At the March 11th RCRC Board of Directors Meeting, representatives of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) gave an overview on the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Infrastructure Unit’s efforts to implement Assembly Bill 1236 (Chiu; 2015) and ultimately meet California’s goal of having 5 million ZEVs by 2030 (see memo here). AB 1236 mandated all municipalities to streamline electric vehicle (EV) charging station permits in order to expedite the availability of EV charging stations. This mandate was to be met by September 30, 2017.
On July 2nd, the ZEV Unit completed their efforts to map AB 1236 compliance (see here). Only 18% of all municipalities—including only 3 RCRC Member Counties—have taken action to adopt a model ordinance and other streamlining requirements for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging. Napa, San Luis Obispo and Sonoma Counties comply with the AB 1236 law, while Butte, Calaveras, Humboldt, Monterey, Tuolumne and Yolo Counties have taken proactive steps and are currently in the process of complying.
In May, RCRC along with its local governments partners led a successful effort to oppose AB 2168 (McCarty), a deemed approved permitting scheme for EV charging stations regardless if a municipality has a streamlined process. While many counties meet the spirit of the law and continue to issue building permits for EV charging, it is incumbent upon local governments to comply with all aspects of the EV charging streamlining law to prevent undesirable enforcement efforts that could negatively infringe on local building and planning departments.
GO-Biz continues to offer assistance to local government agencies (and businesses alike) on ZEV readiness and AB 1236 compliance, including best practices and streamlining templates. For more information, please utilize the GO-Biz contact form (click here) or reach the ZEV unit at zev@gobiz.ca.gov.