(a) Any revenues received by the state board from any variance fees imposed upon manufacturers who receive a variance from the standards for the content of diesel fuel adopted by the state board, which apply on and after October 1, 1993, shall be deposited in the Diesel Fuel Trust Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury. The money in the trust fund may be expended only upon appropriation by the Legislature in accordance with subdivisions (b) and (c).
(b) The money in the Diesel Fuel Trust Fund shall be expended to reimburse owners of diesel fuel-powered engines and diesel fuel-powered equipment for damage to fuel injection system elastomer components which can be established as the result of the use of the diesel fuel and which is damage that is not the responsibility of the manufacturer.
(c) The state board shall develop and implement, by November 30, 1994, a reimbursement program to include all of the following:
(1) An application for reimbursement claims, to be submitted to the state board, that requires documentation that supports a claim of damage to diesel fuel injection system elastomer components. The documentation shall consist of repair records from an authorized engine repair business or fleet repair facility which verify that diesel fuel injection system elastomer component damage occurred on and after September 1, 1993, and that the failure occurred as the result of diesel fuel which met the standards for the content of diesel fuel adopted by the state board, which applied on and after October 1, 1993.
(2) Claimants shall demonstrate evidence of ownership of a vehicle or equipment for which damage is claimed by providing copies of ownership records.
(3) Claimants with valid claims shall be reimbursed for the cost of repairs up to a maximum amount for each of the following two classes of vehicle or equipment, as follows:
(A) Owners of light-duty vehicles, small marine engines, and stationary units, including, but not limited to, utility engines, compressors, pumps, and generators, shall be reimbursed for damage not exceeding four hundred fifty dollars ($450) for each claim.
(B) Owners of heavy-duty onroad vehicles and offroad agricultural and construction equipment shall be reimbursed for damage not exceeding five hundred fifty dollars ($550) for each claim.
(4) Claimants shall be limited to one claim for each vehicle or equipment unit.
(5) The state board shall develop an audit component within the reimbursement program to identify fraudulent claims.
(6) All applications for claims shall be postmarked not later than midnight, March 1, 1995. Applications arriving after that deadline are invalid and shall be returned to the sender.
(7) The state board shall not pay any claims until all claims have been reviewed and the state board can make a reasonable estimate of the total amount of valid claims. If the amount exceeds the amount of money in the Diesel Fuel Trust Fund, reimbursement for valid claims shall be prorated in each class specified in paragraph (3).
(8) The state board shall give notice of the reimbursement program by publication in major newspapers of general circulation in the state. That notice shall fully describe the reimbursement program, including, but not limited to, the limits of reimbursement and the possible proration of claims in the event that valid claims exceed the amount of money in the Diesel Fuel Trust Fund.
(9) The state board may expend an amount not to exceed three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) from the Diesel Fuel Trust Fund to administer the reimbursement program.
(10) The state board may contract with a private mediation firm to review and adjudicate claims.
(11) The state board may adopt guidelines for administering the reimbursement program after providing adequate opportunity for public review and comment. Guidelines adopted by the state board pursuant to this paragraph shall be exempt from Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(d) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the reimbursement program shall not be considered to be mitigation for the impacts of the standards adopted by the state board for the formulation of diesel fuel, and by the enactment of this section, the state is not thereby assuming any responsibility for mitigating impacts on operators of diesel vehicles or equipment arising from the implementation of the standards. The Legislature further finds and declares that the reimbursement program is a proper use of public funds and serves a necessary public purpose.
(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 91, Sec. 89. Effective January 1, 1996.)