Vehicles: special interest license plates and decals: former American prisoners of war (POWs).

Existing law authorizes private organizations, including veterans' organizations, to participate in special interest license plate programs in which the Department of Motor Vehicles issues license plates with a participating organization's distinctive design or decal, and specifies the various fees concerning the issuance, renewal, registration, and replacement of damaged or unserviceable plates and decals. Existing law permits an eligible person who is a former American prisoner of war to apply for specially designed license plates for his or her vehicle that include distinctive lettering indicating "POW" and "Ex-Prisoner of War" and generally exempts that vehicle from registration and vehicle license fees (VLF) . This bill would additionally require the department, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans' service organizations, to design and make available for issuance a special environmental design license plate for former American prisoners of war who prefer not to have their former status as a "POW" or "Ex-Prisoner of War" identified by words or other markings or symbols. The bill would require specified design criteria for these special interest license plates.