AB2734 - Vehicles: special interest license plates.

Amended IN Senate August 26, 2026 Amended IN Senate July 02, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 06, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 19, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2734 Introduced by Assembly Member Hart February 20, 2026 An act to amend Section 21191 of the Public Resources Code, and to amend Section 5067 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2734, as amended, Hart. Vehicles: special interest license plates. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, Vehicles (DMV), in consultation with the California Coastal Commission, to design and make available for issuance special environmental design license plates that bear a graphic design depicting a California coastal motif. The department is required to impose certain fees for the issuance, renewal, substitution, and transfer of the plates, in addition to the regular fees for an original registration or renewal of registration. Existing law requires that certain additional fees be allocated to the California Environmental License Plate Fund. The department, after deducting its administrative costs, is required to deposit any additional revenue derived from the issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of the special environmental design license plates, in the amount of 1 / 2 in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account in the California Environmental License Plate Fund and 1 / 2 in the California Environmental License Plate Fund. Existing law requires the Controller to allocate the funds in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, first to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the specified public beach and coastal maintenance programs and second, from funds remaining after the first allocation, to the State Coastal Conservancy for coastal natural resource restoration and enhancement projects and for other coastal projects. This bill would, for fees collected on or after January 1, 2027, allocate 1 / 2 of all additional revenue to the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account and would require the Controller, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate the moneys to the California Coastal Commission for beach and coastal maintenance programs and 1 / 2 to the Coastal Access Account for the support of grant programs administered by the State Coastal Conservancy, as specified. Conservancy, subject to a determination by the Department of Finance that a sufficient balance exists in the Environmental License Plate Fund to maintain the amount of the current year’s total expenditures and a prudent reserve, as defined. Existing law authorizes state agencies to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program and requires the department to issue specialized plates for that program if the agency complies with certain requirements. The bill would make certain allocations of moneys deposited to the California Environmental License Plate Fund on or after January 1, 2027, from the 49ers Foundation license plate program. Specifically, the bill would require (1) 10% of these moneys to be deposited in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account to be allocated, upon appropriation, to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the Whale Tail Grants Program, the Adopt-A-Beach program, the Coastal Cleanup Day program, and other coastal public education programs, (2) 10% to be deposited in the Coastal Access Account within the State Coastal Conservancy Fund to be allocated, upon appropriation, for support of the State Coastal Conservancy’s Explore the Coast grants, and (3) 20% to be allocated, upon appropriation, for the Outdoor Equity Grants Program. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 21191 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 21191. (a) The California Environmental License Plate Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury, and consists of the moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to any law. The annual fee for environmental license plates is fifty-three dollars ($53) for the issuance or forty-three dollars ($43) for the renewal of the plates. (b) The Controller shall transfer from the California Environmental License Plate Fund to the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund the amount appropriated by the Legislature for the reimbursement of costs incurred by the Department of Motor Vehicles in performing its duties pursuant to Sections 5004, 5004.5, and 5022 and Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 5100) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of the Vehicle Code. The reimbursement from the California Environmental License Plate Fund shall only include those additional costs that are directly attributable to any additional duties or special handling necessary for the issuance, renewal, or retention of the environmental license plates. (c) The Controller shall transfer to the post fund of the Veterans’ Home of California, established pursuant to Section 1047 of the Military and Veterans Code, all revenue derived from the issuance of prisoner of war special license plates pursuant to Section 5101.5 of the Vehicle Code less the administrative costs of the Department of Motor Vehicles incurred in issuing and renewing those plates. (d) The Director of Motor Vehicles shall certify the amounts of the administrative costs of the Department of Motor Vehicles in subdivision (c) to the Controller. (e) (1) On or after January 1, 2027, 10 percent of the moneys deposited to the Environmental License Plate Fund from the 49ers Foundation license plate program shall be deposited in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account within the California Environmental License Plate Fund. The moneys deposited to the account pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon appropriation, be allocated to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the Whale Tail Grants Program, the Adopt-A-Beach program, the Coastal Cleanup Day program, and other coastal public education programs. (2) On or after January 1, 2027, 10 percent of the moneys deposited to the Environmental License Plate Fund from the 49ers Foundation license plate program shall be deposited in the Coastal Access Account within the State Coastal Conservancy Fund. The moneys deposited to the account pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon appropriation, be allocated for support of the State Coastal Conservancy’s Explore the Coast grants. (3) On or after January 1, 2027, 20 percent of the moneys received by the Environmental License Plate Fund from the 49ers Foundation license plate program shall, upon appropriation, be allocated for the Outdoor Equity Grants Program. (e) (f) The balance of the moneys in the California Environmental License Plate Fund shall be available for expenditure only for the exclusive trust purposes specified in Section 21190, upon appropriation by the Legislature. However, all moneys derived from the issuance of commemorative 1984 Olympic reflectorized license plates in the California Environmental License Plate Fund shall be used only for capital outlay purposes. (f) (g) All proposed appropriations for the California Environmental Protection Program shall be summarized in a section in the Governor’s Budget for each fiscal year and shall bear the caption “California Environmental Protection Program.” The section shall contain a separate description of each project for which an appropriation is made. Each of these appropriations shall be made to the department performing the project and accounted for separately. (g) (h) The budget the Governor presents to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 12 of Article IV of the California Constitution shall include, as proposed appropriations for the California Environmental Protection Program, only projects and programs recommended for funding by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21193. The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall consult with the Secretary for Environmental Protection before making any recommendations to fund projects pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 21190. (h) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2017. SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 5067 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 5067. (a) The department, in consultation with the California Coastal Commission, shall design and make available for issuance pursuant to this article special environmental design license plates. Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 5060, the special environmental design license plates shall bear a graphic design depicting a California coastal motif and may be issued in a combination of numbers or letters, or both, as requested by the applicant for the plates. Any person described in Section 5101 may, upon payment of the additional fees set forth in subdivision (b), apply for and be issued a set of special environmental design license plates. (b) In addition to the regular fees for an original registration or renewal of registration, the following additional fees shall be paid for the issuance, renewal, retention, or transfer of the special environmental design license plates authorized pursuant to this section: (1) For the original issuance of the plates, fifty dollars ($50). (2) For a renewal of registration of the plates or retention of the plates, if renewal is not required, forty dollars ($40). (3) For transfer of the plates to another vehicle, fifteen dollars ($15). (4) For each substitute replacement plate, thirty-five dollars ($35). (5) In addition, for the issuance of an environmental license plate, as defined in Section 5103, the additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108. Prior to January 1, 2027, the additional fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108 shall be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund. (c) After deducting its administrative costs under this section, the department, except as provided in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b), shall deposit the additional revenue derived from the issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of special environmental design license plates prior to January 1, 2027, as follows: (1) One-half in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account, which is hereby established in the California Environmental License Plate Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys in the account shall be allocated by the Controller as follows: (A) First to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the Adopt-A-Beach program, the Beach Cleanup Day program, coastal public education programs, and grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations for the costs of operating and maintaining public beaches related to these programs. (B) Second, from funds remaining after the allocation required under subparagraph (A), to the State Coastal Conservancy for coastal natural resource restoration and enhancement projects and for other projects consistent with the provisions of Division 21 (commencing with Section 31000) of the Public Resources Code. (2) One-half in the California Environmental License Plate Fund. (d) After (1) Subject to paragraph (2), after deducting its administrative costs under this section, the department shall deposit the additional revenue derived from the issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of special environmental design license plates on or after January 1, 2027, including the revenue from the fees prescribed in Sections 5106 and 5108, as follows: (1) (A) One-half in the California Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account within the California Environmental License Plate Fund. Upon an appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys in the account shall be allocated by the Controller to the California Coastal Commission for expenditure for the Whale Tail Grants Program, the Adopt-A-Beach program, the Coastal Cleanup Day program, and other coastal public education programs. (2) (B) One-half in the Coastal Access Account within the State Coastal Conservancy Fund for for, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, support of the State Coastal Conservancy’s Explore the Coast grants. (2) The allocations described in paragraph (1) shall only be made if the Department of Finance determines that a sufficient balance exists in the California Environmental License Plate Fund as shown on the fund condition statement in the enacted budget for the current fiscal year to maintain the amount of the current year’s total expenditures and a prudent reserve. For purposes of this subdivision, “prudent reserve” means at least 5 percent of the fund reserves are available. (3) If the Department of Finance determines that a sufficient balance is not available to make the allocations described in paragraph (1), the department shall allocate the additional revenue derived from the issuance, renewal, transfer, and substitution of special environmental design license plates pursuant to subdivision (c).