CA Reintroduces Bill for ANNUAL Emissions Tests for Vehicles 15-Years & older

[1986nate]

All you guys with your inspections and emissions testing. We just got rid of all non-OBDII testing this past summer and we have never had any type of inspections. Just registration fees(which keep rising and are probably higher than most states)

[benebob]

Originally Posted by pleiad7

You're absolutely right... but seeing as this is California, you need to realize that, in reality, this is all about revenue generation for the state and not clean air (as our legislators want us to believe)!

You'd be partially wrong there. It is all about complying with the EPA regulations which mandate to qualify for federal highway funds you need to have a qualifying system of checks. PA was forced into it a few years back. There is a "under the car" check to see that the emissions crap is there for pre obd2s and a plug in check of the computer for obd2s. It is based on the amount of polution a state makes and since you surf boy polution creaters send your air our way clean up your tailpipes so we can breath.

[Manarius]

Originally Posted by benebob

You'd be partially wrong there. It is all about complying with the EPA regulations which mandate to qualify for federal highway funds you need to have a qualifying system of checks. PA was forced into it a few years back. There is a "under the car" check to see that the emissions crap is there for pre obd2s and a plug in check of the computer for obd2s. It is based on the amount of polution a state makes and since you surf boy polution creaters send your air our way clean up your tailpipes so we can breath.

Not every county has that though. For example, my roommate lives up in Oil City about an hour outside of Erie. His county does not have emissions checks. Neither does Perry County if I recall correctly.

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Manarius

Not every county has that though. For example, my roommate lives up in Oil City about an hour outside of Erie. His county does not have emissions checks. Neither does Perry County if I recall correctly.

Again, it is based on population (so far as the EPA regs are concerned). Most states simply adopt the needed emissions statewide based on the largest population base. PA did it differently, remember we built 25 or so state run emissions buildings a few years back which are just sitting empty today as well.

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by benebob

Ah, go out and buy yourselves some nice old motorcycles and some nice old two stroke lawn mowers... Better yet some 2 stroke Suzuki Water Buffalos! All of which will put out more emissions than your average 70s beater car with a functioning cat. That lawn mower will put out if used an hour a week all year long more bad stuff then driving a 90s Accord 12k.

I can't say I agree with the mileage limits for actually accomplishing cleaner air as you take your oldest cars on the road (which are usually owned by the elderly on very tight incomes to begin with). These cars are driven very infrequently but when they are, the drives tend to be short non warm up trips. So in reality these are the vehicles which need to be off the road, just don't tell Grandma she needs to fix her beater or get it off the road.

Cleaning up lawn mowers is cheap and easy compared to testing cars as you simply force the cost of making it onto the manufacturer. From what I've read you can cut lawn mower (and other small motored emissions) by 2/3rds for less than $30 a motor. Sure that cost would be passed onto the consumer BUT to me $30 every 5 years or so per item is a whole lot cheaper than $60 annually per car assuming you pass and in reality will clean your smoggy cities up more anyways!

Ben,
Excellent point(s) (jeez, what has gotten into you lately?). Let's throw gas powered leaf blowers into the mix while we're at it.
-Bill

[benebob]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Ben,
Excellent point(s) (jeez, what has gotten into you lately?). Let's throw gas powered leaf blowers into the mix while we're at it.
-Bill

Of course, I always have excellent points.. I left leaf blowers out as they should simply be banned all together. If you're too lazy to rake your leaves up then don't bother blowing them over to your neighbors!

[PaulDexler]

I sent the following message to the mailing list of committee members provided:
Ladies and gentlemen,
As a resident of California for more than 60 years, I appreciate the efforts you are going through to improve our air quality. However, as an automotive enthusiast and collector, I feel I must take issue with A.B.859. My first concern is how much pollution vehicles 15 years or more older are actually putting into the air. Going by the numbers, even if they were all smoking, reeking, gross polluters, the numbers don't make a terribly good case for their being a large source of pollution. I might suggest going about it in a different way.
Why am I concerned? I own and drive three cars. The newest is 16 years old, the oldest 18 years old. I am semi-retired, and cannot afford a new car, or even the other expenses, such as insurance and licensing, on a new car. While I was working, and commuting to work, I easily put 20,000 miles per year on my vehicles. Now, since what work I do is done at a desk in my home, I find that my total driving is cut by more than half.
Next point. I enjoy driving, especially when I do not have to contend with traffic. The three cars I have were all purchased because they are great examples of automotive design, and because they are also enjoyable to drive. And, because I enjoy driving these cars, I maintain them properly. Even though I am forced to take them to a "Test Only" station for their bi-annual check-ups, they pass every time.
And, as an important point, this is true of most collector cars. I am not talking about mid-80s compact sedans here. I am talking about cars that were originally built to put joy into driving them, and even just looking at them.
I was upset when you collectively put a fixed date on the exemption from smog checks, rather than just a rolling date. There is little difference between a 1976 or a 1975 vehicle in terms of pollution, In fact, since I was writing about cars at the time, I found that the later ones polluted less, and were better to drive, as the manufacturers learned better ways of doing the clean-up job.
So please, before you simply put forth some blanket legislation, think about the possibility of exceptions that will still allow clean air.
Thank you for your time,
Paul Dexler
I got a couple of "I don't respond to e-mail" replies, and a couple of "You're not in my district," and...
Then I actually got a real reply, as follows:
"Thank you for contacting my office regarding your opposition to AB 859. I agree with you that this legislation is unnecessary and would create a burden on automobile hobbyists and classic car collectors.
"My father, Dean Jeffries, brought me up in the classic and custom car culture, and I still spend a good deal of my spare time at auto shows and races. I am also a member of the State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus that SEMA sponsors. In my new position as vice-chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee I intend to be a strong advocate for those who collect, build, maintain, show, and race classic and custom cars anywhere in California.
"As the legislative process moves forward, I encourage you to track AB 859 at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html . If you put in the bill number, you can read the text and status of the bill, and if you “subscribe” to the bill, you will be e-mailed updates on when it will be up for a vote, when analyses are available, and who voted for and against the bill.
"Thank you again for contacting my office and please let me know if I can be of any further service to you in the future. Additionally, I am interested in hearing your ideas for future legislation to remove some of the existing roadblocks in state law that interfere with automobile hobbyists such as yourself.
Sincerely,
Kevin Jeffries
Assemblyman, 66th District"