BILL ANALYSIS
SB 100
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 18, 2001
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
John Dutra, Chair
SB 100 (Johannessen) - As Introduced: January 18, 2001
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Emission control: specially constructed vehicles
SUMMARY : Establishes a procedure for determining emission
control standards for certain specialized vehicles.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, upon initial registration with the Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV), a passenger vehicle or pickup truck that
is a "specially constructed vehicle" to be inspected by a smog
inspection station authorized to perform referee functions.
2)Requires the referee, upon completion of the inspection, to:
a) Determine the model-year that the vehicle's engine most
resembles,
b) Require only those emission control systems applicable
to that model-year,
c) Affix a tamper-resistant label to the vehicle, and
d) Issue a certificate that establishes the engine
model-year and emission control system application.
1)Designates 1960 as the model-year that shall be assigned to
vehicles whose engines do not sufficiently resemble a
previously manufactured engine.
EXISTING LAW defines a specially constructed vehicle as a
vehicle that is built for private use, is not for resale, and is
not constructed by a licensed manufacturer or remanufacturer.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author's office, "This legislation
creates guidelines for the emission inspection of specially
constructed vehicles. Engines will now be held to the standards
of the model-year they represent rather than the more current,
sophisticated engines of today."
SB 100
Page 2
Federal law requires states that do not meet the specified
health-based federal air quality standards to implement vehicle
inspection and maintenance programs. The vehicle inspection
program in California is known as Smog Check and generally
requires vehicles, with specified exceptions, to obtain a smog
inspection certificate or certificate of non-compliance
biennially, upon change-of-ownership, or upon the registration
of a vehicle previously registered in another state. In 1997,
the Legislature enacted Senate Bill 42 (Kopp), Chapter 801,
which exempted from the biennial and change-of-ownership vehicle
inspection requirements vehicles manufactured before the 1974
model year, and beginning in 2003, all 30-year old vehicles on a
rolling basis. Prior to the enactment of SB 42, all 1966 and
older model vehicles were exempt from the requirements of Smog
Check.
This bill would modify the way the engine model-year is
determined for a "specially constructed vehicle" for smog
inspection purposes. DMV indicates that there are
approximately 5,000 vehicles currently registered that generally
fit this definition. The author points out that when these
vehicles are presented to DMV for initial registration, the
department assigns the current model-year to the engine for smog
inspection purposes because of the difficulty of determining the
precise engine model-year as a result of the use of unassociated
engine parts and the special nature of the vehicles. With the
current-year designation, the vehicle is subject to more
stringent smog inspection requirements. This bill would
authorize specially trained smog inspection station referees to
make the engine model-year determination for these vehicles.
The bill is intended to establish a more accurate identification
of the engine model-year of these vehicles and eliminate the
difficulties and inconveniences that their owners have sometimes
encountered regarding complying with the requirements of the
Smog Check program. However, a vehicle with an old engine
system does not have to be driven often or for great distances
in order to pollute. According to the Air Resources Board
(ARB), the average older vehicle can emit the same amount of
pollutants as approximately 99 new vehicles. In addition, motor
vehicles can produce evaporative emissions even when they sit
idle and are not being used. Newer motor vehicles have
evaporative controls while most older vehicles do not.
ARB in fact opposes the bill, contending that it will provide
SB 100
Page 3
"an opportunity for the unlimited growth of the market for newly
manufactured kit cars that are exempt from both emission control
equipment and Smog Check requirements." ARB feels this would be
accomplished by configuring new engines to look like pre-smog
control era engines. They suggest that the bill be amended to
allow only 250 vehicles to be registered each year under its
provisions. The California Air Pollution Control Officers
Association believes that people whose vehicles have failed
their smog tests will modify the engines so that they will be
assigned a 1960 model-year designation, a year when emission
controls were virtually nonexistent.
Yet another approach might be to assign a more recent model-year
designation than 1960 to kit car engines, such as whichever year
at any given time (currently 1974) represents the cut point for
entry into the Smog Check program. In this manner, kit cars
would not be wholly exempted from emission control requirements
but neither would they be required to meet the very strict
standards that are applied to newly-manufactured automobiles.
Last year, the Legislature unanimously approved SB 1811
(Johannessen), a nearly identical bill to this measure. That
bill was vetoed by the Governor who noted: "SB 1811 would
create a pollution control loophole for kit cars that would slow
the state's progress toward clean air. California is falling
short of meeting federal and state health-based clean air
standards. Weakening the Smog Check and motor vehicle emission
control programs by creating additional exemptions risks public
health as well as the loss of federal transportation funds."
Authors' amendments : The author is offering amendments that
would, at the option of the vehicle owner, have the
determination of the model-year be based on the characteristics
of the engine or of the vehicle itself. In either event, the
inability to make a determination of a specific model-year would
result in the vehicle being assigned 1960 as its model-year.
SB 100
Page 4
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California Car Clubs
Opposition
Air Resources Board
American Lung Association
California Air Pollution Control Officers Association
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093