BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2461
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2461 (Emmerson) - As Amended: April 8, 2010
SUBJECT : Vehicle registration amnesty
SUMMARY : Extends an amnesty program for improperly registered
kit cars. Specifically, this bill :
1)Extends, until December 31, 2011, a program that requires the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to grant amnesty from
criminal action to vehicles that have been registered
previously or classified incorrectly and are subsequently
correctly registered.
2)Requires, as part of the process for becoming correctly
registered, that the vehicle meet the inspection and
maintenance tailpipe emission requirements, as tested by the
Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), for the model year assigned
in the amnesty application.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires DMV to develop and administer a vehicle registration
amnesty program, which is to be in effect from January 1,
2010, until December 31, 2010, for vehicles that have been
previously registered or classified incorrectly and that are
subsequently correctly registered.
2)Provides, with certain exceptions, that a criminal action for
false statements relating to the value, make, model, or a
failure to register the vehicle may not be brought against a
current vehicle owner who participates in that amnesty
program.
3)Requires specially constructed vehicles that apply for amnesty
to obtain a certificate of compliance from a smog inspection
station.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The author is presenting this bill as a clean-up to
his AB 619 (Chapter 420, Statutes of 2008), which established an
AB 2461
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amnesty program for improperly titled or registered specially
constructed vehicles (kit cars).
AB 619 was intended to respond to widespread instances of
fraudulent titling that were under investigation by the
California Attorney General. Several businesses had been
prosecuted for providing vehicle owners with false information
which allowed vehicles to be undervalued for registration
purposes, resulting in the assessment of lower registration and
sales tax fees. Owners of "kit cars" and "hot rods," which have
been built or substantially modified by the owner, were being
registered as the year of the vehicle sought to replicate using
a fraudulent title or other paperwork. This resulted in an
avoidance of smog requirements as well as lower sales tax and
vehicle license fee assessments.
This bill would extend the amnesty program, currently scheduled
to sunset at the end of this year, for one additional year. It
has previously been estimated that the program will bring in
over $385 million in additional revenues to the state.
This bill also specifies an inspection procedure for vehicles
seeking to participate in the program. The author reports that,
under current law, "BAR does not feel they have the authority to
implement the (Air Resources Board) recommended procedure for
testing amnesty vehicles which involves conducting a tailpipe
emissions smog test at the level current model year vehicles are
required to meet. BAR believes their system requires a full
visual examination which looks for all the emissions equipment
present on a new vehicle. The (kit cars) entering the amnesty
program are produced from a variety of parts and equipped with
engines never designed to meet current model year emissions
standards. However, a retrofit kit has been developed that will
allow this population of vehicles to meet current year smog
standards. The package of parts developed for this application
is modular and slightly different for each vehicle making it
impossible to compare any of these vehicles to current year
production original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vehicle. With
this in mind, all interested agencies and private sector
advocates support a tailpipe only examination of the vehicles as
this will truly determine if the vehicle has been brought into
compliance."
In regard to the extension of the program's sunset extension,
AB 2461
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the author notes, "the clouded legal authority surrounding the
emissions testing requirements caused months of delay making it
necessary to extend the program deadline."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093