BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
435 (Pavley)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: 04/13/2009
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T.&H. 7-3
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 435 would, commencing January 1, 2012,
require the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) to include
specified motorcycles in the biennial smog check program.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Smog check expansion ($1,250) Special*
(revenue gains) full-year revenues of $2,000 - $2,500
annually
beginning in 2012-13 (see staff comments)
BAR program costs $1,750 $2,000
Special**
DMV administration $430 $370
Special***
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* Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund (VIRF)
** High Polluter Repair or Removal Account (HPRRA)
*** Motor Vehicle Account
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Existing law requires motor vehicles, with specified exceptions,
to undergo a biennial smog inspection, administered by BAR, to
measure motor vehicle-related pollutants. As a condition of
initial registration, upon change of ownership, and renewal of
vehicle registration, 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. Existing law exempts motorcycles from smog check
requirements until BAR implements test procedures applicable to
motorcycles. DMV defines a motorcycle as any vehicle with no
more than three wheels, weighing 1500 pounds or less, with an
engine displacement of over 150 cubic centimeters (cc).
SB 435 would, commencing January 1, 2012, require BAR to include
model-year 2000 and newer Class III motorcycles (280 cc or
greater) in the biennial smog check program. The bill would
also require BAR, in consultation with the California Air
Resources Board (ARB), to develop regulations by July 2, 2011
for incorporating motorcycles into the smog check program.
Motorcycles subject to inspection shall be tested using
procedures determined to be appropriate by BAR in consultation
with ARB. As of March 31, 2009 there were approximately 575,000
registered motorcycles with a model year of 2000 or newer. DMV
does not have the ability to determine how many of these are
classified Class III motorcycles because their records do not
currently track
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SB 435 (Pavley)
engine size. This may result in implementation challenges for
DMV to identify owners of Class III motorcycles for notification
of the new smog check inspection requirements.
The ARB estimates that as of October of 2008 there were
approximately 500,000 motorcycles that would be subject to the
requirements of this bill. Since an inspection would occur
every two years, staff estimates that SB 435 would integrate an
additional 250,000 to 300,000 motorcycles into the smog check
program each year. Based on an $8.25 certificate fee for each
inspection, this bill would generate approximately $2 million to
$2.5 million in revenue annually to the Vehicle Inspection and
Repair Fund beginning January 1, 2012. In addition, motorcycles
subject to reinspection upon transfer of ownership could
generate an additional $500,000. BAR would incur one-time costs
for development and adoption of regulations and procedures for
smog check inspection of motorcycles, training, smog check
engineering, software updates, and ongoing cost for
administration of the program, engineering, referee inspections,
and enforcement. Assuming motorcycles would be eligible for the
Consumer Assistance Program (CAP), there would also be increased
costs to the repair assistance and vehicle retirement options of
the CAP. These costs are not currently available, but would
depend upon the number of vehicles that fail inspections, the
number of motorcycle owners who qualify for participation in
CAP, average vehicle repair or retirement costs, and BAR's
administrative overhead. Staff estimates the total one-time
costs to BAR of approximately $1.5 million to $2 million, with
ongoing costs of approximately $2 million.
DMV would incur one-time programming costs of approximately
$430,000 to alter the vehicle registration process to track
motorcyles for smog check notification. Ongoing DMV
administrative costs would be in the range of $370,000 if
246,500 vehicles are subject to inspection every year. DMV
costs are reimbursed by BAR from smog certificate fees (Vehicle
Inspection and Repair Fund).
Proposed amendments would limit the maximum amounts provided for
the repair assistance and vehicle retirement options of the CAP
to $500 for vehicle retirement.