BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 501
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 501 (Nazarian) - As Amended: April 16, 2013
SUBJECT : Vehicles
SUMMARY : Modifies various provisions related to vehicles.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes car dealers to continue to sell non-compliant brake
friction materials (brake pads) on a vehicle if the brake pads
were already installed on the vehicle when it was acquired by
the dealer.
2)Explicitly exempts car dealers from the requirement to
register with the state and report tire shipment activity for
the purposes of complying with tire recycling laws.
3)Clarifies that license plate brackets (the frame used to
secure a license plate to a vehicle) and paper advertisement
inserts held within a license plate bracket are not considered
mobile billboard advertising displays.
4)Repeals provisions requiring car dealers to place a warning
label on vehicles they sell that have a model year between
1972 and 1990 notifying the buyer that the vehicle may not be
equipped with both lap belts and shoulder restraints.
5)Adds "trailers designed to transport watercraft" to the list
of trailers that, when towed by certain motor truck or two
axle truck, exempt the vehicle from motor carrier permit (MCP)
requirements.
6)Authorizes motor trucks or two-axle trucks with a gross
vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 16,001 pounds or less to
operate singly without a MCP as long as the vehicle is not
being used for commercial purposes.
7)Exempts certain car wash facilities, including those operated
by car dealers, from requirement to use recycled water in
their car wash facilities.
AB 501
Page 2
8)Makes related, conforming amendments.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Restricts the use of copper and other toxic chemicals in
automobile brake pads with certain exceptions.
2)Requires vehicle manufacturers and retailers of brake pads to
ensure that only compliant brake pads are sold in California.
3)Authorizes motor vehicle manufacturers and distributors,
wholesalers, or retailers of brake pads to continue to offer
for sale non-compliant brake pads for the purpose of depleting
inventories until December 31, 2023.
4)Establishes a civil fine of up to $10,000 per violation of
brake pad limitations and certification requirements.
5)Requires, pursuant to the California Tire Recycling Act (Act),
CalRecycle to administer a tire recycling program that
promotes and develops alternatives to the landfill disposal of
waste tires.
6)Establishes a tire manifest and reporting system for used tire
haulers registered in California.
7)Provides for a hearing and enforcement process for waste tire
facility and waste tire hauling or shipment violations.
8)Defines a "tire broker" as a person that arranges for the
shipment of used or waste tires to or from a site located
within the state, or though, the state.
9)Authorizes local jurisdictions to regulate mobile billboard
advertising on vehicles parked on public streets.
10)Prohibits car dealers from selling vehicles with a model year
from 1972 to 1990 that do not have both lap and shoulder belts
unless a specific warning label placed in the window of the
vehicle notifying the buyer that the vehicle is not properly
equipped with lap and shoulder restraints.
11)Exempts certain trucks from being defined as a commercial
motor vehicle and the requirement to have a MCP including
AB 501
Page 3
motor trucks or two-axle truck tractors with a GVWR of 26,001
pounds or less when used solely to tow a camp trailer, trailer
coach, fifth-wheel travel trailer, or utility trailer.
12)Specifies that certain vehicles are exempt from the
requirement to obtain a MCP including vehicles that are exempt
from vehicle registration fees and specified household goods
carriers.
13)Requires new commercial car washes, other than self-service
washes, to either reuse at least 60% of the wash and rinse
water on-site or to use at least 60% recycled water for the
washing and rinsing of vehicles.
14)Declares it is the policy of the state that the use of
potable domestic water for non-potable uses is an unreasonable
use of the water if recycled water, which meets specific
criteria including, but not limited to, quality and
affordability, is available.
15)Requires the state to achieve a 20% reduction in urban per
capita water use in California by December 31, 2020, and
requires each urban retail water supplier to comply with that
target.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Brake Friction Material :
Scientific studies show that dissolved copper has a devastating
impact on the aquatic food chain and that a major source of
copper in watersheds comes from material worn off of vehicle
brake pads. To address this problem, SB 346 (Kehoe) Chapter
307, Statutes of 2010, sought to improve California's water
quality by requiring brake pad manufacturers to reduce the use
of copper in brake pads sold in California to no more than five
percent by 2021 and no more than 0.5 percent by 2025.
Additionally, that bill also created limits for other brake pad
materials, established a certification process for compliance,
established civil penalties for violations, created a Brake
Friction Materials Water Pollution Fund, and provided a
mechanism that manufacturers could use to extend new brake pad
manufacturing deadlines if a safe and compliant product cannot
AB 501
Page 4
be developed within the timeframes established in the SB 346.
According to the sponsor of this bill, the California New Car
Dealers Association, statutes enacted by SB 346 that limited the
sale of noncompliant brake pads could be interpreted to mean
that car dealers would be required to remove non-conforming
brake pads ("legacy" brake pads) from used vehicles they acquire
after 2014 and replace them with conforming brake pads before
the vehicles can be sold. The sponsor indicates that this was
not the intent of SB 346 and that if brake pad replacement must
be performed before used cars can be resold by a dealership,
this provision would represent a considerable expense to dealers
and, ultimately, to used car buyers.
To avoid these potential unintended costs, the sponsor is
seeking to clarify the intent of SB 346 by clearly stating in
statute that if a dealer acquires a vehicle equipped with
"legacy" brake pads, they are not required to replace them with
brake pads that comply with SB 346 before the vehicle can be
sold. The author claims that this was the original intent of SB
346 and that this bill represents a simple clarification in
statute.
The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee
was consulted with respect to the brake pad language included in
this bill and concurs that it was not the intent of SB 346 to
require legacy brake pads to be removed and replaced with
compliant brake pads for vehicles acquired and later sold by car
dealers.
Previous legislation : AB 346 (Kehoe) Chapter 307, Statutes of
2010, restricted the use of copper and other toxic chemicals in
automobile brake pads.
Tire Broker :
AB 1647, (Gordon) Chapter 534, Statutes of 2012, sought to curb
the growing trend of illegally exporting waste tires overseas,
where they are converted into bunker fuel, rather than being
recycled here in California. To reduce the practice of
exporting tire waste overseas, AB 1647 instituted reporting
practices that require tire brokers to register with the
CalRecycle and periodically report information on tire shipment
activity.
AB 501
Page 5
AB 1647 defined a tire broker as "a person that arranges for the
shipment of used or waste tires to or from a site located within
the state, or through the state . . ." The author claims that
this definition was meant to include only those actively engaged
in purchasing waste tires for resale inside or outside of
California and that AB 1647 was not intended to include car
dealers or tire retailers primarily engaged in the retail sale,
service, and installation of tires on customer vehicles since
these businesses merely generate waste tires as a byproduct of
their primary business and do not arrange for the shipment of
used tires as their primary business model.
In a letter to the Assembly Journal dated August 30, 2012,
Assembly Member Gordon clarified that it was his intent that
motor vehicle dealers would not be not required to comply with
the provisions of AB 1647 since those provisions only applied to
tire brokers. The author has, therefore, introduced this bill
to clarify in statute (rather than simply in a letter to the
Assembly Journal) that a "tire broker" does not include a tire
retailer primarily engaged in the retail sale, service, and
installation of tires on customer vehicles or vehicle dealers.
Despite that the bill seems to codify the letter to the Journal
submitted by Assembly Member Gordon with regard to AB 1647,
there are concerns that exempting car dealers and tire retailers
may be problematic because exempting these groups could hamper
CalRecycle's ability to gather data the movement and disposal of
used tires thereby inhibiting their ability to further develop
regulations to track used tire disposal and carry out
enforcement actions.
According to the author, the sponsor and CalRecycle are
continuing to work together to develop language that would allow
car dealers and tire retailers to be exempted from the
requirements set forth for tire brokers while maintain
CalRecycle's ability to track used tire disposal practices in
the state.
Previous legislation : AB 1647 (Gordon) Chapter 534, Statutes of
2012 revised the hearing and enforcement process for waste tire
facility and waste tire hauling violations.
Mobile Billboard :
Under current law, cities and counties are authorized regulate
AB 501
Page 6
advertising signs on motor vehicles parked on public streets.
To regulate the growing practice of using mobile billboard
advertising, a variety of bills have been passed by the
Legislature to better define what constitutes a mobile
billboard. Specifically, AB 2291(Blumenfield) Chapter 373,
Statutes of 2012, among other things, defined the term
"permanently affixed" to help local jurisdictions better
regulate which signage might be considered a mobile billboard.
In an attempt to not effect dealer advertising that is on or
placed within the license plate bracket, the bill specifically
exempted paper advertisements issued by a car dealer that is
contained within and on the license plate frame. When this
language was added to AB 2291, the author notes that the
citation referenced the actual license plate issued by the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) rather than the license plate
bracket or the paper advertising insert, as was intended. The
author notes that changing the citation to reference the fame or
bracket, rather than the license plate itself, will provide
clarity in existing statute.
Assembly Member Blumenfield's office concurs that the reference
contained in AB 2291 would be more clear by including a
reference that the license plate frame and the paper
advertisement insert within the bracket is exempt from mobile
billboard advertising restrictions.
Previous legislation : AB 2291 (Blumenfield) Chapter 373,
Statutes of 2012, specified exemptions to existing laws
regulating mobile billboards by defining the term "permanently
affixed" as it applies to advertising signs and adding license
plate frame advertisements.
AB 1298 (Blumenfield), Chapter 538, Statutes of 2011, broadened
the definition of a mobile billboard to include any device with
the primary purpose of advertising, while allowing local
governments to enact ordinances establishing a minimum distance
that a parked vehicle must be moved once the state's 72-hour
time limit has been met.
AB 2756 (Blumenfield), Chapter 615, Statutes of 2010, gave local
governments the ability to enact ordinances that prohibit the
parking of an unhitched trailer with advertising attached to it
on any public street and impose penalties when violations occur.
AB 501
Page 7
Seatbelt Warning Stickers :
AB 1751 (Alpert) Chapter 562, Statutes of 1992, among other
things, required car dealers who sell older model cars
(1972-1990) to place a warning label in the left front door
window of the vehicle to notify buyers that the vehicle may not
be appropriately equipped with modern restrain systems. This
requirement was established because the safety standards at the
time these older model cars were manufactured only required of
lap belts, not lap belts and shoulder restraints as is the
current safety standard.
The sponsor notes that placing these notifications on older
model cars is costly and time consuming and no longer adds value
since very few of these older model vehicles are sold and
consumers are well aware that these older model vehicles do not
meet current safety standards. The sponsor also notes that when
the warning labels are placed in vehicles, they are mostly
disregarded by consumers since not only it is common knowledge
that older vehicles do not have the modern safety features but,
more importantly, people buy these older vehicles because of
their lower price point rather than because they have modern
safety features.
The sponsor notes that dealers should no longer be required to
stock and affix these stickers to older vehicles since there are
very few of these older vehicles offered for sale and because
stickers are largely disregarded by consumers. The author
argues that eliminating this requirement would result in time
and cost savings for dealers and would in no way harm consumers
since it is common knowledge that older vehicles do not have
state-of-the-art safety systems.
While it does not seem unreasonably costly or time consuming for
dealers to continue to affix these stickers to older model
vehicles, particularly since the sponsor themselves indicates
that there are very few of these older model vehicles being
sold, it also is understandable that the dealers would want to
eliminate this requirement since it is unlikely that the
stickers provide any new or additional information to a buyer or
otherwise influence a buyers decision to purchase an older model
vehicle.
Previous legislation : AB 1751 (Alpert) Chapter 562,
Statutes of 1992, required car dealers who sell used
AB 501
Page 8
passenger vehicles of model year 1972 to 1990, inclusive,
to affix to the window of the left front door or, if there
is no window, to another suitable location so that it may
be seen and read by a person standing outside the vehicle
at that location, a specified notice.
Motor Carrier Permit Exemption :
The Motor Carrier of Property Permit Act of 1996 (Act) was
enacted primarily to protect the safety of the traveling public
by requiring commercial motor vehicles to obtain a MCP. Motor
carriers of property include any vehicle that is used for
commercial purposes as well as any motor truck with two or more
axles that weighs more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight
rating (GVWR). Certain vehicles, however, are exempted from the
definition of a motor carrier including a pickup truck with a
GVWR of less than 11,500 pounds that is equipped with an open
box-type bed not exceeding 9 feet in length. Other vehicles
that are exempt include motor trucks or two-axle truck tractors
with a GVWR of less than 26,001 pounds only when they are being
used solely to tow a camp trailer, trailer coach, fifth-wheel
travel trailer, or utility trailer. If the truck is not towing
one of the specified trailers and is instead operated singly, it
is required to have a MCP and the owner is required to carry a
higher level of insurance coverage on the vehicle.
According to the author, over the past few decades, pickup
trucks have been built larger and heavier than they once were
with the result being that few pickup trucks (particularly those
used for towing) continue to meet the 11,500 pound GVWR
exemption from needing a MCP and enhanced insurance coverage.
The author cites the Ford F-350 or Dodge Ram 3500 as an example
of trucks that are commonly used for towing camp trailers and
fifth-wheel trailers but have a GVWR of 10, 800 pounds and
13,000 pound, respectively. If used to tow a camp trailer,
utility trailer, fifth wheel or utility trailer, a Ford F-350 is
exempt from the requirement to have a MCP and enhanced insurance
(when these trailers are in tow) but the same truck operated
singly (not towing on of the specified trailers), must have a
MCP and enhanced insurance coverage.
The author and the sponsor note that there have been cases when
AB 501
Page 9
people use these vehicles to tow a camp trailer to a campground
and then receive a citation for not having a MCP when the owner
unhitches the truck and drives it (without the trailer attached)
to the grocery store or other nearby location. The sponsor
contends that these requirements are discouraging individuals
from purchasing and using these larger trucks because of the
cost associated with maintaining a MCP ($35 per year for an MCP)
plus the cost of the enhanced insurance coverage.
To alleviate this problem, this bill which would extend the
exemption for larger pickup trucks (up to 16,000 pounds GVWR) to
operate singly without the need to be towing a trailer as long
as the vehicle is not being operated for commercial use. The
bill also adds trailers used to carry watercrafts to the list of
trailers that can be towed by these larger trucks (up to 26,000
pounds GVWR) without needing to have a MCP.
There are various weight classifications for trucks in the
10,000 and 26,000 pound GVWR range including:
a)Class 3 light-duty trucks (GVWR of 10,001 to 14,000 pounds)
such as the Ford F-350, Hummer, and Dodge Ram 3500. These
trucks can be used for passengers transport as well as for
towing and hauling;
b)Class 4 medium-duty trucks (GVWR of 14,001 to 16,000 pounds)
include vehicles like the Ford F-450 and the Dodge Ram 4500.
These trucks are used primarily for towing and hauling;
c)Class 5 medium-duty trucks (GVWR of 16,001 to 19,500 pounds)
include vehicles like the Ford F-550, Dodge Ram 5500, and the
International TerraStar. These trucks are used primarily for
hauling heavy payloads; and,
d)Class 6 medium-duty trucks (GVWR of 19,501 to 26,000 pounds)
such as the International Durastar, GMC Topkick C6500, and
Ford F-650. These trucks are used primarily for heavy
hauling and towing and are designed primarily to appeal for
businesses and municipality use.
This bill would allow class 3 and 4 trucks (weighing up to
16,001), that are currently exempted when pulling a specified
trailer, to be exempted when operating singly as long as those
vehicles are not being used for commercial purposes. Extending
the exemption to class 3 light-duty and class 4 medium-duty
AB 501
Page 10
trucks would allow individuals to use these types of trucks to
pull things like camp trailers and fifth wheels. It is also
reasonable to exclude class 4 and 5 medium-duty trucks from the
exemption since it is much more likely that these types of
vehicles would be purchased and used for commercial endeavors
and extending the authorization to operate these larger truck
singly, without the need to obtain a MCP, could create a
loophole that some unscrupulous business owners may try and take
advantage of in an attempt to get out of MCCP requirements.
Previous legislation : AB 1516 (Alejo) of 2012, would have
provided an exemption for the operation of certain farm vehicle
combinations until January 1, 2018. That bill died in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1749 (Pan) of 2012, would have exempted certain farm vehicles
from registration requirements. That bill died in the Assembly
Transportation Committee.
AB 2313 (Grove) of 2012, would have phased out weight fees
collected for pickup trucks over a 5-year period unless the
pickup truck is being used for commercial purposes. That bill
was not heard in Assembly Transportation at the request of the
author.
Exemption: Commercial Car wash :
According to the author, AB 2230 (Gatto) Chapter 545, Statutes
of 2012, did not define which car washes are considered
commercial and the sponsor is concerned that car washes
maintained by dealerships could be construed to be commercial
car washes and subject to the requirements that they reuse at
least 60% of wash and rinse water on site or use at least 60%
recycled water for washing and rinsing. To clarify that car
dealerships are not subject to this requirement, this bill
includes specifically exempts car dealers from commercial car
wash requirements. The Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife
Committee worked closely with the author in developing the
language in the bill.
Previous legislation : AB 2230 (Gatto) Chapter 545, Statutes of
2012 required new commercial car washes, other than self-service
washes, to either reuse at least 60% of the wash and rinse water
on-site or to use at least 60% recycled water for the washing
and rinsing of vehicles.
AB 501
Page 11
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California New Car Dealers Association (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093