SB 1445

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Planning and Zoning Law establishes the Planning Advisory and Assistance Council in the Office of Planning and Research, and prescribes the membership and duties of the council. This bill would modify the membership of the council, establish new processes for selecting specified members of the council, and prescribe new duties of the council relating to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. (2) The Planning and Zoning Law also requires certain transportation planning activities by regional transportation planning agencies designated by the Director of Transportation, including the development of a regional transportation plan. That law requires the regional transportation plan to include, among other items, a sustainable communities strategy, to be prepared as specified. This bill would authorize a metropolitan planning organization, a council of governments, or a county transportation commission, and a subregional council of governments jointly preparing a subregional sustainable communities strategy, singularly titled an "authority" and collectively titled the "authorities," to levy a mitigation fee of up to $4 upon the registration or renewal of registration of any motor vehicle registered in a county or city and county within the jurisdiction of the authority, upon receiving voter approval to implement and impose the fee from a majority of the aggregate voters in all counties and cities and counties within the jurisdiction of the authority. Notwithstanding this authorization, the bill would prohibit a council of governments within the Association of Bay Area Governments that only represents a portion of the region from levying the fee. The bill would require an authority seeking to implement and impose the fee to adopt a measure containing specified findings of fact, and, upon the authority's adoption of the measure and its written request to the counties and cities and counties within its jurisdiction, the board of supervisors of each of those counties and cities and counties to submit to the voters, at a local election consolidated with a statewide primary or general election specified by the authority, the measure adopted by the authority. The bill would authorize the authority, upon the approval of the measure by an aggregate majority of the voters of all counties and cities and counties within its jurisdiction, to implement and impose the fee. The bill would also authorize the authority, if the measure is not approved, to reuse this procedure to seek voter approval of the fee. The bill would require the authority to reimburse each county and city and county within its jurisdiction for the cost of submitting the measure to the voters, from the fee revenues it receives if the measure is approved, and from funds available through the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act if the measure is not approved. The bill would require, if the authority's measure is adopted by a majority of the aggregate voters in all counties and cities and counties within the authority's jurisdiction, the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect and administer the fee, as specified, and the authority to deposit all fee revenues it receives from the department in the Regional Blueprint Plan Implementation Fund, to be created and administered by the authority. The bill would require the net revenues of the fee received by the authority to be used to identify land use strategies, reduce the use of motor vehicles within its jurisdiction, and to carry out specified transportation-related activities, for the purpose of achieving a specified greenhouse gas emission reduction target. The bill would require, if the fee exceeds $2, all revenue derived from the amount of the fee in excess of $2 to be made available by the authority in the form of grants to specified entities within its jurisdiction, as specified. The bill would require the grants to only be made after a finding by the authority that the funds will be used exclusively for planning and projects relating to the implementation of a sustainable communities strategy or a regional blueprint plan. The bill would authorize the authority to divide the fee revenues it receives with the local air quality management district that has responsibility over all or part of the same geographic area, pursuant to an agreement with that district, and would require the district to use all fee revenues it receives to assist local and regional governments in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, if requested by a county air pollution control district, air quality management district, or unified or regional air pollution control district, to collect specified fees upon the registration or renewal of registration of any motor vehicle in the district, except those vehicles which are expressly exempt from the payment of registration fees. Existing law requires the department, after deducting its costs, to distribute the revenues of the fees to the appropriate district. This bill would additionally require the department, if requested by an authority, to collect the authority's mitigation fee upon the registration or renewal of registration of any motor vehicle registered within the jurisdiction of the authority, and, after deducting its costs as specified, to distribute the revenues of the mitigation fee to the appropriate authority. Upon the adoption of the fee in counties of which the aggregate population constitutes at least 50% of the population of the state, the department would be required to deposit 1% of the net fee revenues into the Planning Advisory and Assistance Council Fund, which this bill would create within the State Treasury. After making that deposit, the bill would require the department to distribute the remaining fee revenue to the appropriate authority. The bill would require the Controller, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to make the moneys within the fund available to the Planning Advisory and Assistance Council for the performance of specified functions. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 65040.6 of the Government Code made by AB 2754 that would become operative if both bills are enacted and this bill becomes enacted after AB 2754.