BOARD MEETING DATE: October 1, 2004
AGENDA NO. 22

Legislative Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Legislative Committee held its regular meeting on Friday, September 10, 2004 and discussed agenda items. The next Legislative Committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, October 8, 2004, at 8:00 a.m. in Conference Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file this report.

Beatrice J.S. LaPisto-Kirtley, Chair
Legislative Committee

Attendance [Attachment 1]
The Legislative Committee met on September 10, 2004. Present was Vice-Chair Jane Carney. In attendance via videoconference were Committee Chair Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, and Committee Members S. Roy Wilson, Michael Antonovich, Jan Perry, and Bill Postmus.

Washington Report [Attachment 2]
Lynn Jacquez, AQMD federal legislative consultant, reported that Congress has reconvened from their recess, with the Senate trying to process its appropriations bills. Ms. Jacquez said that she does not believe that there will be any kind of energy legislation before the end of this session. As far as the Surface Transportation reauthorization program, they were in contact over the August recess with all of the committee staff and will continue to work on it as it is going forward because things could change in a short time.

Mr. Lance Larson, AQMD federal legislative consultant, reported that a letter was hand-carried to the California Transportation Conference that addressed the possibility of California getting less Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) dollars. (This letter was signed by SANBAG, RCTC, OCTA, LAMTA, SCAG and the AQMD). In response to Chair LaPisto-Kirtley's question on the likelihood of this being reauthorized, Mr. Larson replied that Senator Barbara Boxer, who is very concerned with this issue, will be a big help in getting the CMAQ funding.

In regard to a recently released health study, Barry Wallerstein, Executive Officer, said that it was his intent to create a legislative handout on the University of Southern California's Children's Health Study to educate state legislative members and their staff. Ms. Jacquez requested that information be forwarded to her so she could distribute it to the California congressional delegation.

Chair Beatrice LaPisto-Kirtley requested that it be in a user friendly format and that a draft be forwarded to her.

Dr. Wallerstein also stated that AQMD has supported the health study and that mobile sources are the root cause of the bulk of our air pollution problem. In addition, the Board has supported legislative efforts to continue funding the Moyer Program and legislation to reduce emissions from railroad operations.

Ms. Jacquez also offered to provide copies of a recent report from the U.S. EPA regarding particulate matter pollution and the link to premature deaths.

Sacramento Report/Update [Attachment 3]
Allan Lind, AQMD state legislative consultant, reported that there were over 1,200 bills sent to the Governor. As of September 8, 2004, the Governor had signed 355 bills.

Mr. Lind also said that there will be significant changes in the legislature after the November elections. A quarter of the Senate is termed out and of the 19 Senators which overlay the South Coast Air Basin, three members (Brulte, Johnson, Karnette) will be leaving because of term limits, Senator Knight who passed away earlier this year, prior to being termed out. In addition, there is a new President Pro Tem for the Senate (Perata), and a new Minority Leader (Ackerman). With regard to the Assembly, there are 23 open seats. Eighteen of these members were termed out and 5 ran for higher office.

Regarding AQMD's legislative agenda, Mr. Lind reported that a Board priority for the past legislative year was to come up with permanent funding for the Carl Moyer Program and to look at ways of mitigating the impacts of railroad operations in the basin and to try to insulate AQMD's state subvention funds.

These efforts were quite successful overall, with permanent funding being established through a budget trailer bill and additional funding through AB 923 (Firebaugh.) Dr. Wallerstein said that Oscar Abarca and his staff worked very hard and that both CCEEB and WSPA should also be acknowledged for their assistance.

He also said that although the railroad bill (SB 1397) was not enacted, the effort to achieve diesel locomotive emission reductions would continue next year.

Board Member Mike Antonovich commented that when you have major legislation such as SB 1397, it can take two to three years to get it passed and said that a lot was accomplished during this session. He also said that reintroducing the legislation and working further with industry should provide greater success the next time.

Mr. Lind said that the AQMD's goal of sustaining state subvention funds was also achieved.

Below is a current listing of active bills for which the Legislative Committee and the Board have taken a position, and their status (as of September 15, 2004) with the Governor.
 

Bill	Title	Legislative Committee Position	Governing Board Position	Status
AB 653 (Nunez)	Energy Efficiency: Public Buildings	Support	Support	A-Enrolled 9/10
AB 923 (Firebaugh)	Air Pollution			A-Enrolled 8/28
AB 1009 (Pavley)	Air Pollution: Heavy-Duty Vehicles: Emissions	Support	Support	A-Enrollment 8/28
AB 1394 (Levine)	Air Pollution: Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program: Particulate Matter	Support with amendments	Support with amendments	A-Enrollment 8/28
AB 1971 (Lowenthal)	Air Pollution: Marine Terminals	Support	Support	A-Enrolled 8/27
AB 2024 (Bermudez)	Ports: Transportation Network	Support with amendments	Support with amendments	A-Enrolled 9/9
AB 2042 (Lowenthal)	Ports: Port of Los Angeles: Port of Long Beach: Air Pollution	Support	Support	A-Enrollment 9/15
AB 2043 (Lowenthal)	Maritime Port Strategic Master Plan Task Force	Support with amendments	Support with amendments	A-Enrolled 8/24
AB 2353 (Leslie)	Neighborhood Electric Vehicles	Support	Support	A-Chaptered 9/9
AB 2628 (Pavley)	Vehicles: Preferential Lanes	Support with amendments	Support with amendments	A-Enrolled 9/13
AB 2644 (Oropeza)	Air Pollution: Schoolbus Idling and Idling at Schools	Support	Support	A-Enrolled 9/27
AB 2657 (Nunez)	Metal Plating Facilities	Support with amendments	Support with amendments	A-Enrolled 9/14
AB 2683 (Lieber)	Air Pollution: Smog Check	Support	Support	A-Enrollment 8/27
SB 1615 (Denham)	Air Pollution: Smog Check: Out-of-State Vehicles	Oppose	Oppose	S-Enrolled 8/26

With regard to AB 1009, Chair Bea LaPisto-Kirtley said that the language contains the wording "to the extent possible under federal guidelines" and wanted to know if anything on the federal level could be done that would give the bill any "teeth" should it become law. Dr. Wallerstein replied that there were some preemption issues that had to be addressed, but that is why the language was placed into the bill. He also noted that the bill is supported by the California Trucking Association, and a number of other groups.

Vice Chair Jane Carney acknowledged and thanked the staff and lobbying team for a successful legislative year. She said that at the board retreat over a year ago, they saw that the focus needed to turn to reducing mobile sources of emissions and spoke about a more aggressive legislative effort which has worked out well. Chair Bea LaPisto-Kirtley concurred.

A written report was also provided.

Authorization to Seek Federal Funding for Hydrogen/Natural Gas Projects
Paul Wuebben, Clean Fuels Officer, provided the committee with a presentation on staff's recommendation to seek authorization of federal funding for hydrogen and natural gas projects. He said that a few months back, the Legislative Committee and the Governing Board endorsed the creation of a task force to seek federal funding and appropriations for hydrogen projects. Staff identified hydrogen and natural gas projects for vehicle and infrasture technology. He highlighted the synergies between hydrogen and natural gas infrastructure development.

Staff has identified $6.7 million in several project areas for natural gas to hydrogen transition with one in the engine development and demonstration arena. He requested the committee's endorsement of an initiative to seek federal funding for these combined hydrogen/natural gas projects and to authorize staff to provide briefings to the appropriate federal and congressional authorities, and to coordinate, as appropriate, with the task force on hydrogen projects. Staff will also coordinate our efforts with our Washington lobbyists.

The Legislative Committee unanimously approved staff's recommendation for the Authorization to Seek Federal Funding for Hydrogen/Natural Gas Projects. This item will be forwarded to the October Board meeting for action and approval.

Other Business:
None.

Public Comments:
Sue Gornick (via videoconference) of New Hampshire Ball Bearings asked whether there was an AQMD staff contact regarding the California Performance Review. Dr. Wallerstein offered his personal assistance and that he would be happy to discuss the items in which the Board has an established position.

Attachments: (9,953 KB)

1. Attendance Roster
2. Federal Legislative Status Report
3. Sacramento Update

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