BILL ANALYSIS
SB 165
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Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 165 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: June 22, 2010
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:14-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This is a largely technical cleanup bill that recasts code
provisions dealing with the registration of specially
constructed vehicles. Specifically, the bill:
1)Switches from the Vehicle Code to the Health and Safety Code,
provisions describing the responsibilities of the Bureau of
Automotive Repair (BAR) with regard to the registration of
specially constructed vehicles.
2)Switches from the Health and Safety Code to the Vehicle Code,
provisions related to the responsibilities of the Department
of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with regard to the registration of
specially constructed vehicles.
3)Clarifies that specially constructed vehicles that are
currently registered may apply to register the vehicle using a
different model year, subject to the existing 500 vehicle
limitation on specially determined model years.
FISCAL EFFECT
No significant impact on state costs or revenues.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The registration of specially constructed vehicles
(typically "kit cars") and, in particular, their potential
exemption from emission control requirements, has been the
subject of several pieces of legislation and significant
controversy in recent years. This bill, however, is simply a
SB 165
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technical cleanup measure, the primary effect of which is to
place the statutory responsibilities of BAR and DMV for this
program into the appropriate state codes (the Health and
Safety Code for BAR and the Vehicle Code for DMV). The bill
also makes clear, consistent with the intent of current law,
that specially constructed vehicles that are currently
registered may apply to register the vehicle using a different
model year determined in subsequent years.
2)Background . A specially constructed vehicle, or kit car, is
one which is not built for resale nor constructed by a
licensed manufacturer. Instead, they are typically built at
home by hobbyists and classic car enthusiasts. Kit cars are
often replicas of well-known and expensive classics and are
designed so that anyone with a fair degree of technical skill
can build them to a standard where they can be driven on the
public roads.
The Legislature in 2001 enacted SB 100 (Johannessen) Chapter
871, Statutes of 2001, which modified the way a kit car's
engine model-year is determined for smog inspection purposes.
Prior to SB 100, because of the difficulty of determining the
precise engine model-year resulting from the use of
unassociated engine parts and the special nature of these
vehicles, DMV designated them as being from the current
model-year. A current-year designation subjects vehicles to
relatively stringent smog standards, which many kit cars are
unable to meet.
SB 100 required, for the first 500 applications each year,
that specially trained smog inspection station referees assign
the model-year designation based on the model year of the car
or engine the specially constructed vehicle most closely
replicates - and in cases where such a designation is not
possible, to provide a 1960 model-year designation (thereby
completely exempting them from emission control requirements
and from biennial smog inspections).
SB 1578 (Johannessen) Chapter 95, Statutes of 2002, expanded
the scope of SB 100 so that the alternative smog standards
apply to both registrations and renewals. Kit cars that are
registered after the 500-vehicle annual limitation has been
met in any given year must meet smog standards for the year in
which the vehicle was manufactured or first registered, and is
also subject to biennial smog inspections.
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3)Related legislation . AB 1740 (Jeffries) would have increased
to 750 the annual number of kit cars that would be eligible
for registration using a specific formula for determining
their model year. That bill failed passage in the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081