AB 2734: Vehicles: special interest license plates.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in consultation with the California Coastal Commission, to design and make available for issuance special environmental design license plates that bear a graphic design depicting a California coastal motif. The department is required to impose certain fees for the issuance, renewal, substitution, and transfer of the plates, in addition to the regular fees for an original registration or renewal of registration. Existing law requires that certain additional fees be allocated to the California Environmental License Plate Fund. The department, after deducting its administrative costs, is required to deposit any additional revenue derived from the issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of the special environmental design license plates, in the amount of ¹/₂ in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account in the California Environmental License Plate Fund and ¹/₂ in the California Environmental License Plate Fund.

Existing law requires the Controller to allocate the funds in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, first to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the specified public beach and coastal maintenance programs and second, from funds remaining after the first allocation, to the State Coastal Conservancy for coastal natural resource restoration and enhancement projects and for other coastal projects.

This bill would, for fees collected on or after January 1, 2027, allocate ¹/₂ of all additional revenue to the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account and would require the Controller, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate the moneys to the California Coastal Commission for beach and coastal maintenance programs and ¹/₂ to the Coastal Access Account for the support of grant programs administered by the State Coastal Conservancy, subject to a determination by the Department of Finance that a sufficient balance exists in the Environmental License Plate Fund to maintain the amount of the current years total expenditures and a prudent reserve, as defined.

Existing law authorizes state agencies to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program and requires the department to issue specialized plates for that program if the agency complies with certain requirements.

The bill would make certain allocations of moneys deposited to the California Environmental License Plate Fund on or after January 1, 2027, from the 49ers Foundation license plate program. Specifically, the bill would require (1)10% of these moneys to be deposited in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account to be allocated, upon appropriation, to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the Whale Tail Grants Program, the Adopt-A-Beach program, the Coastal Cleanup Day program, and other coastal public education programs, (2)10% to be deposited in the Coastal Access Account within the State Coastal Conservancy Fund to be allocated, upon appropriation, for support of the State Coastal Conservancys Explore the Coast grants, and (3)20% to be allocated, upon appropriation, for the Outdoor Equity Grants Program.