California Air Resources Board

Bill Summary

Would have required CARB to create a Lower Emissions Transition Program and establish eligibility guidelines and approve projects that reduce cumulative emissions from cargo handling equipment (CHE) sources at seaports in the state during the transition period to zero-emissions CHE requirements. The bill would have prohibited the approval of a project after the compliance date required by any applicable statute, regulation, or rule that requires a change in equipment to a zero-emission standard. The bill would have required CARB to establish an application fee to be deposited in the Air Pollution Control Fund. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary 

Would have prohibited CARB from requiring the San Francisco bar pilots, serving the bays of Monterey, San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun, to replace a pilot station boat before the end of the boat's useful life. CARB’s Commercial Harbor Craft regulation requires an earlier implementation date for the pilot vessels. The bill would have required the useful life to be between 25 and 35 years from the date the boat was commissioned and be determined by CARB in consultation with the Board of Pilot Commissioners and an accredited marine surveyor.

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Governor’s Veto Message

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1296 without my signature.

This bill would prohibit state regulations, namely the Commercial Harbor Craft (CHC) regulation, from requiring the San Francisco Bar Pilots to replace pilot station vessels with lower-emitting vessels, unless such a regulation authorizes its replacement at the end of the vessel's useful life, prescribed as between 25 and 35 years.

In 2020, I issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20, which directed the California Air Resources Board (CARB), among other things, to develop strategies to transition to 100 percent zero-emission off-road vehicles, vessels, and equipment by 2035, where feasible.  Under this EO, CARB amended the CHC regulation to accelerate emission reductions while providing safe, feasible, and flexible compliance options for affected vessels, including compliance extensions of up to six additional years for pilot station vessels beyond the compliance dates of December 2024 and December 2025.

While I recognize the challenges of adopting new technologies, California must work diligently to reduce air pollution that fouls our air and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to our rapidly changing climate.  In addition, this amendment to the CHC rule would require CARB to resubmit its request for authorization to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) - a step that would delay the U.S. EPA's final decision and undo months of work.  Delays in receiving that federal authorization would deprive local communities of the substantial public health benefits associated with the regulations and compromise the State's ability to meet our federally mandated air quality standards.

For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

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Summary 

Would have required CARB to replace the implementation schedule of the Commercial Harbor Craft regulation with a vessel’s individual Coast Guard inspection schedule or within 30 months, whichever occurred first after any applicable compliance extensions have expired. This bill would have also required a diesel particulate filter retrofitted onto a commercial harbor craft engine to include an override or bypass safety system, designed and installed by the manufacturer. This bill would have required the override/bypass to include an electric monitoring and tracking system to track each time the system was used.  This bill would have required, within 30 days of use of the system, the owner or operator to report the use of the override/bypass system to the manufacturer and to CARB.

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Governor’s Veto Message

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1122 without my signature.

This bill would make multiple changes to the California Air Resources Board 's (CARB) Commercial Harbor Craft (CHC) regulation, including the delay of certain compliance dates and an override system for diesel particulate filter devices with a detailed monitoring, tracking, and reporting system.

In 2020, I issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20 which directed CARB, among other things, to develop strategies to transition to 100 percent zero-emission offroad vehicles and equipment by 2035, where feasible.  Pursuant to this EO, CARB amended the CHC regulation to accelerate emission reductions while providing safe, feasible, and flexible compliance options for affected vessels.  Unfortunately, this bill undermines this balance and jeopardizes our clean air goals.

While I recognize the challenges and concerns of adopting new technologies and approaches, Californians deserve and benefit from clean air and from the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to our rapidly changing climate.  With that, I encourage operators of the affected vessels to work towards meeting the CHC regulations, and if there are insurmountable challenges, to continue to work with CARB to explore additional and alternative compliance pathways.

For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

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Summary

Would have enacted the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Clean Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would have authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15,995,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, clean energy, and workforce development programs. Was not heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

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Summary 

Imposes an additional annual $4 charge on each motor vehicle registered in the state and requires Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to collect the charge and deposit revenues from the charge in the Air Quality Improvement Fee Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would continuously appropriate the revenues in the fund to the DMV for distribution upon request to air pollution control districts and air quality management districts based upon the amount of the charges collected from motor vehicles registered within each air district, thereby creating an appropriation. The bill would require these revenues to be used for the reduction of air pollution from motor vehicles and for related planning, monitoring, enforcement, and technical studies, as specified, or for the attainment or maintenance of state or federal ambient air quality standards or the reduction of toxic air contaminant emissions from motor vehicles. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary 

This bill would have required CARB to exempt agricultural vehicles and specialty agricultural vehicles that do not exceed 10,000 miles of operation annually from any regulation to reduce emissions of diesel particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, and other criteria air pollutants from in-use, diesel-fueled vehicles.The bill would also have prohibited CARB from adopting any regulation that requires an off-road agricultural vehicle or piece of equipment to satisfy any zero-emission requirement.Was amended to deal with the Drought Relief Grant Program.

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Summary 

Would have extended fee authority for both CARB's Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) and the California Energy Commission's (CEC) Clean Transportation Program. The bill also would have made programmatic changes, including providing direction that AQIP projects should focus on the deployment of zero-emission fuel and vehicle technologies and that the primary purpose of the program is to fund projects to reduce criteria air pollutants in the logistics, trucking, and port sectors, improve air quality in nonattainment basins, and improve the air quality impacts of zero-emission transportation fuels and vehicles, vessels, and equipment technologies. Moved to Senate Inactive File.

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Summary 

This bill requires, commencing January 1, 2035, 100% of all newly purchased or contracted schoolbuses of a school district, county office of education, or charter school to be zero-emission vehicles, where feasible. The bill authorizes local educational agencies, in order to comply with the aforementioned  requirement, to request a one-time extension for a term not to exceed 5 years if a local educational agency determines that the purchase or contracting of a zero-emission schoolbus is not feasible due to both terrain and route constraints, provided that certain conditions are met.

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Summary 

Would have extended fee authority for both CARB's Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) and the California Energy Commission's (CEC) Clean Transportation Program. The bill also would have made programmatic changes, including providing direction that AQIP projects should focus on the deployment of zero-emission fuel and vehicle technologies and that the primary purpose of the program is to fund projects to reduce criteria air pollutants in the logistics, trucking, and port sectors, improve air quality in nonattainment basins, and improve the air quality impacts of zero-emission transportation fuels and vehicles, vessels, and equipment technologies. Failed passage on the Assembly Floor.

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Summary 

This bill extends the sunset dates for various motor vehicle fees, which support the following incentive programs: the Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP); the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program (EFMP), the Consumer Assistance Program (CAP); and the Clean Transportation Program (CTP). CARB defers to the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) analysis on the impacts of this bill on the CTP program and defers to the Bureau of Automotive Repairs (BAR) for the impact to the CAP program. CARB’s analysis will focus on AQIP and EFMP.

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