Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program: Air Quality Improvement Fund.

(1) Under existing law, the State Air Resources Board has the primary responsibility for the control of emissions from motor vehicles. The state board is required to administer the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program to provide grants to offset the incremental cost of projects that reduce covered emissions from covered sources. The state board is required to establish and update grant criteria and guidelines for covered vehicle projects. This bill would require the state board to make grants available to covered vehicles and engines without regard to cost-effectiveness criteria from January 1, 2010, to January 1, 2011, inclusive. (2) Existing law creates the Air Quality Improvement Fund, which is administered by the State Air Resources Board. The moneys in the fund are available to the state board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement the Air Quality Improvement Program. This bill would appropriate $10,000,000 from the Air Quality Improvement Fund to the state board for the purpose of providing direct grants and zero- or low- interest loans, from January 1, 2010, to January 1, 2011, inclusive, to owners of on-road heavy-duty diesel-fueled motor vehicles in order to purchase equipment for compliance with any regulation adopted by the state board for the reduction of air pollution from those vehicles. (3) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on January 8, 2010. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 8, 2010, pursuant to the California Constitution.