At the March 11th RCRC Board of Directors Meeting, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Unit made a presentation on the state’s Electric Vehicle (EV) charging compliance per Assembly Bill 1236 (Chiu; 2015). AB 1236 mandated all municipalities to streamline electric vehicle charging station permits in order to expedite the availability of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Since AB 1236 went into effect, few cities and counties have taken action to adopt a model ordinance for a streamlined EV charging permitting process, including urbanized areas.
GO-Biz is requesting municipalities take a survey, found here, by May 1st so they may better support cities and counties with ZEV readiness during the COVID-19 statewide emergency. California has established a goal of having 5 million ZEVs by 2030, necessitating the ambitious targets of having 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 250,000 plug-in electric chargers by 2025 to support 1.5 million ZEVs. The GO-Biz ZEV unit works to achieve California’s climate, air quality, and clean energy goals by addressing barriers in the deployment of the fueling infrastructure needed to power these vehicles.
On a related note, AB 2168 (McCarty) is being put forth to deem EV charging applications be approved 15 business days after submittal to a city or county if the building official has not made a finding that the installation of EV charging infrastructure would not have an adverse impact upon public health and safety, as well as apply to all local jurisdictions, including those that have complied with AB 1236’s streamlined permitting process. This bill would go into effect immediately if enacted into law. RCRC is fully engaged on this issue and opposed to AB 2168.