BILL NUMBER: AB 1740	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jeffries

                        FEBRUARY 8, 2010

   An act to amend Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and
to amend Section 4750.1 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1740, as introduced, Jeffries. Vehicles: specially constructed
vehicles.
   Existing law establishes a registration amnesty program for
specially constructed vehicles, as defined, that have been previously
registered or classified incorrectly and requires that a specially
constructed vehicle, upon registration with the Department of Motor
Vehicles, be inspected by stations authorized to perform referee
functions, for the purposes of determining the engine model-year used
in the vehicle or the vehicle model-year, and the emission control
system application.
   Existing law also requires the department to annually provide a
registration to no more than the first 500 of these vehicles that
meet specified criteria.
   This bill would delete the first 500 vehicle limitation and
instead require the department to provide registration to any
specially constructed vehicle that meets the specified criteria. The
bill would provide that the registered owner of a specially
constructed vehicle that is currently registered or incorrectly
registered may change the vehicle's registration by complying with
those specified criteria.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   44017.4.  (a)  Upon  initial  registration with the
Department of Motor Vehicles, a passenger vehicle or pickup truck
that is a specially constructed vehicle, as defined in Section 580 of
the Vehicle Code, shall be inspected by stations authorized to
perform referee functions. This inspection shall be for the purposes
of determining the engine model-year used in the vehicle or the
vehicle model-year, and the emission control system application. The
owner shall have the option to choose whether the inspection is based
on the engine model-year used in the vehicle or the vehicle
model-year.
   (1)  In determining the engine model-year, the referee shall
compare the engine to engines of the era that the engine most closely
resembles. The referee shall assign the 1960 model-year to the
engine in any specially constructed vehicle that does not
sufficiently resemble a previously manufactured engine. The referee
shall require only those emission control systems that are applicable
to the established engine model-year and that the engine reasonably
accommodates in its present form.
   (2)  In determining the vehicle model-year, the referee shall
compare the vehicle to vehicles of the era that the vehicle most
closely resembles. The referee shall assign the 1960 model-year to
any specially constructed vehicle that does not sufficiently resemble
a previously manufactured vehicle. The referee shall require only
those emission control systems that are applicable to the established
model-year and that the vehicle reasonably accommodates in its
present form.
   (b)  Upon the completion of the inspection, the referee shall
affix a tamper-resistant label to the vehicle and issue a certificate
that establishes the engine model-year or the vehicle model-year,
and the emission control system application.
   (c)  The Department of Motor Vehicles shall  annually
 provide a registration to  no more than the first
500 vehicles that meet   any vehicle that meets 
the criteria described in subdivision (a) that  are 
 is  presented to that department for registration pursuant
to this section.  The 500-vehicle annual limitation does not
apply to the renewal of registration of a vehicle registered
pursuant to this section.  
   (d) The registered owner of a specially constructed vehicle that
is currently registered or incorrectly registered may change the
vehicle's registration by complying with the requirements of
subdivision (a).  
   (e) There shall not be a limit on the number of specially
constructed vehicles that may be registered by the department
pursuant to this section. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 4750.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   4750.1.  (a) If the department receives an application for
registration of a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup
truck  after it has registered 500 specially constructed
vehicles during that calendar year pursuant to Section 44017.4 of the
Health and Safety Code,  and the vehicle has not been
previously registered, the vehicle shall be  assigned the
same model-year as the calendar year in which the application is
submitted,   inspected and registered pursuant to
Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code,  for purposes of
determining  the model-year and the  emissions inspection
requirements for the vehicle. 
   (b) (1) If the department receives an application for registration
of a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck that
has been previously registered after it has registered 500 specially
constructed vehicles during that calendar year pursuant to Section
44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and the application requests a
model-year determination different from the model-year assigned in
the previous registration, the application for registration shall be
denied and the vehicle owner is subject to the emission control and
inspection requirements applicable to the model-year assigned in the
previous registration.  
   (2) 
    (b)  For a vehicle  participating  
that participated  in the amnesty program in effect from
January 1, 2010, until December 31, 2010, pursuant to Section 9565,
the model-year of the previous registration shall be the calendar
year of the year in which the vehicle owner applied for amnesty.
 However, a denial of an application for registration issued
pursuant to this paragraph does not preclude the vehicle owner from
applying for a different model-year determination and application for
registration under Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code in
a subsequent calendar year. 
   (c) (1) The Bureau of Automotive Repair may charge the vehicle
owner who applies to participate in the amnesty program a fee for
each referee station inspection conducted pursuant to Section 9565.
The fee shall be one hundred sixty dollars ($160) and shall be
collected by the referee station performing the inspection.
   (2) A contract to perform referee services may authorize direct
compensation to the referee contractor from the inspection fees
collected pursuant to paragraph (1). The referee contractor shall
deposit the inspection fees collected from the vehicle owner into a
separate trust account that the referee contractor shall account for
and manage in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards
and principles. Where the department conducts the inspections
pursuant to Section 9565, the inspection fees collected by the
department shall be deposited into the Vehicle Inspection and Repair
Fund.