AB 1609: Air pollution: motor vehicle registration: pollution reduction.

(1)Existing law requires a registration fee to be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the registration of each vehicle or trailer coach of a type subject to registration under the Vehicle Code, except those vehicles that are expressly exempted from the payment of registration fees. Existing law, until January 1, 2024, increases vehicle registration fees by $3 and requires revenues from those fees to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for programs to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles.

This bill would impose an additional annual $4 charge on each motor vehicle registered in the state except those vehicles that are expressly exempted from the payment of registration fees, thereby imposing a tax. The bill would require the department to collect the charge and deposit revenues from the charge in the Air Quality Improvement Fee Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would continuously appropriate the revenues in the fund to the department for distribution upon request to air pollution control districts and air quality management districts based upon the amount of the charges collected from motor vehicles registered within each air district, thereby creating an appropriation. The bill would require these revenues to be used for the reduction of air pollution from motor vehicles and for related planning, monitoring, enforcement, and technical studies, as specified, or for the attainment or maintenance of state or federal ambient air quality standards or the reduction of toxic air contaminant emissions from motor vehicles. The bill would also authorize the department to withhold up to 1% of the annual revenues collected from the charge to cover its administrative costs. costs, and the bill would authorize an air district to use not more than 6.25% of the revenues distributed to the air district for its administrative costs. The bill would require the charge to be increased annually based on the California Consumer Price Index, as specified.

(2)Existing law authorizes an air pollution control or air quality management district, except the Sacramento district, to levy a surcharge of up to $6 on the registration fees for motor vehicles registered in the air district, as specified by the governing body of the air district. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect that surcharge if requested by an air district, and requires the department, after deducting its administrative costs, to distribute the revenues to the air districts. Existing law, until January 1, 2034, authorizes a $2 increment of that surcharge to be used for the reduction of air pollution from motor vehicles and for related planning, monitoring, enforcement, and technical studies, as specified, or for the attainment or maintenance of state or federal ambient air quality standards or the reduction of toxic air contaminant emissions from motor vehicles.

This bill would authorize that increment to be used for both of those purposes indefinitely.

(3)This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of ²/₃ of the membership of each house of the Legislature.