(a)  The High Polluter Repair or Removal Account is hereby created in the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund. All money deposited in the account pursuant to this article shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department and the state board to establish and implement a program for the repair or replacement of high polluters pursuant to Section 44062.1 and Article 10 (commencing with Section 44100).

(b)  The department may accept donations or grants of funds from any person for purposes of the program and shall deposit that money in the account. Donations, grants, or other commitments of money to the account may be dedicated for specific purposes consistent with the uses of the account, including, but not limited to, purchasing higher emitting vehicles for the purpose of achieving the emission reductions required by the M-1 strategy of the 1994 State Implementation Plan (SIP).

(c)  The funds which are available in the account in any fiscal year for a particular area that is subject to an inspection and maintenance program shall be distributed to reflect the number of vehicles registered in that area to the total number of vehicles registered in areas that are subject to inspection and maintenance programs. That percentage shall be the percentage of the total funds allocated to the program in that fiscal year which are available for that particular area.

(d)  It is the intent of the Legislature that a prudent amount be determined to retain as a reserve in the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund, and that any moneys in the fund above that amount be transferred to the High Polluter Repair or Removal Account. It is also the intent of the Legislature that those transferred moneys be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for expenditure by the department to support the programs described in this section.

(e)  During any fiscal year, the money in the account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the following purposes:

(1)  Assistance in the repair of high polluters pursuant to the program established pursuant to Section 44062.1.

(2)  Voluntary accelerated retirement of high polluters.

(3)  Rulemaking, vehicle testing, and other technical work required to implement and administer the repair assistance program established pursuant to Section 44062.1 and the program described in Article 10 (commencing with Section 44100).

(f)  An amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) annually for the 1997–98 fiscal year and the 1998–99 fiscal year shall be made available from the account for a program to evaluate the emission reduction effectiveness of the M-1 strategy of the 1994 SIP.

(g)  All remaining amounts in the account shall be available to the program of repair assistance established pursuant to Section 44062.1.

(h)  In no case shall the funding available in any subsequent fiscal year to the department for repairing or removing high-emitting vehicles under the inspection and maintenance program be less than the amount made available from the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund for that purpose in the 1995–96 fiscal year.

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 230, Sec. 9. Effective August 16, 2004.)