1.   Golinger of CalPIRG is calling for California policymakers to ban ATM surcharges.

2.   Industry experts say that if surcharges were banned and ATMs could no longer pay for themselves, banks might remove many machines from such off-site locations.

3.   Massachusetts has been among the most aggressive states in seeking, so far unsuccessfully, to ban ATM surcharges.

4.   More important, efforts to ban the surcharges are apt to backfire and cause bank customers more harm than good.

5.   Meanwhile, consumer groups say that ATMs are such huge money makers that banks will keep their networks intact even if surcharges are banned.

6.   Only that second surcharge is banned under the San Francisco and Santa Monica laws.

7.   Rep. Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont, this month re-introduced legislation banning surcharges.

8.   Recently, San Francisco and Santa Monica tried to ban surcharges through a voter referendum and a City Council vote, respectively.

9.   Some lawmakers are likely to use the study to bolster their efforts to ban the surcharges.

10.   State officials in Iowa and Connecticut have barred the fees through administrative action, and the Pentagon has proposed banning surcharges in installations under its jurisdiction.