BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2289
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2289 (Jefferies) - As Amended: April 19, 2012
SUBJECT : Vehicles: specially constructed passenger vehicles:
inspection
SUMMARY : Revises the procedures for registering specially
constructed vehicles and pick-ups (SCVs). Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to hold
applications for SCV registrations for consideration the
subsequent year if the maximum allowable slots for SCV
registration (500) are already taken in a current year.
2)Requires DMV to establish, maintain, and make available to the
public on its Internet Web site, a current listing of SCV
applicants in the order the applications were received for
each calendar year.
3)Requires DMV to adopt by regulation, a secure process to
establish the list of applicants that protects an applicant's
privacy yet enables them to determine his or her position on
the list of applicants.
4)Requires DMV to consider all applications in excess of the 500
SCV registration limit in the subsequent calendar year, in the
order in which the applications were received.
5)Requires DMV to reject an SCV application that is if the
applicant already has another application on file.
6)Makes related, conforming amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines an SCV as a vehicle that is built for private use (not
for resale) from a kit or a combination of new and/or used
parts.
2)Requires under federal law that states that do not meet the
specified health-based federal air quality standards to
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implement vehicle inspection and maintenance programs.
3)Requires that the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) inspect
SCVs to establish the model year of the vehicle or engine for
the purpose of determining emission control (smog check)
requirements.
4)Prohibits DMV from registering more than 500 SCVs per calendar
year.
5)Requires DMV to deny an SCV registration application and
assign the model year in which the application was submitted
for all SCV registration applications received over and above
the 500 SCV registration limit.
6)Authorizes an SCV applicant to resubmit an application to DMV
in a subsequent year to have the model year for the SCV
reassigned if their application was denied by DMV.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Specially Constructed Vehicles : An SCV is a vehicle that is
built for private use that is constructed from either a kit or
from a combination of new and/or used parts. SCVs are typically
built to replicate historic or classic cars of a specific
vehicle model year. Because these vehicles are constructed
using older vehicle parts, they often do not meet more recent
emissions requirements.
Federal law requires states that do not meet the specified
health-based federal air quality standards to implement vehicle
inspection and maintenance programs. The vehicle inspection
program in California is known as Smog Check and generally
requires vehicles, with specified exceptions, to obtain a smog
inspection certificate or certificate of non-compliance
biennially, upon change-of-ownership, or upon the registration
of a vehicle previously registered in another state. In 1997,
the Legislature enacted Senate Bill 42 (Kopp), Chapter 801,
which exempted from the biennial and change-of-ownership vehicle
inspection requirements vehicles manufactured before the 1974
model-year, and, beginning in 2003, all 30-year old vehicles on
a rolling basis.
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Since SCVs do not have a manufacture-assigned model year, SB 100
(Johannessen), Chapter 871, Statutes of 2001, created guidelines
for the emissions inspection for SCVs, allowing the vehicles to
be held to the standards of the model-year the vehicles
represent rather than the more current model year which have
more sophisticated engines. SB 100 set up a system whereby SCVs
are assigned a model year based on an inspection performed by a
BAR Referee.
SB 100 also authorized DMV to register no more 500 SCV with an
earlier BAR-assigned model year annually. The 500 per year
limit was established to prevent vehicle owners from altering
vehicles, claiming them to SCVs, and therefore "skirting" Smog
Check program requirements. Upon signing SB 100, Governor Davis
issued a signing message indicating that he was directing DMV to
implement the provisions of the bill within DMV's existing
resources, possibly explaining the somewhat manual and
decentralized system that is currently used for registering
SCVs. This system of registration is used for only a small
number of registrations annually compared to the number of
regular vehicle registrations that are processed by DMV.
To obtain an SCV registration for an earlier model-year,
applications for registration are submitted to DMV field
offices. When an application is submitted, DMV field office
contacts DMV headquarters to verify if the 500 SCV registration
limit has been met. If it has been met, then the application is
denied and returned to the applicant. If the limit has not been
met, then the application is accepted by DMV field office. The
application is reviewed and if it is complete, a Certificate of
Sequence is issued to the applicant by DMV headquarters within
7-10 working days. Once the yearly allotment of 500
certificates is issued, applicants must wait until the following
year to reapply. There is currently no limit to the number of
applications that can be submitted by an applicant.
According to DMV, the 500 SCV registration limit has been met in
the 5 of the last 10 years. In the last 3 years (2009-2011)
less than 500 certificates were issued therefore, no applicants
were denied a SCV registration between 2009 and 2011, DMV
reports that a total of 132 SCV registrations have been issued
for 2012 leaving 368 slots remaining in the calendar year.
Reports received by the author's office, however, seem to
indicate that applicants have been turned away within the last
several years despite that the 500 registration has not been
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met.
Discussion : According to the author, owners of SCVs are having
a hard time getting their vehicles registered. There appears to
be difficulty not in the limitation on the number of
registrations that are made available annually by DMV, but
rather in the system established for processing these limited
number of applications. The author has cited instances where
SCV owners have been told by DMV that all available
registrations have been issued, only to learn later that there
were, in fact, slots available. This is evidenced by claims
relayed to the author by SCV owners that they have been turned
away when applying for an SCV registration despite the fact that
in those same years DMV has confirmed that the registration
limit was not met.
Despite the fact that SCVs, by definition, are built for private
use and not for resale, that author claims that dealers are
using up the majority of available registration "slots,"
effectively preventing private vehicle owners from obtaining SCV
registration. The author also claims that SCV owners are
frustrated by the fact that when the 500 SCV registration limit
is met, their applications are returned, rather than placed on a
waiting list for processing in the subsequent year, placing a
burden on the applicant to return to DMV and resubmit the
application at a later date.
To address these concerns, AB 2289 would require DMV to
establish, maintain, and make available on its Internet website,
a list of applicants for SCVs registration. It would also
require that the DMV roll applications over from one year to the
next, in the order they are received, rather than deny and
return applications. The bill would allow DMV to grant only one
SCV registration per applicant per year and would prohibit DMV
from accepting more than one application per applicant per year.
According to the author, this bill would provide a measure of
transparency to the SCV registration process by allowing
applicants to easily determine where they are on the list and
whether or not, in fact, "slots" remain available.
Additionally, the author hopes to prevent the situations where
dealers and manufacturers submit multiple applications for SCV
registrations, effectively taking up slots that would otherwise
be used by hobbyists and enthusiasts.
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It appears that there is a good deal of misinformation regarding
availability of SCV registration in any given year. Given that
the process used by DMV is somewhat decentralized and manual, it
is likely that there may be opportunities for confusion. This
bill would require DMV to make the SCV registration list
available to the public and show the number of registrations
that have been issued in a given calendar year. It is likely
that the revised system would be beneficial to both DMV field
office personnel and applicants. The bill also addresses
concerns by SCV registration applicants that "slots" are being
taken up by individuals who register multiple vehicles. To
address this concern, the bill requires DMV to reject
applications if the applicant already has another pending
application.
Related legislation : SB 100 (Johannessen) Chapter 871, Statutes
of 2001 established a procedure for determining emission control
standards for certain specialized vehicles.
SB 42 (Kopp), Chapter 801, exempted from the biennial and
change-of-ownership vehicle inspection requirements vehicles
manufactured before the 1974 model year, and beginning in 2003,
all 30-year old vehicles on a rolling basis.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California Car Clubs
Capitol Auto Club "Thunderbolts" of Sacramento
Inland Empire Car Club Council
Over the Hill Gang Car Club
The Faithful
14 Individuals
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093
AB 2289
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