BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 211
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Emmerson
VERSION: 3/14/11
Analysis by: Michelle Leinfelder
FISCAL:yes
Hearing date: March 29, 2011
SUBJECT:
Enforcement of tire inflation regulation
DESCRIPTION:
This bill modifies the penalties on Automotive Service Providers
for violations of the Under Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation.
ANALYSIS:
AB 32 (Nunez, Pavley), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006, charged
the State Air Resources Board (ARB) with monitoring and
regulating sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to
reduce GHG to 1990 levels by the year 2020. The transportation
sector produces 38 percent of human-induced GHG in California,
and passenger vehicles account for 74 percent of the
transportation emissions.
In order to address GHG emissions in the near-term, ARB
identified nine early-action measures, one of which was the
Under Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation that it developed.
Under-inflated tires contribute to GHG emissions by increasing
tire rolling resistance, and therefore, reducing fuel
efficiency.
On August 30, 2010, the Office of Administrative Law adopted the
Under Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation (Section 95550 of Title
17 of the California Code of Regulations), which became
effective on September 1, 2010. The regulation defines an
Automotive Service Provider (ASP) and requires ASPs to check and
inflate the tires of each passenger car brought in for service
to within two (2) pounds per square inch (psi) of the
recommended tire pressure rating. The ASP is required to
indicate tire inflation service on a vehicle service invoice and
keep these invoices for a minimum of three years.
SB 211 (EMMERSON) Page 2
A customer may decline tire inflation service if the customer
can "affirm" that he or she performed a tire pressure check and
inflation service within the last 30 days or that he or she will
perform a tire pressure check and inflation service within the
next seven days. In the event that a customer declines service,
the ASP is required to indicate why tire inflation service was
not performed on the vehicle service invoice.
The Under Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation also states that
penalties may be assessed on an ASP, according to existing
statutory penalty provisions for air pollution emissions, if the
regulation is not followed. For vehicular air pollution,
existing statutory provisions impose civil or administrative
penalties on "motor vehicle fuel distributors" of $1000 per day
to upwards of $250,000 per day, depending on the offense. ARB
cites the same penalty code for any vehicle air pollution
regulation.
ARB staff indicate, however, that ARB has yet to develop an
enforcement plan for the Under Inflated Vehicle Tires
regulation, but any potential enforcement will not take place
until after January 1, 2012. This allows time for education and
outreach to ASPs on the requirements of the regulation. ARB
staff further indicate that the aforementioned penalties are
maximum penalties, and air pollution penalties are determined
considering a number of factors, including but not limited to:
the extent of harm caused by the violation, nature and
persistence of the violation, length of time and frequency of
the violation, the financial burden on the violator, and actions
taken to mitigate the violation.
ARB staff assert that penalties will be assessed on ASPs, not
vehicle drivers or owners, and that ASPs that occasionally fail
to offer check and inflate service or properly mark an invoice
would not be cited unless other known violations have occurred.
This bill:
1)Adds to statute that tire pressure gauges may be accurate to
within 2 psi.
2)Amends the penalty that an ASP could incur for a violation of
the Under Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation to be a
civil penalty of not more than twenty dollars ($20) for the
first violation and not more than fifty dollars ($50) for each
subsequent violation.
SB 211 (EMMERSON) Page 3
3)States that customers of ASPs would not be subject to civil or
criminal penalties for violations of the Under
Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation.
COMMENTS:
1) Purpose . The author states that the penalties for the Under
Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation far outweigh the offense.
This bill will amend the law governing the Under Inflated
Vehicle Tires regulation such that "misinflating" tires would be
non-criminal, minor infractions. This bill will also codify the
accuracy specifications for tire pressure gauges used by ASPs.
By codifying the accuracy specifications, the industry will be
given comfort that the specifications cannot be
altered at some future date without prior legislative approval.
2) This bill establishes enforcement . The Under Inflated Vehicle
Tires regulation references penalties for AB 32
violations. Those penalties assess civil or administrative
penalties for vehicular air pollution emissions violations that
range from $1000 per day to $250,000 per day. ARB does not have
a penalty and enforcement strategy specifically for the Under
Inflated Vehicle Tires regulation. This bill establishes a
penalty structure for this regulation. ARB staff asserts that
fines of $1000 per day, as referenced in the regulation, would
be excessive for violations of the regulation. Some may,
however, claim that $20 for the first offense and $50 for
subsequent offenses, as prescribed in the bill, are too small.
Some may also question whether this bill would set a precedent
for legislation to dictate penalty structures for other
agencies in the future.
3) Customers not subject to penalties . While the Under Inflated
Vehicle Tires regulation does not subject customers of
an ASP to penalties for under-inflated tires, the regulation
does say that customers must "affirm" to having had their tire
pressure checked within the last 30 days or to performing a
tire pressure check in the next seven days. There is nothing
further in the regulation to clarify
what an affirmation entails or if a false affirmation could be
subject to penalty. This bill addresses this vagueness in the
regulation by putting into statute that a customer of an ASP
would not subject to civil or criminal penalties for a violation
of the regulation.
SB 211 (EMMERSON) Page 4
4) Regulation implemented before education has taken place . ARB
implemented the Under Inflated Vehicle Tires
regulation on September 1, 2010; however, ARB staff asserts that
potential enforcement of the regulation will not take place
until after January 1, 2012. Until that time, ARB staff is
working with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and other local and
state agencies that work with ASPs on education and outreach.
It, therefore, seems premature to implement a
regulation before a penalty and enforcement plan is in place.
It would also be premature to implement enforcement before
education and outreach has taken place. Had education and
outreach on a penalty structure and enforcement plan taken place
before this regulation was implemented, then this bill would
not be necessary.
5) Double-referral . The Rules Committee referred this bill both
to the Transportation and Housing Committee and to
the Environmental Quality Committee. Therefore, if this bill
passes this committee, it will be referred to the Committee on
Environmental Quality.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, March 23,
2011)
SUPPORT: Les Schwab Tire Centers
California New Car Dealers Association
Rubber Manufacturers Association
California Tire Dealers Association
California Autobody Association
Automotive Service Councils of California
OPPOSED: None received.