Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, 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.