BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2683
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 12, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jenny Oropeza, Chair
AB 2683 (Lieber) - As Amended: March 24, 2004
SUBJECT : Smog Check exemption
SUMMARY : Repeals the "30-year rolling exemption" that applies
to the Smog Check and Smog Check II programs. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Repeals the exemption for vehicles 30 years old or older from
vehicle maintenance and inspection programs.
2)Provides an exemption from those programs for vehicles that
were manufactured prior to the 1976 model year.
3)Makes corresponding changes to provisions regarding the need
to obtain smog certificates of compliance.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires vehicles registered in areas which are classified by
the Environmental Protection Agency as serious, severe, or
extreme nonattainment areas for ozone or moderate or serious
nonattainment areas for carbon monoxide (i.e., the Sacramento
metropolitan area; San Diego; San Joaquin Valley; South Coast;
Southeast Desert and Ventura) to undergo "enhanced" biennial
inspections of their emission control equipment and systems.
These inspections feature "loaded-mode" dynamometer testing
and more sophisticated emissions analysis equipment that can
measure emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Additionally,
the program requires certain vehicles to be inspected at
"test-only" inspection stations.
2)Requires, additionally, the establishment of the enhanced smog
check program in the urbanized areas of the San Francisco Bay
Air Basin, including the test-only station component of the
inspection program for designated vehicles.
3)Requires vehicles registered in other nonattainment basins to
undergo "basic" biennial inspections of their emission control
equipment and systems that are performed with the engine
operating in the idle mode only. There is no provision within
AB 2683
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the basic program for test-only inspections.
4)Requires vehicles registered in all other areas of the state
to undergo the basic emissions test only upon change of
ownership.
5)Prohibits the implementation of the test-only element of the
enhanced program in any area not classified as a serious,
severe, or extreme nonattainment area for ozone or a moderate
or serious nonattainment area for carbon monoxide.
6)Exempts from all smog check programs any vehicles that are 30
or more model years old.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Under existing law, the smog check program
essentially divides the state into three areas with different
emissions testing requirements for each. The enhanced program
(commonly referred to as "Smog Check II") applies to areas that
do not meet federal or state air quality standards for ozone and
carbon monoxide and are the most polluted urbanized areas.
Vehicles in these areas are required to undergo biennial smog
checks and fifteen percent of them must have their smog checks
performed at test-only stations. The basic program is
administered in areas that are less polluted. Vehicles in these
areas must have biennial testing at licensed test-and-repair
stations. Change-of-ownership areas are the more rural regions
of that state that require emissions testing only when a vehicle
changes ownership or is registered for the first time in
California.
Prior to 1998, vehicles that were from the model year 1973 or
earlier were exempt from all elements of Smog Check and Smog
Check II. Subsequently, SB 42 (Kopp), Chapter 801, Statutes of
1997, established the so-called 30-year rolling exemption,
allowing vehicles to "graduate" from the program once they reach
30 years of age. It was argued at the time that it was
difficult for aging cars to pass smog tests because original
parts were difficult to locate, new testing procedures were
arbitrary and made it difficult for older vehicles to pass, and
testing cutpoints had been set at levels more stringent than
original manufacturer's specifications and were therefore
impossible for older vehicles to meet. The bill was supported
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by, among others, classic car collectors and advocates for
low-income motorists who could neither afford to keep their
older vehicles well maintained nor to replace them with newer,
cleaner, models.
This bill would repeal the 30-year rolling exemption and instead
apply the Smog Check exemption strictly to vehicles manufactured
prior to the 1976 model year. Supporters of the bill point out
that 1976 model-year cars, on average, emit 155 times more
hydrocarbons per mile than new vehicles and, despite their very
much smaller share of the vehicle population, continue to emit
two to three times the volume of pollutants in aggregate. By
2010, pre-1982 cars (those that would be exempt from Smog Check
at that time under current law) will account for 22% of the
hydrocarbons and 11% of the NOx emissions despite representing
only 2.6% of the vehicle population and 1.3% of the vehicle
miles traveled. Supporters also note that once a vehicle is
exempt from Smog Check there is no incentive for its owner to
continue to maintain its emission control equipment nor is there
any mechanism to assure that such equipment has not been
modified or removed.
While opponents agree that a small number of vehicles account
for a lion's share of vehicular emissions, they contend,
contrary to the data cited above, that the offending vehicles
are distributed among all model years. They further claim that
the vehicle population targeted by the bill tends to be well
maintained and infrequently driven. Finally, they believe they
are being scapegoated for the failure of California to meet its
air quality goals and assert, "California must lead the way in
attacking motor vehicle pollution where it lives and not on the
backs of old car collectors and lower-income citizens."
In regard to low-income owners of older vehicles, it should be
noted that the Bureau of Automotive Repair administers a
Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) that offers financial
assistance for Smog Check-related repairs. The CAP provides up
to $500 to assist a vehicle owner whose household income is up
to 185% of the federal poverty standard to meet Smog Check
requirements.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 2683
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Bay Area Air Quality Management District (co-sponsor)
California Council for Economic and Environmental Balance
(co-sponsor)
Planning and Conservation League (co-sponsor)
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
American Lung Association
Bluewater Network
California Air Pollution Officers Association
California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV)
Cleaner Air Partnership
Clean Power Campaign
Kirsh Foundation
Rose Colored Glass Company
Sacramento Air Quality Management District
Sierra Club-California
Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation
Western States Petroleum Association
Opposition
Advanced Marketing & Distribution
Automotive Parts Company
CRE Spray Booths & Metal Buildings
Drive! Magazine
Echo Valley Enterprises
Edelbrock Corporation
Gen III Performance
Hagerty Collector Car & Boat Insurance
Innovative Turbo Systems
Kinesis Motorsport
Mini Mania, Inc.
Nanotech Fuel Corporation
Nology Engineering
Precision Collision Repair
Southern California Roadsters Car Club
Specialty Equipment Market Association
Sway-A-Way, Inc.
Western Industrial Exchange
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093