to the following schedule:
(1) seven percent of the total consideration if the
motor vehicle emits at least 0.45 pounds but not more than 0.55
pounds of carbon dioxide per mile; or
(2) 10 percent of the total consideration if the motor
vehicle emits less than 0.45 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile.
[Incentive emissions standard and incentive amount
[Model year 2003-2007
[Bin 4 $1,250
[Bin 3 $2,225
[Bin 2 $3,750
[Bin 1 $5,000]
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 386, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 386.157 to read as follows:
Sec. 386.157. INFORMATION RELATED TO MOTOR VEHICLE
EMISSIONS. (a) Each manufacturer of motor vehicles shall prepare
for distribution to its franchised dealers in this state a brochure
that includes:
(1) the list of eligible motor vehicles prepared by
the manufacturer under Section 386.155;
(2) the emissions and air pollution ratings, not
including fuel efficiency, for each motor vehicle included in the
list, based on information from the Green Vehicle Guide published
by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and
(3) information on how consumers can obtain additional
information from the Green Vehicle Guide.
(b) In addition to the information required by Subsection
(a), the brochure shall include:
(1) the emissions and air pollution ratings, not
including fuel efficiency, for each motor vehicle described by
Subsection (a)(1) based on the motor vehicle's federal bin
certification number;
(2) information on where the federal bin certification
number is located on each motor vehicle; and
(3) instructions that clearly indicate how to
interpret the federal bin certification number.
(c) The commission by rule shall establish standards
relating to the preparation and distribution to franchised dealers
and to the dealers' customers of the brochure required by this
section.
SECTION 4. Section 386.160(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller by rule shall develop a method to
administer and account for the motor vehicle purchase or lease
incentives authorized by this subchapter and to pay incentive money
to the purchaser or lessee of a new motor vehicle, on application of
the purchaser or lessee as provided by this subchapter. The
comptroller shall process applications for incentives in the order
in which they are received.
SECTION 5. Section 386.161(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) If the balance available for motor vehicle purchase or
lease incentives falls below 15 percent of the total allocated for
the incentives during that fiscal year, the comptroller by order
shall suspend the incentives and cease accepting or processing
applications for incentives until the date the comptroller can
certify that the balance available in the fund for incentives is an
amount adequate to resume the incentives or the beginning of the
next fiscal year, whichever is earlier. If the comptroller
suspends the incentives, the comptroller shall immediately notify
the commission and all new motor vehicle dealers and leasing agents
that the incentives have been suspended.
SECTION 6. Section 386.252(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Money in the fund may be used only to implement and
administer programs established under the plan and shall be
allocated as follows:
(1) for the diesel emissions reduction incentive
program, 77.5 [87.5] percent of the money in the fund, of which not
more than four percent may be used for the clean school bus program
and not more than 10 percent may be used for on-road diesel purchase
or lease incentives;
(2) for the new technology research and development
program, 9.5 percent of the money in the fund, of which up to
$250,000 is allocated for administration, up to $200,000 is
allocated for a health effects study, $500,000 is to be deposited in
the state treasury to the credit of the clean air account created
under Section 382.0622 to supplement funding for air quality
planning activities in affected counties, not less than 20 percent
is to be allocated each year to support research related to air
quality for the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria and Dallas-Fort Worth
nonattainment areas by a nonprofit organization based in Houston of
which $216,000 each year shall be contracted to the Energy Systems
Laboratory at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station for the
development and annual calculation of creditable statewide
emissions reductions obtained through wind and other renewable
energy resources for the State Implementation Plan, and the balance
is to be allocated each year to a nonprofit organization or an
institution of higher education based in Houston to be used to
implement and administer the new technology research and
development program under a contract with the commission for the
purpose of identifying, testing, and evaluating new
emissions-reducing technologies with potential for
commercialization in this state and to facilitate their
certification or verification; [and]
(3) for the motor vehicle purchase or lease incentive
program, 10 percent of the money in the fund; and
(4) for administrative costs incurred by the
commission and the laboratory, three percent of the money in the
fund.
SECTION 7. Section 386.153, Health and Safety Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a new motor vehicle sold or
leased on or after the effective date of this Act. A new motor
vehicle sold or leased before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 8. (a) Not later than June 1, 2010, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt the rules required
by Section 386.157, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2010, each manufacturer of a
new motor vehicle offered for sale in this state shall prepare and
distribute to its franchised dealers in this state the brochure
required by Section 386.157, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.