Bill Text: CA AB1672 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State Air Resources Board: election of board members.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-22 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Failed passage. [AB1672 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB1672-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1672 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jeffries
JANUARY 20, 2010
An act to amend Section 39511 of, to add Section 39510.5 to, and
to amend, repeal, and add Section 39510 of, the Health and Safety
Code, relating to the State Air Resources Board.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1672, as introduced, Jeffries. State Air Resources Board:
election of board members.
Existing law establishes in the California Environmental
Protection Agency the State Air Resources Board, which is responsible
for control of emissions from motor vehicles and is designated the
air pollution control agency for all purposes set forth in federal
law. Existing law requires the state board to consist of 11 members
appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, and
specifies the qualifications of those members.
This bill, commencing with the 2012 statewide general election,
would require the members of the state board to be elected by
district voters. The bill would require the state board, by January
1, 2012, to draw district boundaries in accordance with prescribed
criteria, for the purpose of the election of state board members. The
bill would prescribe requirements for the election of the members of
the state board and would make other conforming changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares that reestablishing
the State Air Resources Board as an elected body in the state
government will provide greater accountability for the board's
actions.
SEC. 2. Section 39510 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
39510. (a) The State Air Resources Board is continued in
existence in the California Environmental Protection Agency. The
state board shall consist of 11 members.
(b) The members shall be appointed by the Governor, with the
consent of the Senate, on the basis of their demonstrated interest
and proven ability in the field of air pollution control and their
understanding of the needs of the general public in connection with
air pollution problems. Six members shall have the following
qualifications:
(1) One member shall have training and experience in automotive
engineering or closely related fields.
(2) One member shall have training and experience in chemistry,
meteorology, or related scientific fields, including agriculture or
law.
(3) One member shall be a physician and surgeon or an authority on
health effects of air pollution.
(4) Two members shall be public members.
(5) One member shall have the qualifications specified in
paragraph (1), (2), or (3) or shall have experience in the field of
air pollution control.
(c) Five members shall be board members from districts who shall
reflect the qualitative requirements of subdivision (b) to the extent
practicable. Of these five members, one shall be a board member from
the south coast district, one shall be a board member from the bay
district, one shall be a board member from the San Joaquin Valley
Unified Air Pollution Control District or, if the unified district is
abolished, from the San Joaquin Valley Air Quality Management
District if created pursuant to Section 5 of Chapter 915 of the
Statutes of 1994, one shall be a board member from the San Diego
County Air Pollution Control District, and one shall be a board
member of any other district.
(d) Any vacancy shall be filled by the Governor within 30 days of
the date on which it occurs. If the Governor fails to make an
appointment for any vacancy within the 30-day period, the Senate
Committee on Rules may make the appointment to fill the vacancy in
accordance with this section.
(e) While serving on the state board, all members shall exercise
their independent judgment as officers of the state on behalf of the
interests of the entire state in furthering the purposes of this
division. No member of the state board shall be precluded from voting
or otherwise acting upon any matter solely because that member has
voted or acted upon the matter in his or her capacity as a member of
a district board, except that no member of the state board who is
also a member of a district board shall participate in any action
regarding his or her district taken by the state board pursuant to
Sections 41503 to 41505, inclusive.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 1 of Chapter 1201
of the Statutes of 1991, this section shall become operative on
January 1, 1994.
(g) This section shall become inoperative on December 4, 2012,
and, as of January 1, 2013, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2013, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 39510 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
39510. (a) Beginning on December 4, 2012, the State Air Resources
Board shall consist of 11 members from the 11 districts established
pursuant to subdivision (k), each of whom shall be elected by the
voters of his or her respective district. Each member shall be a
resident of the district from which the member is elected.
(b) Elections to elect the members of the state board shall be
held commencing with the statewide general election on November 6,
2012, and each statewide general election thereafter in accordance
with the terms specified in subdivision (c).
(c) Candidates shall declare their candidacy and shall be
nominated, election returns shall be canvassed, the election shall be
held and conducted, and the certificates of election shall be
issued, in the same manner as the declaration of candidacy,
nomination, election, canvassing of returns, declaration of results,
and issuance of certificates of election are made, declared, held,
and conducted and issued as provided under the applicable provisions
of the Elections Code. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
the provisions of the Elections Code apply to the election of the
members of the state board.
(d) A person shall not vote at any district election unless the
person resides in the district in which the person casts the vote.
(e) The candidate that receives the highest number of votes cast
for the position of member of the state board for a district shall be
elected as a member of the state board for that district.
(f) Members elected on November 6, 2012, shall take office on
December 4, 2012. Thereafter, each member shall enter upon the duties
of his or her office on the first Monday after the first day of
January next succeeding the statewide general election in which the
member was elected. Each member shall continue to serve his or her
term until his or her successor is eligible to enter upon the duties
of the office.
(g) Each member shall serve a term of four years, except that
members of the board elected on November 6, 2012, shall select five
members by lot whose initial term shall be for two years. Any member
may subsequently be elected to serve any subsequent four-year term.
(h) The office of member of the state board shall be a nonpartisan
office and each member shall exercise his or her independent
judgment as an officer of the state on behalf of the interests of the
entire state in furthering the purposes of this division.
(i) A member shall not designate an alternate for any purpose or
otherwise be represented by another person in his or her capacity as
a member of the state board.
(j) When a vacancy occurs during the term of office, the Governor
shall immediately call an election to fill the vacancy. The costs of
a special election to fill a vacancy shall be paid by the state
board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the revenues of
penalties collected by the state board.
(k) (1) On or before January 1, 2012, the state board shall divide
the state into 11 districts with substantially equal populations.
The state board shall utilize the population data from the federal
2010 census in determining the boundaries of the districts. In
establishing the boundaries of the districts, the state board shall
consider geography, cohesiveness, contiguity, and similarity of air
quality concerns.
(2) The costs of establishing district boundaries pursuant to this
subdivision shall be paid by the state board, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, from the revenues of penalties collected by the
state board.
SEC. 4. Section 39510.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
39510.5. (a) The State Air Resources Board is an independent
department in the state government. The removal of the state board
from the California Environmental Protection Agency shall not affect
in any manner the deputies or employees of the state board, and their
employments and positions are continued in existence.
(b) This section shall become operative on December 4, 2012.
SEC. 5. Section 39511 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
39511. (a) The Governor shall appoint
select the chairperson of the state board , who
shall serve as the chairperson at the pleasure of the
Governor, from among the elected members of the state
board , and . The chairperson shall
serve as the principal advisor to the Governor on, and shall assist
the Governor in establishing, major policy and program matters on
environmental protection. The chairperson shall also serve as the
principal communications link for the effective transmission of
policy problems and decisions to the Governor relating to the
activities of the State Water Resources Control Board and the
State Solid Waste Management Board Depar
tment of Resources Recycling and Recovery , in
addition to serving as the Governor's chief air quality policy
spokesperson.
(b) The chairperson shall serve full time.
