South Coast Air Quality Management District

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Legislative Committee

SYNOPSIS: 

The Legislative Committee considered agenda items including recommended new positions on the following bills for which the Board will consider adopting positions:

          AB 1877 (Maldonado) – Air District Rules and Regulations
          AB 2061 (Lowenthal) – Zero-Emission Vehicles: Alternative Diesel Fuel
          SB 1298 (Bowen) – Distributed Generation
          SB 1300 (Sher) – California Clean Air Act

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Approve the legislative positions recommended below.

Jane Carney, Vice-Chair
Legislative Committee

Attendance

The Legislative Committee met on September 8, 2000. Present were Committee Vice-Chair Jane Carney, and Committee members Michael Antonovich and Roy Wilson. Norma Glover, AQMD Board Vice-Chair was also in attendance, but did not vote. Committee Chair Beatrice J.S. LaPisto-Kirtley and Committee Member Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta were unable to attend. (Attachment 1)

Washington Update

Peter Robertson, AQMD Washington Legislative Representative, provided the Committee with an update on activities in Washington. The Senate Environment Committee approved Senator Bob Smith’s bill [S 2962] which would ban MTBE over the next four years, allowing states to opt out immediately if so inclined. Senator Smith has made this bill his highest priority. Although the bill passed out of committee, there was opposition from some Senators representing oil industry states and it is unlikely that the bill will be passed and sent to the President before this Congress adjourns. Senator Smith is attempting to have this bill added to appropriations legislation that could pass this year. There remains strong support in the Congress for passing legislation that would ban MTBE.

The effort to gain funding for the Clean Air Technology Transfer Proposal continues with Barry Wallerstein, Executive Officer, and Norma Glover, Board Vice-Chair traveling to Washington to meet with Congressional members and staff in a final effort to urge support for the Proposal. Congress adjourns on October 6.

Sacramento Legislative Update/Wrap-up

Allan Lind, AQMD Sacramento Legislative Representative, briefed the Committee on recent activities in Sacramento. (Attachment 2 and 3) The legislative session ended on August 31 and the Governor has until September 30 to sign or veto legislation. There was a last minute attempt to pass a bill by Senator Johannessen (SB 1058) that would have hindered the effectiveness of the vehicle retirement program. The bill was sponsored by car collector clubs and hobbyists who are concerned about obtaining parts from cars that would otherwise be scrapped. The bill failed its first hearing, narrowly passed its second hearing, and eventually died.

Addressing the growing concern over the availability of electricity in California, in the eleventh hour the Legislature passed AB 970 (Ducheny) that will speed up the siting of power plants. The Governor signed AB 970 into law on September 7.

The AQMD will receive funding from the FY 2000-2001 state budget for the Carl Moyer Program, air district subvention and the school bus replacement program. Dr. Wallerstein added that the ARB plans to hold a workshop on the school bus replacement program and has invited the AQMD to participate on the School Bus Replacement Advisory Panel currently being created.

Mr. Lind suggested a briefing during the legislative recess for legislative staff in Sacramento in order to update them on AQMD activities.

Recommended New Positions on Bills

Staff provided summaries and recommendations on four bills and provided a brief description of each bill. (Attachment 4)
 

Bill/Title	Recommended Position
AB 1877 (Maldonado) – Air District Rules & Regulations	From "Watch/Seek Amendment" to "Support"
AB 2061 (Lowenthal) – Zero-Emission Vehicles: Alternative Diesel Fuel	Support
SB 1298 (Bowen) – Distributed Generation	From "Oppose unless Amended" to "Neutral"
SB 1300 (Sher) – California Clean Air Act	Support

• AB 1877 (Maldonado), will require air districts, upon the request of an owner or operator of equipment subject to Best Available Control Technology (BACT) or Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER), to review whether the applicable emission requirements have been achieved and to determine whether the requirements should be required for a source category or source, if the owner or operator demonstrates the equipment failed to meet BACT or LAER. Initially,
  AB 1877 applied to all emission limitations and air pollution control standards and staff recommended an amendment to limit the applicability to BACT or rule requirements. The bill was amended to apply only to BACT and LAER. The Legislative Committee concurred with staff's recommendation to change the position from "Watch/Seek Amendment" to "Support".
  
  
• AB 2061 (Lowenthal), establishes a grant program for air districts to offset the incremental costs of alternative diesel fuel used in heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, AB 2061 establishes a grant program to encourage consumers and businesses to lease or buy zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) instead of more polluting cars. The bill appropriates $18,500,000 ($500,000 for the alternative diesel fuel grant program and $18,000,000 for the ZEV grant program) from the general fund to ARB to administer the programs. The provisions in AB 2061 pertaining to the ZEV grant program were formally part of SB 1726 as a tax credit program. AQMD took a Support position on SB 1726 in April. The Legislative Committee concurred with staff's recommendation to Support AB 2061.
  
  
• SB 1298 (Bowen), requires the ARB to adopt emission performance standards reflecting the best available control technology (BACT) for distributed generation technologies. The bill also requires the ARB to develop a certification program for verifying that distributed generators meet the applicable emissions performance standards. The Legislative Committee adopted an Oppose unless Amended position on SB 1298 in August based on concerns that SB 1298 could result in a rollback of local air district requirements and that the bill did not contain provisions to ensure that the proposed certification program take into consideration toxics and localized risk. SB 1298 was amended to address AQMD concerns regarding AQMD permitting authority, but did not include explicit references to toxics and localized risk. Mr. Lind commented that the amendments not included in the bill were due to the pace of activities near the end of the session and not resistance to the amendments by the author. There is also a provision in the bill that may be problematic, suggesting that the standard set for distributed generation be comparable to existing permitted power plants. The Legislative Committee concurred with staff's recommendation to change the position from "Oppose unless Amended" to "Neutral" on SB 1298.
  
  
• SB 1300 (Sher), is the CAPCOA-sponsored omnibus bill to make numerous changes to various provisions of the California Clean Air Act. The provisions of this bill were originally contained in CAPCOA’s SB 821, which was vetoed by Governor Davis in 1999. SB 1300 is substantially similar to SB 821, except for changes made to address concerns that led to the Governor’s veto. Dr. Wallerstein commented that there are some important points included in the bill for all air districts, including improvements to the ARB certification of vapor recovery systems at service stations and a potential change to the Carl Moyer Program to alleviate some of the responsibility on matching dollars. The Legislative Committee concurred with staff's recommendation to Support SB 1300.

Other Business/Public Comment

None

Attachments

1. Attendance Roster
2. Summary Status of 2000 State Air Quality Legislation
3. Legislative Status Report
4. Recommended Positions on Bills

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