BILL NUMBER: AB 1229 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 575
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 6, 2005
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 6, 2005
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2005
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nation
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Pavley)
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to amend Section 43200 of, and to add Section 43200.1 to,
the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1229, Nation Air pollution: new motor vehicles: air pollution
label.
Existing law permits the State Air Resources Board to adopt a
regulation to prohibit the sale and registration of any new motor
vehicle certified by the state board to which there has not been
affixed by the manufacturer on a side window to the rear of the
driver or, if it cannot be so placed, to the windshield, a decal
disclosing specified emissions information, including, for 1976 and
subsequent model year motor vehicles, exhaust emissions data,
determined as provided. Existing law requires the state board to
develop and adopt regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and
cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from motor
vehicles. Existing law also prohibits the sale and registration of a
new motor vehicle unless a decal that discloses a smog index for the
vehicle is affixed, as specified above.
This bill would require the state board, not later than July 1,
2007, to revise regulations relating to the decal, to rename the
existing decal, and to require the renamed label to provide specified
emissions information. The bill would expand the requirement to
place exhaust emissions information for 1976 and subsequent model
year motor vehicles on the emissions index label to include the
affixiation of additional emissions data, as provided, on any new
motor vehicle. The bill would require the label to be affixed to the
driver's side window or, if it cannot be so placed, to the
windshield. The bill would require a specified smog index and a
global warming index to be included on the emissions information
label, as specified, that the state board is authorized, by
regulation, to require. The bill would subject to the above
provisions, at a minimum, all passenger cars and light-duty trucks
with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or less, and all vehicles
that are subject to those regulations adopted by the state board
pertaining to achieving reductions in global warming gases.
This bill would also require the state board to seek specified
input in designing the label, to update the indices included in the
air pollution label as necessary, to consider other relevant label
formats, as specified, and to incorporate information from the label
into existing programs designed to educate motor vehicle consumers
about emissions of global warming gases and other air pollutants.
This bill would permit the state board to recommend to the
Legislature additional sources of air pollution that emit significant
amounts of global warming gases for which the disclosure of
information regarding those emissions would be an effective means of
educating the public about the sources of global warming and its
impacts. The bill would permit the state board to accept donations or
grants of funds from any person for the purposes of the program, and
would require amounts received to be deposited into the Air
Pollution Control Fund. The bill would require the source of any
funds received to be disclosed at specified public hearings and
workshops. The bill would also permit donations, grants, or other
commitments of money to be dedicated for specific purposes.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations
relating to global warming gases and motor vehicle emissions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The use of fossil fuels in motor vehicles is one of the
primary human sources of global warming gases that trap heat in the
Earth's atmosphere, leading to a warming effect on the planet.
(b) Increasing concentrations of global warming gases in the
atmosphere are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change in
California.
(c) Scientific research indicates that the impact of global
warming on our environment will be profound. Global warming will
significantly impact the state's air quality, water resources,
forests, agricultural regions, coastal regions, and the health of the
state's residents.
(d) Air pollution can cause or aggravate a wide range of serious
health problems, including cancer, birth defects, respiratory
illnesses such as asthma and emphysema, heart and blood ailments,
nervous system toxicity, and premature death.
(e) Even after years of improvements in vehicle emissions
technologies and effective emissions regulations, many residents of
California are exposed to unhealthy air.
(f) Emissions from motor vehicles contribute over half of
California's smog-forming pollution.
(g) New motor vehicles offered for sale in the state vary
substantially in terms of smog-forming and global warming emissions.
SEC. 2. Section 43200 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
43200. (a) The state board may adopt a regulation to prohibit the
sale and registration in this state of any new motor vehicle
certified by the state board to which there has not been securely and
conspicuously affixed on the driver's side window or, if it cannot
be so placed, to the windshield of the motor vehicle in accordance
with paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 26708 of the Vehicle
Code, by the manufacturer a label on which the manufacturer shall
endorse clearly, distinctly, and legibly true and correct entries
disclosing the following information concerning the motor vehicle:
(1) The emission standards adopted by the state board pursuant to
Section 43101 that are applicable to that motor vehicle.
(2) The information required by Section 43200.1 and related air
pollution emissions information as specified by the state board.
(b) A regulation may be adopted pursuant to this section only if
the state board finds that the regulation is necessary for either of
the following:
(1) To enforce or ensure compliance with applicable statutes,
standards, or procedures relating to vehicle emissions.
(2) For the protection or information of consumers.
(c) Nothing in this division or in any other statute shall be
construed as prohibiting a purchaser from removing the decal required
by this section, after the purchaser has taken possession of the
vehicle.
SEC. 3. Section 43200.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
43200.1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that since 1998,
the state board has imposed smog index label specifications on new
passenger cars and light-duty trucks that are sold and registered in
the state to inform consumers about emissions of air pollutants from
the use of new vehicles.
(b) (1) (A) The state board, not later than July 1, 2007, shall
revise the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 43200 to rename
the existing label required by those regulations, and to require the
renamed label to include, for model year 2009 and subsequent model
year motor vehicles, information on the emissions of global warming
gases from motor vehicles for the same model year.
(B) This subdivision applies to, at a minimum, all passenger cars
and light-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or
less, and to all motor vehicles subject to regulation pursuant to
Section 43018.5.
(C) Emissions of global warming gases shall include emissions, as
determined by the state board, from vehicle operation and upstream
emissions.
(2) The label shall include all of the following:
(A) A smog index that contains quantitative information presented
in a continuous, easy-to-read scale, unless the state board
determines, after at least one public workshop, that an alternative
graphical representation will more effectively convey the information
to consumers, and that compares the emissions from the vehicle with
the average projected emissions from all vehicles of the same model
year sold in the state for which a label is required. For reference
purposes, the index shall also identify the emissions from the
vehicle model of that same model year that has the lowest
smog-forming emissions.
(B) A global warming index that contains quantitative information
presented in a continuous, easy-to-read scale, unless the state board
determines, after at least one public workshop, that an alternative
graphical representation will more effectively convey the information
to consumers, and that compares the emissions of global warming
gases from the vehicle with the average projected emissions of global
warming gases from all vehicles of the same model year sold in the
state for which a label is required. For reference purposes, the
index shall also identify the emissions of global warming gases from
the vehicle model of that same model year that has the lowest
emissions of global warming gases.
(C) A brief explanation, prepared by the state board, of the
indices required by this section, including the identification of
motor vehicle usage as a primary cause of global warming, and how
emissions of those gases from motor vehicles may be reduced.
(D) The use of at least one color ink, as determined by the state
board, in addition to black.
(c) In order to ensure that the label is useful and informative to
consumers, the state board, shall, to the extent feasible within its
existing resources, do both of the following in designing the label:
(1) Seek input from automotive consumers, graphic design
professionals, and persons with expertise in environmental labeling.
(2) Consider other relevant label formats consistent with
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).
(d) The indices included in the label pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) shall be updated as determined necessary by the
state board to ensure that the differences in emissions among
vehicles are readily apparent to the consumer.
(e) The state board, in consultation with other agencies as
appropriate, may recommend to the Legislature additional sources of
air pollution that emit significant amounts of global warming gases
for which the disclosure of information regarding those emissions
would be an effective means of educating the public about the sources
of global warming and its impacts.
(f) The state board shall, as it determines appropriate and to the
extent feasible within its existing resources, incorporate
information from the label into existing programs designed to educate
motor vehicle consumers about emissions of global warming gases and
other air pollutants.
(g) The state board may accept donations or grants of funds from
any person for the purposes of the program established pursuant to
this section, and shall deposit amounts received from donations or
grants into the Air Pollution Control Fund. The source of any funds
received pursuant to this section shall be disclosed at all public
hearings and workshops to implement this section. Donations, grants,
or other commitments of money to the fund may be dedicated for
specific purposes consistent with the goals of this section.
(h) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) "Global warming gases" has the same meaning as greenhouse
gases given in subdivision (h) of Section 42801.1.
(2) "Upstream emissions" means emissions of global warming gases
that occur during the extraction, refining, transport, and local
distribution of motor vehicle fuels as determined by the state board.