BILL NUMBER: AB 2289	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jeffries

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and
to amend Section 4750.1 of, and to add Section 4750.2 to, the
Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2289, as introduced, Jeffries. Vehicles: specially constructed
passenger vehicles: inspection.
   Existing law subjects specially constructed vehicles to the
emission control system testing and certification requirements
established by the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law
requires a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck to
be inspected by stations authorized to perform referee functions and
requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to provide an initial
registration to no more than the first 500 vehicles that meet
specified criteria and are presented to the department each year for
registration.
   This bill would specify that the above provision applies to
specially constructed vehicles that are owned by an individual who is
an enthusiast or hobbyist. The bill would require the Department of
Motor Vehicles to establish, maintain, and make available to the
public a list of the names of applicants for registration of a
specially constructed vehicle in the order in which the applications
are received. The bill would require the department to consider an
application that is received after it has registered 500 specially
constructed vehicles in a calendar year in the subsequent calendar
year based on the order in which the application is received. The
bill would prohibit the department from granting, on an annual basis,
more than one application for registration of a specially
constructed vehicle to an applicant. The bill would require the
department to reject an application from an applicant if the
applicant already has another application pending before the
department.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   44017.4.  (a) Upon registration with the Department of Motor
Vehicles, a passenger vehicle or pickup truck that is a specially
constructed vehicle, as defined in Section 580 of the Vehicle Code,
shall be inspected by stations authorized to perform referee
functions. This inspection shall be for the purposes of determining
the engine model-year used in the vehicle or the vehicle model-year,
and the emission control system application. The owner shall have the
option to choose whether the inspection is based on the engine
model-year used in the vehicle or the vehicle model-year.
   (1) In determining the engine model-year, the referee shall
compare the engine to engines of the era that the engine most closely
resembles. The referee shall assign the 1960 model-year to the
engine in any specially constructed vehicle that does not
sufficiently resemble a previously manufactured engine. The referee
shall require only those emission control systems that are applicable
to the established engine model-year and that the engine reasonably
accommodates in its present form.
   (2) In determining the vehicle model-year, the referee shall
compare the vehicle to vehicles of the era that the vehicle most
closely resembles. The referee shall assign the 1960 model-year to
any specially constructed vehicle that does not sufficiently resemble
a previously manufactured vehicle. The referee shall require only
those emission control systems that are applicable to the established
model-year and that the vehicle reasonably accommodates in its
present form.
   (b) Upon the completion of the inspection, the referee shall affix
a tamper-resistant label to the vehicle and issue a certificate that
establishes the engine model-year or the vehicle model-year, and the
emission control system application.
   (c) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall annually provide a
registration to no more than the first 500 vehicles that meet the
criteria described in subdivision (a) that are presented to that
department for registration pursuant to this section. The 500-vehicle
annual limitation does not apply to the renewal of registration of a
vehicle registered pursuant to this section. 
   (d) This section shall only apply to a specially constructed
vehicle owned by an individual who is an enthusiast or hobbyist.

  SEC. 2.  Section 4750.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   4750.1.  (a) If the department receives an application for
registration of a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup
truck after it has registered 500 specially constructed vehicles
during that calendar year pursuant to Section 44017.4 of the Health
and Safety Code, and the vehicle has not been previously registered,
the vehicle shall be assigned the same model-year as the calendar
year in which the application is submitted, for purposes of
determining emissions inspection requirements for the vehicle.
   (b) (1) If the department receives an application for registration
of a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck that
has been previously registered after it has registered 500 specially
constructed vehicles during that calendar year pursuant to Section
44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code, and the application requests a
model-year determination different from the model-year assigned in
the previous registration, the application for registration shall be
 denied   held for consideration for the
subsequent calendar year pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
4750.2  and the vehicle owner is subject to the emission control
and inspection requirements applicable to the model-year assigned in
the previous registration  for registration in the calendar year
in which the application is submitted  .
   (2) For a vehicle participating in the amnesty program in effect
from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012, pursuant to Section 9565, the
model-year of the previous registration shall be the calendar year of
the year in which the vehicle owner applied for amnesty. However, a
denial of an application for registration issued pursuant to this
paragraph does not preclude the vehicle owner from applying for a
different model-year determination and application for registration
under Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code in a subsequent
calendar year.
   (c) (1) The Bureau of Automotive Repair may charge the vehicle
owner who applies to participate in the amnesty program a fee for
each referee station inspection conducted pursuant to Section 9565.
The fee shall be one hundred sixty dollars ($160) and shall be
collected by the referee station performing the inspection.
   (2) A contract to perform referee services may authorize direct
compensation to the referee contractor from the inspection fees
collected pursuant to paragraph (1). The referee contractor shall
deposit the inspection fees collected from the vehicle owner into a
separate trust account that the referee contractor shall account for
and manage in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards
and principles. Where the department conducts the inspections
pursuant to Section 9565, the inspection fees collected by the
department shall be deposited into the Vehicle Inspection and Repair
Fund.
  SEC. 3.  Section 4750.2 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
   4750.2.  (a) The department shall establish, maintain, and make
available to the public on its Internet Web site, a list of the names
of applicants submitting an application for the registration of a
specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck pursuant to
Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code in the order in which
the applications are received by the department and indicating
whether the department has registered the vehicle specified in the
application.
   (b) If the department receives an application for registration of
a specially constructed passenger vehicle or pickup truck pursuant to
Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code after it has
registered 500 specially constructed vehicles during that calender
year, the department shall consider the application, based on the
order in which the application is received, in the subsequent
calender year subject to the numerical limitation specified in
Section 44017.4 of the Health and Safety Code in that subsequent
calendar year.
   (c) The department shall not, on an annual basis, grant more than
one application for the registration of a specially constructed
passenger vehicle or pickup truck pursuant to Section 44017.4 of the
Health and Safety Code to an applicant.
   (d) The department shall reject an application submitted by an
applicant if the applicant already has another application filed
pursuant to Section 4750.1 pending before the department.