Air resources: clean vehicle incentive program.

Existing law designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution and as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law establishes the Air Pollution Control Fund. Moneys in the fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the state board to carry out its duties and functions. Existing law requires the state board, no later than January 1, 2005, to develop and adopt regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Existing law provides that if regulations adopted pursuant to these provisions do not remain in effect, the state board is required to implement alternative regulations to control mobile sources of greenhouse gas emissions to achieve equivalent or greater reductions. Under existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the state board is also required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. This bill would authorize the state board to adopt and implement a clean vehicle incentive, or feebate, program consisting of one-time rebates and one-time surcharges on the sale of new passenger motor vehicles. The bill would require the state board to establish the program only if the state board determines that it would be beneficial to achieving the greenhouse gas emission goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The bill would require the state board to adopt and implement a clean vehicle incentive program to achieve equivalent or greater emission reductions of greenhouse gases from mobile sources if the state board determines that the above provisions of existing law requiring the state board to develop and adopt regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles by January 1, 2005, do not remain in effect or are substantially delayed. This bill would also require any revenues collected under the program to be deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to only be expended by the state board to implement these provisions.