Bill Text: CA SB1454 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Vehicles: license plates: 8-letter license plates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-24 - Held in committee and under submission. [SB1454 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1454-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1454 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator La Malfa
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 4852 of , and to add Article 8.7
(commencing with Section 5170) to Chapter 1 of Division 3 of,
the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1454, as amended, La Malfa. Vehicles: license plates:
number and character specifications. Vehicles: license
plates: 8 -letter license plates.
Existing
(1) Existing law requires the
Department of Motor Vehicles, upon registering a vehicle, to issue to
the owner two partially or fully reflectorized license plates or
devices for a motor vehicle and requires that the number and letter
characters on the plates have a minimum height of 23/4 inches, a
minimum width of 11/4 inches, and a minimum spacing of characters of
5/16 of an inch.
This bill would instead require that the number and letter
characters on the license plates have a minimum width of 13/16
inches, and a minimum spacing of characters of 1/4 of an inch.
(2) Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to
issue or renew environmental license plates to provide revenue for
the California Environmental License Plate Fund that indicate on the
plates the combination of letters or numbers, or both, requested as a
registration number by the applicant, to be displayed on the
applicant's vehicle in lieu of regular license plates. Existing law
also establishes procedures for the cancellation, transfer, or
retention of the license plates and for the charging of additional
fees.
This bill would establish an identical program to be known as the
"8-letter license plate" program for the support of the Natural and
Agricultural Open Space and State Recreational Support Fund which
would be created by the bill. The bill would require that all revenue
derived from the fees be deposited in the fund for specified
purposes that include, among other things, subventions for open-space
land programs, assistance to California fairs, and support of
programs administered by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
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. Section 4852 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
4852. (a) License plates issued for motor vehicles, other than
motorcycles, shall be rectangular in shape, 12 inches in length and
six inches in width. The number and letter characters on the plates
shall have a minimum height of two and three-quarter inches, a
minimum width of one and three-sixteenths inches, and a minimum
spacing between characters of one-quarter of an
one inch.
(b) Motorcycle license plates shall measure seven inches in length
and four inches in width, and the characters on the plates shall
have a minimum height of one and one-half inches and a minimum width
of nine-sixteenths inches of one inch ,
and shall have a minimum spacing between characters of
three-sixteenths of an one inch.
SEC. 2 . Article 8.7
(commencing with Section 5170) is added to Chapter 1 of
Division 3 of the Vehicle Code , to read:
Article 8.7. 8-Letter License Plates
5170. The purpose of this article is to provide revenue for the
Natural and Agricultural Open Space and State Recreational Support
Fund.
5171. Any person who is the registered owner or lessee of a
passenger vehicle, commercial motor vehicle, motorcycle, trailer, or
semitrailer registered or certificated with the department, or who
makes application for an original registration or renewal
registration of that vehicle, may, upon payment of the fee prescribed
in Section 5176, apply to the department for 8-letter license
plates, in the manner prescribed in Section 5175, which plates shall
be affixed to the passenger vehicle, commercial motor vehicle,
motorcycle, trailer, or semitrailer for which registration is sought
in lieu of regular license plates.
5172. The 8-letter license plates shall be the same color and
design as regular passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, motorcycle,
or trailer license plates, and shall consist of any combination of
numbers or letters, not exceeding eight positions and not less than
eight positions, if there are no conflicts with existing passenger,
commercial, trailer, motorcycle, or special license plates series or
with Section 4851.
5173. As used in this article, "8-letter license plates," means
license plates or permanent trailer identification plates that have
displayed upon them the registration number assigned to the passenger
vehicle, commercial motor vehicle, motorcycle, trailer, or
semitrailer for which a registration number was issued in a
combination of letters or numbers, or both, requested by the owner or
lessee of the vehicle.
5174. The 8-letter license plates shall be issued only to the
registered owner or lessee of the vehicle on which they are to be
displayed.
5175. (a) An applicant for issuance of 8-letter license plates or
renewal of those plates in the subsequent year, pursuant to this
article, shall file an application therefor in the form and by the
date that the department may require, indicating the combination of
letters or numbers, or both, requested as a registration number.
There shall be no duplication of registration numbers, and the
department may refuse to issue any combination of letters or numbers,
or both, that may carry connotations offensive to good taste and
decency or which would be misleading or a duplication of license
plates provided for in Article 8 (commencing with Section 5000).
(b) The department may cancel and order the return of any 8-letter
license plate before or after it is issued, containing any
combination of letters, or numbers, or both, which the department
determines carries connotations offensive to good taste and decency
or that would be misleading. When the department orders any person to
return any 8-letter license plate, containing any combination of
letters or numbers, or both, which the department determines carries
connotations offensive to good taste and decency or which would be
misleading, the person so ordered may, in writing and within 10 days
after receiving the order, demand a hearing, which shall be granted.
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code shall apply to hearings provided for
in this subdivision. A person ordered to return the plates shall
either be reimbursed for any additional fees he or she paid for the
plates pursuant to Section 5176 or 5178 for the registration year in
which they are recalled, or be given, at no additional cost,
replacement 8-letter license plates, the issuance of which is in
compliance with this code.
(c) The department may cancel and order the return of any 8-letter
license plate, without opportunity to be heard, as specified in
subdivision (b), if the license plate issued is a duplication of
license plates provided for in Article 8 (commencing with Section
5000) or if the fee specified under subdivision (c) of Section 5176
has not been paid.
5176. (a) In addition to the regular registration fee or a
permanent trailer identification fee, the applicant shall be charged
a fee of forty-eight dollars ($48) for issuance of 8-letter license
plates.
(b) In addition to the regular renewal fee or a permanent trailer
identification fee for the vehicle to which the plates are assigned,
an applicant for a renewal of 8-letter license plates shall be
charged an additional fee of thirty-eight dollars ($38). An applicant
with a permanent trailer identification plate shall be charged an
annual fee of thirty-eight dollars ($38) for renewal of 8-letter
license plates.
(c) When payment of renewal fees is not required as specified in
Section 4000, the holder of any 8-letter license plate may retain the
plate upon payment of an annual fee of thirty-eight dollars ($38).
The fee shall be due at the expiration of the registration year of
the vehicle to which the 8-letter license plate was last assigned.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 9265, an applicant for a duplicate
8-letter license plate shall be charged a fee of thirty-eight dollars
($38).
5177. (a) All revenue derived from the fees provided for in this
article shall be deposited in the Natural and Agricultural Open Space
and State Recreational Support Fund.
(b) Not more than fifty cents ($0.50) of the amount collected from
each applicant pursuant to Section 5176 shall be set aside for use,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the appropriate agency for
the purpose of increasing public awareness of the 8-letter license
plate program.
5178. When a person who has been issued 8-letter license plates
applies to the department for transfer of the plates to another
passenger vehicle, commercial motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer,
a transfer fee of thirty-eight dollars ($38) shall be charged in
addition to all other appropriate fees.
5179. When a person who has been issued 8-letter license plates
sells, trades, or otherwise releases ownership of the vehicle upon
which the 8-letter license plates have been displayed, that person
shall immediately report the transfer of those plates to an acquired
passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, or trailer pursuant to Section
5178, unless the person determines to retain the plates pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 5176.
5180. (a) The director may adopt rules and regulations as
necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.
(b) When two or more separate series of special plates are
authorized under this article in a period of one year, the director
shall coordinate the administrative and technical procedures for
preparation and issuance of the plates in order to control costs to
the maximum extent practicable.
5181. (a) The department shall revise its Internet Web site to
provide a direct link on the homepage to information on ordering
8-letter license plates.
(b) When existing supplies of forms, publications, and signs have
been depleted, or if those forms, publications, and signs are
required to be revised in the normal course of operations, the
department shall include in the replenishing supplies or the revised
forms, publications, and signs information regarding 8-letter license
plates and the procedures for applying for those plates. This
subdivision applies only to forms, publications, and signs that
advertise, facilitate the application for, or are an application for
8-letter license plates.
5182. The Natural and Agricultural Open Space and State
Recreational Support Fund is hereby created and the revenues
deposited in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall
be allocated equally for all of the following purposes:
(a) Subventions for open-space land programs authorized pursuant
to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 16140) of Part 1 of Division 4
of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b) Assistance to the Department of Food and Agriculture for
California fairs, including the California Exposition and State Fair
and county fairs and citrus fruit fairs, and district agricultural
associations pursuant to Article 10 (commencing with Section 19620)
of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code.
(c) Support of the Department of Parks and Recreation pursuant to
Section 504 of the Public Resources Code.
