Article 1. General Provisions of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 26. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 8.9. >> Article 1.
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean
Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(a) "Benefit-cost score," for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel
and Vehicle Technology Program created pursuant to Section 44272,
means a project's expected or potential greenhouse gas emissions
reduction per dollar awarded by the commission to the project from
the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund.
(b) "Commission" means the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission.
(c) "Full fuel-cycle assessment" or "life-cycle assessment" means
evaluating and comparing the full environmental and health impacts of
each step in the life cycle of a fuel, including, but not limited
to, all of the following:
(1) Feedstock production, extraction, cultivation, transport, and
storage, and the transportation and use of water and changes in land
use and land cover therein.
(2) Fuel production, manufacture, distribution, marketing,
transport, and storage, and the transportation and use of water
therein.
(3) Vehicle operation, including refueling, combustion,
conversion, permeation, and evaporation.
(d) "Vehicle technology" means any vehicle, boat, off-road
equipment, or locomotive, or component thereof, including its engine,
propulsion system, transmission, or construction materials.
(e) For purposes of the Air Quality Improvement Program created
pursuant to Section 44274, the following terms have the following
meanings:
(1) "Benefit-cost score" means the reasonably expected or
potential criteria pollutant emission reductions achieved per dollar
awarded by the board for the project.
(2) "Project" means a category of investments identified for
potential funding by the board, including, but not limited to,
competitive grants, revolving loans, loan guarantees, loans,
vouchers, rebates, and other appropriate funding measures for
specific vehicles, equipment, technologies, or initiatives authorized
by Section 44274.
(a) This chapter creates the Alternative and Renewable Fuel
and Vehicle Technology Program, pursuant to Section 44272, to be
administered by the commission, and the Air Quality Improvement
Program, pursuant to Section 44274, to be administered by the state
board. The commission and the state board shall do all of the
following in fulfilling their responsibilities pursuant to their
respective programs:
(1) Establish sustainability goals to ensure that alternative and
renewable fuel and vehicle deployment projects, on a full fuel-cycle
assessment basis, will not adversely impact natural resources,
especially state and federal lands.
(2) Establish a competitive process for the allocation of funds
for projects funded pursuant to this chapter, which considers, among
other factors, the benefit-cost score, as defined in subdivision (a)
of Section 44270.3, associated with a project for the Alternative and
Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program or, as defined in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 44270.3, associated with
a project, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section
44270.3, for the Air Quality Improvement Program.
(3) Identify additional federal and private funding opportunities
to augment or complement the programs created pursuant to this
chapter.
(4) Ensure that the results of the reductions in emissions or
benefits can be measured and quantified.
(5) Ensure that those revenues derived from fees imposed on motor
vehicles that are expended pursuant to this chapter, as amended by
Assembly Bill 8 of the 2013-14 Regular Session of the Legislature,
are expended in compliance with Section 3 of Article XIX of the
California Constitution, as were the revenues derived from fees
imposed on motor vehicles pursuant to Assembly Bill 118 (Chapter 750
of the Statutes of 2007).
(b) The state board, in consultation with the commission, shall
develop and adopt guidelines for both the Alternative and Renewable
Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program and the Air Quality Improvement
Program to ensure that programs meet both of the following
requirements:
(1) Activities undertaken pursuant to the programs complement, and
do not interfere with, efforts to achieve and maintain federal and
state ambient air quality standards and to reduce toxic air
contaminant and greenhouse gas emissions.
(2) Activities undertaken pursuant to the programs maintain or
improve upon emission reductions and air quality benefits in the
State Implementation Plan for Ozone, California Phase 2 Reformulated
Gasoline standards, and diesel fuel regulations.
(c) For the purposes of both of the programs created by this
chapter, eligible projects do not include those required to be
undertaken pursuant to state or federal law, district rules or
regulations, memoranda of understanding with a governmental entity,
or legally binding agreements or documents. For the purposes of the
Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, the
state board shall advise the commission to ensure the requirements of
this subdivision are met.