BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1922
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Date of Hearing: April 23, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1922 (Lara) - As Amended: May 2, 2012
SUBJECT : Heavy-duty vehicles: smoke emissions.
SUMMARY : Requires the owners of heavy-duty diesel motor
vehicles to perform smoke opacity inspections and any necessary
repairs on or before December of each year.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to ARB regulations, requires owners or operators of
heavy-duty diesel motor vehicles to perform regular
self-inspections (smoke opacity tests) of their vehicles to
control excessive smoke emissions from and tampering on
heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses. Specifically, the
regulation requires owners of California-based fleets to
comply with all of the following:
a) All heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles that are 6,000
pounds GVWR or greater in fleets of two or more (except
those equipped with engines that are four years old or less
and those vehicles used exclusively for personal use, such
as motor homes), must be tested annually with a smoke
opacity meter;
b) All heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles must meet the
applicable opacity standards of 55% for pre-1991 engines
and 40% for 1991 and newer engines;
c) All heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles determined to be
in non-compliance must be promptly repaired and brought
into compliance; and,
d) For each vehicle, records of the initial opacity test,
repair information, post-repair opacity results, and meter
calibration must be maintained for at least two years.
1)Confers authority to ARB to audit the inspection records of
all heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles at the owner/operator
designated fleet location and to test vehicles for compliance.
AB 1922
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The ARB Periodic Smoke Inspection Program (PSIP)
requires that diesel and bus fleet owners conduct annual smoke
opacity self-inspections of their vehicles (older than four
years) and repair those with excessive smoke emissions to ensure
compliance. These tests are usually performed at private
testing facilities using certified smoke meters. ARB randomly
audits fleets, maintenance and inspection records, and tests a
representative sample of vehicles. All vehicles that do not
pass the test must be repaired and retested. A fleet owner that
neglects to perform the annual smoke opacity inspection on
applicable vehicles is subject to a penalty of $500 per vehicle,
per year. PSIP requires testing for about 400,000 vehicles per
year representing about 14,000 California fleets.
In accordance with PSIP, once a vehicle has been tested, it must
be retested again within 12 months of the previous test
conducted. Invariably, a fleet owner could have vehicles that
require testing throughout the calendar year. This bill would
allow an owner to consolidate the testing of the vehicles in the
fleet to be performed at one time, thereby making it more
convenient and efficient for the owners.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Trucking Association (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093