BILL NUMBER: AB 2762 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 341
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2000
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 6, 2000
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2000
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 12, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Utilities and Commerce (Wright (Chair),
Pescetti (Vice Chair), Calderon, Campbell, Mazzoni, Vincent, and
Wesson)
FEBRUARY 25, 2000
An act to amend Sections 422 and 424 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2762, Committee on Utilities and Commerce. Common carriers:
passenger vehicle operators: annual fee.
The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission
to impose a fee on common carriers and related businesses to finance
the regulation of those entities by the commission. The act requires
the commission to create separate classes for prescribed carriers.
The act requires the commission to allocate, within each class of
carrier, as defined, and related business subject to the fee, among
the members of the class, the amount of the commission's budget to be
financed by the fee based on the ratio that each member's gross
intrastate revenues bears to the total gross intrastate revenues of
the class, except as specified. The act requires the commission to
establish uniform fees for every carrier and related business having
annual gross intrastate revenues of $100,000 or less, for every
railroad corporation having annual gross intrastate revenues of
$10,000,000 or less, and for commercial air operators and for-hire
vessel operators. The act also authorizes the commission to
establish a uniform annual fee to be paid by a charter-party carrier
of passengers.
This bill would authorize the commission to establish a uniform
fee for the passenger vehicle operators class, on a basis other than
revenue, including, but not limited to, on a per vehicle basis, in an
amount sufficient to support the regulatory activities of the
commission for the class and to establish an appropriate reserve.
This bill would provide that nothing in the above-described
provision pertaining to the commission's authority to create separate
classes restricts the commission from establishing other carrier
classes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares that the amendments
made by this act to Section 424 of the Public Utilities Code are
declarative of existing law.
SEC. 2. Section 422 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
422. The commission shall establish the fee pursuant to Section
421 with the approval of the Department of Finance and in accordance
with all of the following:
(a) In its annual budget request, the commission shall specify, at
a minimum, both of the following:
(1) The amount of its budget to be financed by the fee.
(2) The dollar allocation of the amount of its budget to be
financed by the fee by each class of carrier and related business
subject to the fee. Each class of carrier and related business
subject to this article shall pay fees sufficient to support the
commission's regulatory activities for the class from which the fee
is collected and to establish an appropriate reserve.
(b) The commission may establish different and distinct methods of
assessing fees for each class of carrier and related business, if
the revenues collected are consistent with paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a).
(c) (1) Within each class of carrier and related business subject
to the fee, the commission shall allocate, among the members of the
class, the amount of the commission's budget to be financed by the
fee based on the ratio that each member's gross intrastate revenues
bears to the total gross intrastate revenues of the class, except for
railroad corporations, whose fees shall be allocated within that
class in accordance with subdivision (g).
(2) However, in the case of passenger vehicle operators, the
commission may assess fees on a basis other than revenue, including,
but not limited to, on a per vehicle basis, in an amount sufficient
to support the regulatory activities of the commission for the
passenger vehicle operators class from which the fee is collected,
and to establish an appropriate reserve.
(d) Any carrier or related business which is a member of more than
one class of carrier or related business shall be subject to the fee
for each class of which it is a member.
(e) For every carrier and related business having annual gross
intrastate revenues of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or
less, or for every railroad corporation having annual gross
intrastate revenues of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) or less, the
commission shall annually establish uniform fees, which shall be not
less than a minimum annual fee, to be paid by each carrier and
related business and by each railroad corporation, if the revenues
collected are consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
Every carrier and related business and railroad corporation paying
fees pursuant to this subdivision shall show proof of eligibility at
the time of payment in a form the commission may specify.
(f) The commission shall annually establish a uniform fee, which
shall be not less than a minimum annual fee, to be paid by every
commercial air operator and for-hire vessel operator, if the revenues
collected are consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
(g) The commission shall establish the initial fee amount to be
paid by railroad corporations subject to this section, and the
regulations for the assessment and collection of the fee, no later
than January 31, 1992. The commission shall collect the initial fee
from railroad corporations beginning on February 1, 1992, and shall
disburse the amounts collected as directed in Section 309.7, as added
by Assembly Bill 684 of the 1991-92 Regular Session, and Section
421.
(h) The commission shall establish regulations for allocating the
proportionate share of the fee established pursuant to paragraph (2)
of subdivision (a) to be paid by the rail corporations within that
class. The regulations may utilize gross intrastate revenues; track
mileage within the state; terminals located within the state; loaded
car miles traveled within the state; fuel consumption; or any other
measure deemed by the commission to be appropriate in allocating the
fee among railroad corporations. On or before January 15, 1992,
railroad corporations as a group may submit a proposed plan of
allocation to the commission, which the commission shall consider in
establishing the regulations.
SEC. 3. Section 424 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
424. As used in this article:
(a) "Class" means a group of carriers or related businesses as
specified by the commission for purposes of establishing the fees
pursuant to this article. The commission shall create separate
classes for the following: passenger vehicle operators, pipeline
corporations, vessel operators, railroad corporations, and commercial
air operators. Nothing in this section restricts the commission
from establishing other carrier classes or from establishing other
classes within the existing classes listed in this section, including
classes based on the kinds of vehicles used.
(b) "Gross intrastate revenue" includes all compensation for the
transportation or storage of property or the transportation of
persons when both the origin and destination of the transportation or
the performance of the service is within this state, and shall not
include compensation for the transportation of persons or property in
interstate or foreign commerce or the transportation of vehicles by
ferries. "Gross intrastate revenue," as determined pursuant to this
article, shall apply only for purposes of determining the fees
required by this chapter and shall not necessarily constitute gross
operating revenue for any other purpose.
(c) "Fee" means that monetary amount determined in accordance with
this article.