(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), in addition to the registration fee required by Section 19312, the department may charge a fee necessary to cover the costs of administering this article. Any additional fee charged pursuant to this section shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per year per vehicle that is operated to transport kitchen grease, and shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per year per registered transporter.

(b) The secretary may, based upon the findings and recommendation of the Rendering Industry Advisory Board, determine the specific fee per vehicle necessary to provide the revenue needed to carry out the provisions of this article. The secretary and the Rendering Industry Advisory Board shall not exceed the maximum fee amounts established by this section. Setting the fee amounts authorized pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The secretary shall only have the authority to raise an additional fee pursuant to this section upon recommendation of the Rendering Industry Advisory Board.

(c) An individual registered pursuant to this article who transports inedible kitchen grease for the individual’s own personal, noncommercial use as an alternative fuel is exempt from 75 percent of the fee charged pursuant to subdivision (a), and shall meet all of the following requirements:

(1) The individual shall meet all other requirements of this article.

(2) The individual shall not transport more than 55 gallons of inedible kitchen grease per load for that purpose, and shall have no more than 165 gallons of inedible kitchen grease in the individual’s possession or control at any time.

(3) The individual shall not take any inedible kitchen grease from a container owned by another registered transporter of inedible kitchen grease or from an inedible kitchen grease provider under contract with a registered transporter of inedible kitchen grease or from a container owned by a renderer or collection center.

(4) The individual shall have a document in the individual’s possession while transporting inedible kitchen grease signed by the responsible party providing the inedible kitchen grease to the individual at the source of the inedible kitchen grease that provides permission for the inedible kitchen grease to be removed from that site.

(5) The individual shall specify where the inedible kitchen grease is stored and processed as an alternative fuel, if that address is different from the address included on the registration form for that individual pursuant to Section 19312.

(6) The individual shall not sell, barter, or trade any inedible kitchen grease.

(d) The secretary shall fix the additional fees established pursuant to this section and may fix different fees for transporters of inedible kitchen grease and collection centers, and for transporters of interceptor grease. If an additional fee is imposed on licensed renderers pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 19227 and an additional fee is imposed on registered transporters pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, only one additional fee may be imposed on a person or firm that is both licensed as a renderer pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 19300) and registered as a transporter of inedible kitchen grease pursuant to this article, which fee shall be the higher of the two fees.

(e) If the additional fee established pursuant to this section is not paid within one calendar month of the date it is due, a penalty shall be imposed in the amount of 10 percent per annum on the amount of the unpaid fee.

(f) For purposes of this section, “interceptor grease” means inedible kitchen grease that is principally derived from food preparation, processing, or waste, and that is removed from a grease trap or grease interceptor.

(g) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2025, and, as of January 1, 2026, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which becomes effective on or before January 1, 2026, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 261, Sec. 2. (AB 419) Effective January 1, 2020. Inoperative July 1, 2025. Repealed as of January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)