BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 211
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 211 (Emmerson) - As Amended: June 20, 2011
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
As currently written, this bill authorizes tire pressure gauges
used to check vehicle tire pressure pursuant the state's
greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction program to be accurate
within two pounds. The bill also specifies the standards by
which an automotive service provider may consider a tire unsafe
and therefore not subject to the requirement to check tire
pressure and inflate the tire. The bill sunsets all of it
provisions on January 1, 2017.
The author has agreed to amendments that require tire pressure
gauges used to check vehicle tire pressure to be accurate within
two pounds.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state costs, if any.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author intends this bill to provide certainty
to automotive service providers concerning their
responsibility to check tire pressure, which currently is
required by ARB regulation. The author has expressed concern
with the effect on automotive service providers of ARB's
ability to alter the regulation in the future.
2)Background . AB 32 (N��ez, Chapter 455, Statutes of 2006)
requires California to limit its emissions of GHGs so that, by
2020, those emissions are equal to what they were in 1990. To
that end, AB 32 requires ARB to quantify the state's 1990 GHG
SB 211
Page 2
emissions and to adopt, by January 1, 2009, a "scoping plan"
that describes the board's plan for achieving the maximum
technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions of GHG
emissions reductions by 2020.
In keeping with AB 32, ARB adopted numerous regulations to
reduce GHG emissions, including the requirement that
automotive service providers check and inflate each vehicle's
tires to the recommended tire pressure rating, with air or
nitrogen, as appropriate, at the time of performing any
automotive maintenance or repair service. Specifically, the
regulation requires an automotive service provider to:
a) Indicate on the vehicle service invoice that a tire
inflation service was completed and the tire pressure
measurements after the service was performed.
b) Perform the tire pressure service using a tire pressure
gauge with a total permissible error no greater than two
pounds per square inch.
c) Have access to a tire inflation reference that is
current within three years of publication.
d) Keep a copy of the service invoice for a minimum of
three years and make the vehicle service invoice available
to the ARB or its authorized representative upon request.
According to ARB's regulation, an automotive service provider
is not required to check tire pressure or inflate tires if the
customer signs an affidavit declining the service. In
addition, the automotive service provider is not required to
check tire pressure or inflate a tire if the provider
determines the tire to be unsafe, in accordance with standard
industry practice, due to tire tread wear, age, tread
irregularity or damage.
3)Flexibility Versus Certainty. As stated above, the author
intends this bill to provide certainty to automotive service
providers of their obligation to check tire pressure and
inflate tires. As amended, the bill mirrors ARB's
regulations. The author and ARB agree codification of the
tire pressure regulation will make changing that regulation
more difficult in the future. The author and the bill's
supporters see such inflexibility as desirable. However,
SB 211
Page 3
codification of regulatory requirements will limit ARB's
ability to modify its regulations in response to changing
circumstances or new information.
4)Support. This bill is supported by the California Retailers
Association and tire industry organizations.
5)There is no formal opposition registered against this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081