BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sB 385
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: wright
VERSION: 4/14/09
Analysis by: Jennifer Gress FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 21, 2009
SUBJECT:
Motor vehicle inspection and maintenance (smog check) program:
historic vehicles
DESCRIPTION:
This bill exempts "historic vehicles" from the smog check
program, provided certain conditions are met.
ANALYSIS:
Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program (Smog Check)
To meet federal air quality standards, existing law requires
California-registered, gasoline-powered vehicles, and beginning
January 1, 2010 certain diesel-powered vehicles, to undergo
biennial smog inspections to measure motor vehicle-related
pollutants. New vehicles six model-years old and newer,
vehicles with a pre-1976 model year, electric vehicles,
motorcycles, and large commercial vehicles are exempt from the
smog check program. In addition, collector vehicles 35
model-years old or older are exempt from the component of smog
check that entails a visual or functional check of emissions
control equipment.
Upon initial registration and upon a change of ownership and
registration of a vehicle, the vehicle owner must submit to the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) a valid certificate of
compliance indicating that the vehicle has passed its smog
inspection. If a vehicle fails any component of a smog
inspection, the vehicle owner must, with some exceptions, repair
the vehicle and pass a subsequent smog inspection before being
able to register or renew the registration of the vehicle.
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Vehicles of Historic Value
Upon application by a vehicle owner, existing law requires DMV
to issue a special identification plate to vehicles of historic
value, provided the vehicle meets one of the following
conditions:
The vehicle is at least 25 years old and is of "historic
interest" to the extent that it is "collected, restored,
maintained, and operated by a collector or hobbyist
principally for purposes of exhibition and historic vehicle
club activities" as certified by the vehicle's owner; or
The vehicle has an engine of 16 or more cylinders manufactured
prior to 1965; or
The vehicle was manufactured in the year 1922 or prior
thereto.
This bill exempts vehicles from the smog check program provided
the following conditions are met:
The vehicle has a historic license plate
The registered owner of the vehicle owns two or more currently
registered vehicles that are not registered as historic
vehicles.
The registered owner of the vehicle signs a statement under
penalty of perjury that the vehicle will be used principally
for the purpose of exhibition and historic vehicle club
activities.
The vehicle has not been driven more than an average of 150
miles per month during the previous two-year cycle minus any
mileage accrued from driving to and from events sponsored by
charitable organizations, provided the mileage is documented
by a receipt issued by the organization in accordance with
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations.
This bill also requires mileage to be verified by a licensed
smog check station, which is authorized to charge a reasonable
fee for providing the service.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, the smog check program as
it exists under current law does not provide sufficient
exemptions for historic vehicles manufactured after 1976.
The author would like to update the exemptions to recognize
that certain vehicles manufactured after 1976, which are at
least 25 years old, have historic value, are costly and
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difficult to repair, and need to be preserved.
The sponsor, the Automobile Driving Museum, argues that
current law seeks to promote the preservation of historic
motor vehicles by exempting those manufactured before 1976
from certain smog check requirements. The sponsor asserts
that many vehicles manufactured after 1976 are not being kept
because people do not have the resources to maintain
compliance with smog check laws. The reason this occurs is due
to the fact that manufacturers of vehicles are required to
inventory emission repair parts for only 15 years. After that
period of time, the manufacturers transfer inventory to
aftermarket suppliers who maintain inventory only for as long
as it is economically feasible. After 25 years, the demand
for replacement parts declines to uneconomic levels, making
repair parts difficult and expensive to obtain.
2.Parts locator service and limited parts waiver . The Bureau of
Automotive Repair (BAR), which administers the smog check
program, offers a parts locator service and a limited parts
waiver from smog check for that two-year cycle if parts cannot
be located that would allow the vehicle to pass its smog
inspection. There is no limit to the number of cycles for
which a vehicle owner may be granted a waiver. For this
reason, it is unclear that this bill is needed.
In response, the sponsor argues that the bill seeks to make it
as easy as possible for individuals to opt to keep their older
vehicles and that the process of obtaining a waiver may be
enough for people to opt to get rid of their older vehicles.
Staff notes, however, that the bill already requires vehicle
owners to take their vehicles to a smog station to verify
mileage. Furthermore, historic license plates, which this
bill requires in order to be eligible for the exemption, are
issued to vehicles that are "collected, restored, maintained,
and operated by a collector or hobbyist principally for
purposes of exhibition and historic vehicle club activities."
Owners of these vehicles are already investing significant
time and money to maintain and preserve these vehicles. It is
unclear, then, why undergoing a smog inspection once every two
years or, if necessary, obtaining a waiver constitutes such a
significant barrier to ownership.
3.Attainment of air quality standards . States that contain
areas designated as nonattainment for a particular air
pollutant must develop a state implementation plan (SIP) to
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demonstrate how those areas in the state will attain the
federal standard for that pollutant. A state's SIP is a
combination of state and local air quality planning documents
that identify the air pollution control strategies or measures
that the state and local agencies will implement under their
respective authorities in order to attain the federal
standard. The smog check program is an example of a mobile
source strategy to reduce emissions from passenger vehicles
and light-duty trucks. California's 2007 SIP for ozone
contains several measures that increase the emission
reductions achieved through the smog check program. By
establishing an exemption from the smog check program, this
bill will offset gains made by other measures and thus make it
more difficult for regions in the state to attain the national
standards.
4.History of exemptions . Before 1998, vehicles manufactured
prior to the 1966 model year were exempt from all elements of
the smog check program. 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 the argument advanced to
support this bill: It was difficult for aging cars to pass
smog tests because original parts were difficult to locate. It
was also argued that these older vehicles were driven far
fewer miles than average and that many vehicles were of
special significance and were maintained in superior condition
by their owners.
In 2004, AB 2683 (Lieber), Chapter 704, eliminated the 30-year
rolling exemption and instead exempted all vehicles
manufactured prior to 1976. By establishing a fixed model year
for the exemption, older, more polluting cars remained in the
smog check program over time, thereby achieving greater
emission reductions. To address concerns raised by collector
car enthusiasts, Assemblymember Lieber inserted into the bill
a provision that exempted 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 standards, and
passes the fuel cap and liquid leak inspection requirements.
5.Fragmented policy on collector/historic cars and smog check .
This measure reflects the ongoing tension between historical
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preservation and public health. The policy landscape, if this
bill were to become law, would become increasingly fragmented
and difficult to navigate. These varied provisions are
briefly summarized below.
Pre-1976 vehicles are exempt from the smog check
program;
Collector vehicles 35 years old or older are exempt from
the component of smog check that entails a visual or
functional check of emissions control equipment; and as
provided in this bill,
Historic vehicles 25 years old or older would be exempt
from the smog check program, provided the individual has at
least two other vehicles currently registered and the
historic vehicle was driven less than 150 miles per month.
1.Implementation issues . The bill, as currently drafted, raises
several questions with regard to implementation, including:
The mileage is recorded manually by the smog station
technician. Any mileage accrued for charitable purposes is
deducted. Is it possible that a technician could fudge a
little to help his loyal customer avoid smog? Should
documentation of the mileage deduction be provided to BAR
and DMV?
Is it possible to verify that an owner of these older
vehicles did not tamper with the odometer?
Is a smog station technician the appropriate person to
interpret whether the documentation provided by a vehicle
owner conforms to IRS rules regarding charitable
contributions?
How will the baseline for mileage be determined? This
bill is operative January 1, 2010, which will likely fall
somewhere in the middle of the two-year smog cycle for
these vehicles. Will the smog station technician be able
to determine the vehicle's mileage from its previous
inspection?
7.Suggested amendments . If this bill were to move forward, the
committee may wish to consider the following amendments to
facilitate implementation:
a. Because the bill requires a smog station technician to
make several judgments regarding mileage, which ultimately
determines whether the vehicle is subject to smog
inspection, the committee may wish to consider an amendment
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that would require vehicle owners to have mileage verified
by referee stations rather than smog stations generally.
Referee stations, acting as agents of the state, are
responsible for issuing waivers and dealing with other
special circumstances that arise within the smog check
program.
b. The mileage deduction allowed for mileage accrued
because of charitable purposes may be an overly complicated
provision and result in increased emissions to an unknown
degree. The committee may wish to consider an amendment to
delete that provision of the bill.
8.Subject to change of ownership requirements . While most
vehicles that are exempt from the smog check program are also
exempted from requirements that the vehicle undergo smog
inspection upon initial registration and change of ownership,
this bill retains that requirement. It is unclear whether
this was expressly intended or an oversight by the author or
sponsor. Requiring a vehicle to undergo smog inspection upon
change of ownership is a consumer protection intended to
provide the subsequent owner of a vehicle assurance that the
vehicle is in compliance with emission control laws at the
time of purchase. In this case, the subsequent owner may be
unaware of the mileage limitation, drive it greater distances,
and then be subject to potentially expensive repairs if it
fails its smog inspection. If this bill were to move forward,
the committee may wish to express its intent that the bill
maintain the requirement for a smog inspection upon change of
ownership.
9.Chaptering amendments . This bill conflicts with SB 435
(Pavley). If both bills move forward, the authors should
endeavor to avoid having changes in one bill chapter out
changes made by the other.
RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 435 (Pavley) incorporates, beginning January 1, 2012,
specified motorcycles into the smog check program. Passed this
committee on April 14th 7 to 3.
AB 318 (Emmerson) authorizes BAR to charge a fee to inspect
specially constructed vehicles that participate in an amnesty
program established pursuant to AB 619 (Emmerson), Chapter 420,
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Statutes of 2008. Assembly Business and Professions Committee.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 15, 2009)
SUPPORT: Association of California Car Clubs, Inc.
OPPOSED: California Air Pollution Control Officers
Association (CAPCOA)
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management
District
Sierra Club California