BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2461
Author: Emmerson (R)
Amended: 8/5/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM : 7-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe,
Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 4/26/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Specially constructed vehicles: amnesty
program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends the amnesty program for
incorrectly or fraudulently registered vehicles, exempts
specially constructed vehicles seeking amnesty from the
visual component of the smog inspection, and requires that
a certificate of compliance be issued to a specially
constructed vehicle that has applied for amnesty if the
vehicle has met the inspection and maintenance tailpipe
emissions requirements, as determined by the Bureau of
Automotive Repair, for the model year assigned in the
amnesty application.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : AB 619 (Emmerson), Chapter 420, Statutes of
2008, established a vehicle registration amnesty program
whereby vehicle owners who had previously registered their
vehicle incorrectly or fraudulently may, with some
exceptions, correctly register their vehicle and avoid
criminal prosecution for false statements relating to the
value, make, or model of the vehicle or for failure to
register the vehicle. The amnesty program is in effect for
one year, beginning January 1, 2010 and ending December 31,
2010.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which administers
the program, is required to grant amnesty to a vehicle
owner if the owner meets the following requirements:
The owner has filed a completed amnesty application with
DMV attesting, under penalty of perjury, to the owner's
eligibility to participate in the program.
The owner has correctly registered the vehicle, including
disclosing to DMV the make, model, and true cost of the
vehicle, including parts and labor; paying to DMV all fees
and penalties owed for the underreporting of the vehicle's
value and the nonpayment of taxes or fees; and submitting a
certificate of compliance indicating that the vehicle has
passed its smog inspection.
The emission control standards that a vehicle must meet in
order to pass its smog inspection are determined by the
vehicle's model year. Under the amnesty program, a
specially constructed vehicle, defined as a vehicle that is
"built for private use, not for resale, and is not
constructed by a licensed manufacturer or remanufacturer,"
is assigned a model year of the calendar year in which the
vehicle owner applied for amnesty (i.e., 2010).
This bill:
1.Extends the amnesty program for incorrectly or
fraudulently registered vehicles until June 30, 2012.
2.Require that a certificate of compliance be issued to a
specially constructed vehicle that has applied for
amnesty if the vehicle has met the inspection and
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maintenance tailpipe emissions requirements, as
determined by the Bureau of Automotive Repair, for the
model year assigned in the amnesty application.
3.Exempts a specially constructed vehicle that has applied
for amnesty from the requirements of a visual inspection
4.Sunsets the amnesty program as of January 1, 2013.
Background
AB 619 was introduced in response to an ongoing
investigation conducted by the California Attorney
General's Office regarding the fraudulent titling of
vehicles in California. Owners of specially constructed
vehicles, also referred to as "kit cars" and "hot rods,"
are being registered as the year of the vehicle they seek
to replicate using a fraudulent title or other paperwork.
According to the Attorney General's Office, the primary
reason for mis-titling vehicles with earlier model years is
to avoid the requirements of the smog check program. In
the process, vehicle owners often under-report the value of
their vehicle in order to owe less in sales tax and the
vehicle license fee than they would otherwise be required
to pay. The Attorney General's Office estimates that
approximately 70,000 vehicles in California have been
fraudulently titled and that the state has lost
approximately $285 million in revenue.
The Attorney General's Office has been targeting businesses
that supply fraudulent titles to vehicle owners but does
not have the resources to pursue each individual who has
fraudulently titled his or her vehicle. The vehicle
registration amnesty program was established in order to
encourage vehicle owners to re-register their vehicles
properly without fear of criminal prosecution.
The specially constructed vehicles entering the amnesty
program are produced from a variety of parts and equipped
with engines never designed to meet current model-year
emissions standards. A retrofit kit has been developed,
however, that will allow this population of vehicles to
meet current year tailpipe standards. The package of parts
developed for this application is slightly different for
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each vehicle, making it impossible to compare any of these
vehicles to current-year production original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) vehicles.
In general, a smog inspection involves four components: a
tailpipe emissions test, an evaporative emissions test, a
smoke test, and a functional inspection. This retrofit kit
will allow the vehicle to produce fewer tailpipe emissions,
but will not meet the standards for a functional inspection
whereby a technician inspects the vehicle to ensure that
all required emission control equipment is in place on the
vehicle. Under the conventional procedures for smog
inspections, therefore, a specially constructed vehicle
equipped with this retrofit device would fail its
inspection, even if the vehicle passed the tailpipe test.
In consideration of the retrofit device, the Air Resources
Board (ARB) recommended to BAR procedures to test specially
constructed vehicles seeking amnesty that only included the
tailpipe and smoke tests, not the test for evaporative
emissions or the visual, functional inspection. The author
contends that BAR did not believe it had the authority to
implement the ARB- recommended procedure for testing
amnesty vehicles, believing that AB 619 required them to do
a full inspection.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/4/10)
California State Association of Counties
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill is a clean-up measure to AB 619, which
established an amnesty program for improperly titled or
registered specially constructed vehicles. This bill would
provide the Bureau of Automotive Repair unambiguous legal
authority to implement certain procedures to test specially
constructed vehicles required to obtain a certificate of
compliance under the amnesty program.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
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AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen,
Norby, Portantino, Ruskin, Saldana, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Bass, Fuller, Furutani,
Monning, V. Manuel Perez, Salas, John A. Perez, Vacancy
JA:nl 8/5/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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