Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. marked “National Plug In Day” by signing a half dozen bills to support California’s burgeoning electric vehicle market.
This legislation builds on the state’s efforts to help California's electric vehicle market grow, including an Executive Order issued by Governor Brown that established a target of 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road in California by 2025 and a number of other long-term goals.
“Today, we reaffirm our commitment in California to an electric vehicle future,” said Governor Brown in a statement.
Earlier this month, Governor Brown joined dozens of California business, automotive, consumer, technology and utility leaders to discuss and highlight public and private sector efforts to expand the state's electric vehicle market at the "Drive the Dream" event sponsored by the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative.
The Governor signed the following bills today:
• AB 8: Extends to 2024 programs aimed at reducing auto emissions in California, including the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, the Air Quality Improvement Program, the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program and the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program.
Assembly Bill 8, passed on a bipartisan vote, will provide more than $2 billion in funding to help fleets and consumers purchase clean and low carbon cars, trucks, buses, and construction equipment. This bill represents the largest financial commitment by a state to cleaning up its transportation sector.
• AB 266: Extends the white sticker program allowing for certain low-emission vehicles to drive in high-occupancy or “diamond” lanes until 2019 or until federal authorization expires.
• AB 1092: Requires the California Building Standards Commission and the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop standards for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in multi-family housing and non-residential developments.
• SB 286: Extends the green sticker program allowing for certain low-emission vehicles to drive in high-occupancy or “diamond” lanes until 2019 or until federal authorization expires.
• SB 359: Provides $30 million to fund the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project and the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project; $10 million to fund the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Air Quality Loan Program; and appropriates $8 million for the enhanced fleet modernization program.
• SB 454: Creates the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act, which removes obstacles to using electric vehicles by making electric vehicle charging stations accessible to all electric vehicle drivers, easier to locate and more convenient to use.