BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2683|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2683
Author: Lieber (D), et al
Amended: 8/23/04 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE : 8-2, 6/29/04
AYES: Murray, Figueroa, Florez, Perata, Scott, Soto,
Speier, Torlakson
NOES: McClintock, Brulte
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn, Karnette, Morrow
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 8/4/04
AYES: Alpert, Burton, Escutia, Machado, Murray,
Poochigian, Speier
NOES: Battin, Ashburn, Johnson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Bowen, Karnette
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-28, 5/26/04 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Air pollution: smog check
SOURCE : Bay Area Air Quality Management District
California Council for Environmental and
Economic Balance
Planning and Conservation League
DIGEST : This bill repeals the rolling exemption from
Smog Check and Smog Check II requirements for vehicles more
than 30 model years old and replaces it with an exemption
for vehicles manufactured prior to the 1976 model year.
CONTINUED
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Senate Floor Amendments of 8/23/04 (1) exempt from the
visual and functional component of the smog check program,
"collector motor vehicles" if a vehicle is at least 35
years old, is insured as a collector vehicle, complies with
the emissions (tailpipe) standards and passes the fuel cap
and liquid leak inspection requirements, (2) add language
to avoid a chaptering conflict with SB 1107 (budget trailer
bill), (3) add language to avoid a chaptering conflict with
SB 1615 (Denham), and (4) add Assemblymember Koretz as a
co-author.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a motor vehicle
inspection and maintenance program (smog check),
administered by the State Department of Consumer Affairs
(DCA) and the State Air Resources Board, that provides for
the inspection of all motor vehicles, except those
specifically exempted from the program, upon registration,
biennially upon renewal of registration, upon transfer of
ownership, and in certain other circumstances. Existing
law requires the State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
to require any motor vehicle subject to those requirements
to demonstrate compliance with those requirements.
Existing law also establishes an enhanced motor vehicle
inspection and maintenance program (Smog Check II) in each
urbanized area of the state, any part of which is
classified by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency as a serious, severe, or extreme nonattainment area
for specified air contaminants. Existing law also requires
the smog tests to include, at minimum, loaded mode
dynamometer testing in enhanced areas, and two-speed
testing in all other program areas, and a visual or
functional check of emission control devices specified by
the department. Existing law exempted from those
requirements, until January 1, 2003, any motor vehicle
manufactured prior to the 1974 model-year, and after that
date, any motor vehicle that is 30 or more model-years old.
This bill repeals the rolling 30-year exemption from the
smog check program. Specifically, the bill: (1) declares
the Legislature's intent that vehicles of the 1975 model
year and older (1974, 1973, etc.) shall be permanently
exempted from smog check requirements and to ensure that
the DMV and DCA be afforded adequate time to implement the
bill's requirements, (2) repeals the exemption for vehicles
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30 years old or older from vehicle maintenance and
inspection programs, effective April 1, 2005, (3)
continues the exemption from smog check program provisions
for vehicles that were manufactured prior to the 1976 model
year (1975 model year and older), effective April 1, 2005,
(4) exempts from the visual and functional portion of the
smog check program "collector motor vehicles," as defined,
and (5) makes corresponding changes to related provisions.
The bill defines "collector motor vehicle" as a vehicle
that meets all of the following criteria: (1) submission
of proof that the motor vehicle is insured as a collector
motor vehicle, as shall be required by regulation of the
bureau, (2) the motor vehicle is at least 35 model years
old, and (3) the motor vehicle complies with the exhaust
emissions standards for that motor vehicle's class and
model year as prescribed by the department, and the motor
vehicle passes functional inspection of the fuel cap and a
visual inspection for liquid fuel leaks.
Comments
Before 1998, vehicles manufactured prior to the 1966 model
year were exempt from all elements of Smog Check and Smog
Check II. SB 42 (Kopp), Chapter 801, Statutes of 1997,
extended the exemption to all vehicles manufactured prior
to the 1974 model year and, beginning in 2003, established
the so-called 30-year rolling exemption, allowing vehicles
to leave the program upon reaching 30 years of age. The
rationale for the bill included arguments 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 cut points had been set at
levels more stringent than original manufacturer's
specifications and therefore were difficult or sometimes
impossible for older vehicles to meet. It also was argued
that these older vehicle were driven far fewer miles than
average and that many vehicles were of special significance
and were maintained in superior condition by their owners.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
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The DMV will incur one-time programming costs of
approximately $138,000 to comply with this bill. Costs to
the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), which oversees Smog
Check and Smog Check II, will be minor. Costs to both DMV
and BAR will be offset by revenue generated by the $8.25
certificate of compliance fee imposed on vehicle owners
when they get their vehicles certified at a Smog Check
facility.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/04)
Bay Area Air Quality Management District (co-source)
California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
(co-source)
Planning and Conservation League (co-source)
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
American Lung Association
Bluewater Network
California Air Pollution Officers Association
California League of Conservation Voters
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
Capitol Auto Club Inc. "Thunderbolts"
Cleaner Air Partnership
Clean Power Campaign
Kirsh Foundation
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Natural Resources Defense Council
Rose Colored Glass Company
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson, District 1
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
Sacramento Metro Chamber
San Diego County Board of Supervisors
San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District
Sierra Club-California
Solano County Supervisor Duane Kromm, District 3
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation
Union of Concerned Scientists
Western State Petroleum Association
Wine Institute
Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/6/04)
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Advanced Marketing & Distribution, Inc.
American Motorcyclist Association, District 37 Dual Sports
Division
Automedia 2000, Inc.
Automotive Parts Company
Burgiemen Capitol City Car Club
California Off-Road Vehicle Association
CRE Spray Booths & Metal Buildings
Currie Enterprises
DRIVE! Magazine
Edelbrock Corporation
Egge Machine Company
GEN III Performance
Goodguys Rod & Custom Association
Hagerty Insurance Agency, Inc.
Innovative Turbo Systems
Kinesis Motorsport
Mini Mania Inc.
Nanotech Fuel Corporation
Nology Engineering, Inc.
Off-Road Business Association
Precision Collision Repair
San Diego Off-Road Coalition
Southern California Roadsters Car Club
Specialty Equipment Market Association
Sway-A-Way, Inc.
Western Industrial Exchange, Inc.
Wild Horses, Inc.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office and sponsors
of the current bill state that more than 90 percent of
California residents live in nonattainment areas for state
or federal air quality standards and that air pollution
threatens public health and contributes to many ailments.
Mobile source emissions, from motor vehicles, are cited as
the primary source of our air quality problems, while the
smog check program is described as equitable and
cost-effective in addressing air quality problems and
reducing emissions. Proponents contend that while older
vehicles comprise a small percentage of the California
vehicle fleet, they produce a disproportionately large
amount of total vehicular emissions. For example, the
average 2004 vehicle is said to be driven 58 times more
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miles than the average 1976 vehicle, and there are 24 times
more 2004 vehicles. Still, emissions from the 1976
vehicles are 2.5 times more than those from the 2004
vehicles. This inverse relationship, among other things,
is cited in support of the proposed repeal of the 30-year
exemption for older vehicles.
Proponents argue that elimination of the rolling exemption
will eliminate six tons/day of ozone precursors by 2010
and twice that amount by 2015. They note that no currently
exempted vehicles would be made subject to the smog check
program, rather, vehicles that otherwise would become
exempt each year upon reaching the 30-year mark would
permanently remain in the smog check program.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents of the bill cite
numerous arguments against it, including that the computer
models used to calculate emissions reductions from the
elimination of the rolling exemption are flawed and rely on
faulty assumptions. They contend that 30-year-old
vehicles, which comprise less than four percent of the
fleet, do not average the 5,100 annual miles attributed to
them, that the attrition rate for the older vehicles is
very high, reducing their number and impact significantly
each year, and that those that remain on the road tend to
be relatively clean and well-maintained. Opponents assert
that numerous studies show that the dirtiest 10-20 percent
of vehicles, in any category, are responsible for 90
percent of the emissions from that category. The job,
then, is to identify those vehicles, through remote sensing
or otherwise, and repair or remove them from operation.
They also contend that "cut points" (emissions failure
points) have discriminated against older vehicles by being
set at disproportionately stringent levels, thus raising
the failure rates for older vehicles and providing a basis
to repeal the existing exemption. Those opposing the bill
argue that it expands the smog check program each year as
the vehicle fleet grows, could create a growing number of
fugitive vehicles, and could actually prove to be
counterproductive by limiting the ability of vehicle owners
to install newer, cleaner technologies because they would
risk failing the visual and functional smog check
requirements.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Berg, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Corbett, Diaz, Dutra,
Dymally, Firebaugh, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome
Horton, Shirley Horton, Jackson, Kehoe, Koretz, Laird,
Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal,
Maldonado, Matthews, Montanez, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nakano,
Nation, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Pavley, Reyes, Richman,
Ridley-Thomas, Salinas, Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas,
Wesson, Wiggins, Wolk, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Bogh, Campbell,
Canciamilla, Cogdill, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Dutton,
Garcia, Harman, Haynes, Keene, La Suer, Leslie, Maddox,
Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Pacheco, Parra, Plescia,
Samuelian, Spitzer, Strickland, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bermudez, Calderon, Houston, La Malfa,
Runner
RJG:mel 8/22/04 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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