SB 496 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation: appeals advisory committee: exemptions.

Summary
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle emission standards, in-use performance standards, and motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants and sources of air pollution that the state board has found necessary, cost effective, and technologically feasible. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the state board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions from those sources. Pursuant to its authority, the state board has adopted the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation, which imposes various requirements for transitioning local, state, and federal government fleets of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, other high-priority fleets of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and drayage trucks to zero-emission vehicles. The Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation authorizes entities subject to the regulation to apply for exemptions from its requirements under certain circumstances. This bill would require the state board to establish the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation Appeals Advisory Committee by an unspecified date for purposes of reviewing appeals of denied requests for exemptions from the requirements of the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation. The bill would require the committee to include representatives of specified governmental and nongovernmental entities. The bill would require the committee to meet monthly and would require recordings of its meetings to be made publicly available on the state board's internet website. The bill would require the committee to consider, and make a recommendation on, an appeal of an exemption request denial no later than 60 days after the appeal is made. The bill would require specified information relating to the committee's consideration of an appeal to be made publicly available on the state board's internet website. The bill would require the state board to consider a recommendation of the committee at a public meeting no later than 60 days after the recommendation is made. This bill would exempt from the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation or any similar regulation vehicles reasonably anticipated to respond to emergency situations, or that support those efforts. The bill would prohibit the state board from requiring a state or local government fleet owner to provide documentation showing an executed zero-emissions vehicle purchase agreement in order to count an internal combustion engine vehicle as a zero-emissions vehicle purchase for purposes of postponing a zero-emissions vehicle transition mandate in the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/19/25 - Introduced 04/07/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 7, 2025
MINOR
The Senate amendment to SB 496 adds a provision allowing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to count as zero-emission vehicle purchases for purposes of postponing the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation transition mandate. It also narrows the prohibition on requiring executed purchase agreement documentation from all fleet owners to only state and local government fleet owners. The bulk of the bill text establishing the Appeals Advisory Committee, its composition, meeting rules, and appeal process remains substantively unchanged.
ELIGIBILITY

The bill now allows an internal combustion engine vehicle to count as a zero-emissions vehicle purchase for purposes of postponing a zero-emissions vehicle transition mandate under the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation. This is a significant relaxation that lets fleets buy gas or diesel trucks and still receive credit toward their transition timeline.

SCOPE

The prohibition on requiring documentation of an executed zero-emissions vehicle purchase agreement to qualify for a compliance extension was narrowed from applying to all fleet owners to only state and local government fleet owners.

TECHNICAL

Page numbers changed from 99 to 98 throughout the document, reflecting a one-page reduction in length. Line numbering shifted accordingly but the substantive text of Sections 43850 through 43863 is unchanged.

Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
4
Committee
3
Amendments
2
May 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 15. Noes 0. Page 843.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 634.) (April 2).
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Committee
Referred to Coms. on E.Q. and TRANS.
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Introduced
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
upper
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors