A bill introduced by California’s Robert Blumenfeld (D-Woodland Hills) would extend the date for carpool lane access from Jan. 1, 2015 to Jan. 1, 2018 for plug-in hybrid vehicles and to Jan. 1, 2020, for other types of alternative-fuel vehicles.

AB 266 would allow vehicles with white Clean Air Vehicle stickers to use the HOV lane until 2020. Vehicles eligible for this kind of sticker would include those powered by electric, hydrogen fuel cell, or compressed natural gas. The bill would allow vehicles eligible for green Clean Air Vehicle stickers (which applies to plug-in hybrids) to use HOV lanes until 2018.

The bill, AB 266, has passed California’s assembly with a 49-22 vote and now moves to the state’s senate. If the bill fails in the senate, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane access for specific low-emissions vehicles would expire in 2015.

Blumenfeld’s office noted that the state has issued total of 34,051 stickers under the Clean Air Vehicle Sticker program as of March, 2013. This total includes 10,831 green and 23,220 white stickers.

To find out which vehicles are eligible to use California’s HOV lanes, you can visit the California Air Resource Board’s website here.