California Air Resources Board

Summary 

This bill requires the California Department of Insurance (CDI), on or before January 1 2025, in consultation with CARB to create a strategy, further specified in the bill, to address current and future insurance gaps for new heavy-duty truck technologies. Additionally, the bill requires CDI to collect specified insurance information related to heavy-duty trucks utilizing advanced technologies/alternate fuels.

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Summary 

Requires CARB, if CARB requires a fleet owner to acquire zero-emission vehicles as part of its fleet, to authorize the rental of a zero-emission vehicle or vehicles for a cumulative total of 260 days in a calendar year to be deemed ownership of one zero-emission vehicle for purposes of meeting that obligation. This provision would result in the exemption of any vehicles rented less than 260 days as not a part of the “owned fleet,” thereby reducing the fleet’s compliance obligation under CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation. Was not heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

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Summary 

This bill (1) Requires CARB to create a list of cities that contain both a DAC, and some portion of the city is in the top 10 percentile of worst air quality in the state for diesel particulate matter. The bill requires CARB to publish this list of cities on its internet website; (2) bans the operation of heavy-duty diesel fueled vehicles within the city limits of any cities on the aforementioned list. However, the bill provides a number of exemptions to this requirements including emergency vehicles, vehicles operated by utilities, agricultural vehicles, tanks, and out-of-state vehicles; and (3) Create an incentive program to be administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for the purchase of zero-emission or natural gas trucks. Was not heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

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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 required the California Energy Commission, upon appropriation from the Legislature and in consultation with the California Public Utilities Commission, CARB, and the California Integrated Travel Project, to establish a competitive grant program to award moneys for projects that provide an eligible low-income resident with a payment card that may be used at any publicly available electric vehicle charging station. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required the California Energy Commission (CEC) to assess the electric vehicle charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of electric vehicle adoption required for the State to meet the goal of ensuring 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in California are zero-emission vehicles and evaluate the electric vehicle charging infrastructure needs of specified use cases to ensure an equitable deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The bill would have also required CEC to assess whether Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations are disproportionately distributed, whether drivers whose homes are located in rural or urban communities have disproportionate access to charging station infrastructure, whether homes have equal access to electrical panel capacity sufficient to support at-home charging, and whether charging station infrastructure necessary to fulfill the requirements of the California Clean Miles Standard and Incentive Program has been disproportionately distributed. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required the California Energy Commission, in consultation with CARB and the California Public Utilities Commission, to conduct an assessment, as specified, of the electric and hydrogen infrastructure needed to meet the deadlines in Executive Order No. N-79-20 for the transition of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to zero-emission vehicles. The bill would also have required CARB to incorporate a strategic plan to meet the deadlines in Executive Order No. N-79-20 for the transition of medium- and heavy-duty fleets to zero-emission vehicles and the various related assessments as specified into its Mobile Source Strategy.

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Governor’s Veto Message

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 493 without my signature.

This bill would expand the scope of several assessments and strategies developed by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) related to zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure.

However, this bill results in costs to the CEC's primary operating fund, which is currently facing an ongoing structural deficit, and thus exacerbates the fund's structural imbalance.

Additionally, many provisions of this bill are currently being incorporated into relevant ZEV infrastructure planning processes at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in consultation with both the CEC and CARB. At best, this bill's provisions may duplicate these efforts and, at worst, may complicate this work and lead to misaligned interagency work streams.

We must ensure that the CPUC, CEC and CARB utilize their core competencies and focus their expertise and existing resources on improving ZEV infrastructure planning processes. This bill falls short of accomplishing this goal.

For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

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Summary

Requires CARB, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a program to install and maintain electric vehicle service equipment at safety roadside rests, with the goal of serving at least one-half of the parking spaces, excluding those parking spaces designed for use by a tractor-trailer, at each safety roadside rest in California. The bill also requires that the electric vehicle service equipment installed pursuant to the program be available to the public at no charge and be the fastest type that is reasonably commercially available. Was not heard in the Senate Transportation Committee.

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Summary

Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC), in consultation with CARB and the California Public Utilities Commission, on or before June 30, 2024, to convene a stakeholder workgroup to examine challenges and opportunities associated with using a battery electric vehicle and bidirectional electric vehicle service equipment as a mobile battery to power a home or building to provide electricity to the electrical grid, and requires CEC, in consultation with the stakeholder workgroup, on or before January 1, 2026, to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature that includes specified information related to the bidirectional capability of battery electric vehicles and electric vehicle service equipment, as specified. The bill also authorizes CARB to require any weight class of battery electric vehicle to be bidirectional capable if it determines there is a sufficiently compelling beneficial bidirectional-capable use case to the battery electric vehicle operator and electrical grid. Moved to the Assembly Inactive File.

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Summary

Would have required the California Energy Commission (CEC) to equitably allocate money appropriated by the Legislature for hydrogen-fueling infrastructure to specifically prioritize rural communities and low-income communities. The bill also would have required CEC and CARB to jointly review and submit a report to the Legislature on the progress toward establishing this hydrogen-fueling infrastructure. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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