S-3707

AN ACT Relating to providing incentives to reduce air pollution through the use of low-emission vehicles; amending RCW 81.100.020; adding a new section to chapter 46.16 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.61 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 70.120 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties; providing an effective date; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the federal clean air act amendments of 1990 sought to accelerate the deployment of low-emission vehicles through the use of nonmonetary incentives. The federal regulations adopted to implement the clean air act amendments allow states to exempt federally certified and labeled low-emission vehicles from high occupancy vehicle restrictions for single-occupant vehicles. In addition, the federal transportation equity act of the twenty-first century encourages and permits states to extend the high occupancy vehicle lane access exemption to nonfleet owners of low-emission vehicles.

The legislature finds that the goals of the state and federal clean air acts will be advanced by extending the use of the high occupancy vehicle lanes to federally certified low-emission vehicles as long as the vehicles are not a significant cause of congestion in the high occupancy vehicle lanes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 46.16 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department may issue special low-emission license plates, bearing the standard background, for passenger vehicles that are federally certified, pursuant to Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 88, Code of Federal Regulations and labeled in accordance with that title, as: (a) Inherently low-emission vehicles; (b) ultra low-emission vehicles; or (c) zero-emission vehicles.

(2) The department shall issue the special low-emission license plates upon payment by the applicant of all license fees, but the department may not set or charge an additional fee for the special low-emission license plates. The department shall replace, at cost, license plates issued under this section if they are lost, stolen, damaged, defaced, or destroyed. The low-emission license plates shall remain with the vehicle for which they were initially issued and may not be used on another vehicle.

(3) The department shall revoke the special low-emission designation if the vehicle is required to have a standard emission test, under chapter 70.120 RCW, and it fails the test. If the vehicle fails the emission test the vehicle's owner shall return the special low-emission license plates to the department within fifteen days and apply for regular license plates.

(4) The use of a special low-emission license plate on a vehicle that is not federally certified, or on a certified vehicle that has failed an emission test more than fifteen days previous, is a traffic infraction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 46.61 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The state department of transportation and the local authorities, in consultation with the department of ecology, may permit a vehicle with one or more occupants to operate in high occupancy vehicle lanes if it is certified as an inherently low-emission vehicle, ultra low-emission vehicle, or zero-emission vehicle pursuant to Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 88, Code of Federal Regulations, is labeled in accordance with that title, and bears a special low-emission license plate as provided in section 2 of this act.

(2) Inherently low-emission fleet vehicles that have been certified, labeled, and issued special low-emission license plates shall be allowed in the high occupancy vehicle lanes with only one occupant in federally designated nonattainment air pollution areas. For the purpose of this section "fleet" means a vehicle owner who is in a nonattainment area and owns a total of at least ten motor vehicles, including the inherently low-emission vehicle, which operate in the owner's fleet.

(3) The department of transportation, in consultation with the department of ecology, may adopt rules establishing temporal exemptions, such as time-of-day or day-of-week, which authorize various classes of low-emission vehicles to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes regardless of the amount of traffic.

(4) The department of transportation may remove or restore the low-emission vehicle access to any high occupancy vehicle lane, or portions of those lanes, during periods of peak congestion, if the department of transportation finds the vehicles are a significant cause of congestion in the high occupancy vehicle lanes. In making the decision to allow, remove, or restore a classification of low-emission vehicles under this section, preference shall be given to the class of vehicles that have the lowest emissions.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 70.120 RCW to read as follows:

If a vehicle with special low-emission license plates authorized in section 2 of this act fails an emission test required under this chapter, the department shall immediately notify the department of licensing of the failure.

Sec. 5. RCW 81.100.020 and 1990 c 43 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Transit agency" means a city that operates a transit system, a public transportation benefit area, a county transportation authority, or a metropolitan municipal corporation.

(2) The "high occupancy vehicle system" includes high occupancy vehicle lanes, related high occupancy vehicle facilities, and high occupancy vehicle programs.

(3) "High occupancy vehicle lanes" mean lanes reserved for public transportation vehicles ((~~only or public transportation vehicles~~)) and may include private vehicles carrying no fewer than a specified number of passengers under RCW 46.61.165 or vehicles with special low-emission license plates authorized in section 2 of this act.

(4) "Related facilities" means park and ride lots, park and pool lots, ramps, bypasses, turnouts, signal preemption, and other improvements designed to maximize use of the high occupancy vehicle system.

(5) "High occupancy vehicle program" means advertising the high occupancy vehicle system, promoting carpool, vanpool, and transit use, providing vanpool vehicles, and enforcement of driving restrictions governing high occupancy vehicle lanes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 70.120 RCW to read as follows:

The departments of ecology, licensing, and transportation may adopt rules as necessary to implement this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 70.120 RCW to read as follows:

The department of ecology, in consultation with the department of licensing and the department of transportation, shall review the relevant data on low-emission vehicles licensed under section 2 of this act, analyze their effects on improving air quality in this state, review their impacts on traffic flows in the high occupancy vehicle lanes, and make recommendations to the legislature regarding whether the low-emission licensing program should be extended.

The department shall report its findings under this section to the legislature by December 15, 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act takes effect January 1, 2001.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This act expires June 30, 2005.