Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, Calif., this winter presented a bill to the state legislature that would repeal the state's emissions test exemption for pre-1976 vehicles registered by new owners in the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District. The bill – S.B. 1549 – was revamped in April, however, so that classic cars still would be covered, but poorly cared for older vehicles would be taken off the roads.
"We went from a tango to a two-step," Florez says. "By that I mean we were tangling over our thought with how do we get the gross polluting vehicles off the road. Age is the biggest factor, and first we thought we'd simply draw a line."
After setting that mark at vehicles made before 1976, the legislature realized some of the vehicles it would be affecting are better taken care of by their enthusiast owners than some more current vehicles. The bill as it now reads would have the state division of motor vehicles (DMV) create a process to register classic cars with special license plates.
"That way you aren't going to get a 1974 Pinto in there," Florez says, adding the special plates will be a benefit for enthusiasts seeking some recognition. "I think we killed two birds with one stone, because they've been seeking to do that."
With the special license plates, the legislature hopes it still will allow classic vehicles to not have to meet today's emissions standards, but while cleaning the air at the same time.
"The other cars on the road not tied into the process at the DMV are going to be taken off the road and retired," Florez explains. "That's the goal of it — or at least pass smog checks."
Many classic car groups in California report working with the senator's office to amend the bill, and others say it will affect only a percentage of vehicles on the road today.
However, some, such as the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), do not view this as a complete victory for the classic car market.
"While we are pleased by the resolution to this legislation, we are aware that the old car hobby continues to serve as a convenient scapegoat for the state's failed effort to meet air quality goals," says Steve McDonald, SEMA VP, Government Affairs. "In fact, another bill remains pending in California to require annual, rather than biennial, Smog check inspections for vehicles 15 years old and older. The measure would also require that funds generated through the additional inspection fees be deposited into an account which can be used to crush older cars."
SEMA also says that the government might be going after the wrong section of vehicles. McDonald reports that according to some studies, 10 percent to 20 percent of vehicles on the road of all model years contribute up to 90 percent of pollution from vehicles.
"Some legislators and regulators have suggested that by rolling the age limit, some of the dirtiest cars stay on the road unrepaired, but fail to cite any evidence to support this assertion," he asserts. "Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged that not all old cars are dirty cars and that many are quite clean. In fact, at the time the 30-year rolling emissions exemption was being considered by the legislature, the California Air Resources Board found that the older vehicles eligible for the emissions exemption constituted only a small portion of the vehicle fleet (less than 200,000 of the then over 20 million cars in California) and were generally well-maintained and infrequently operated."
In the meantime, the bill will go before the state's Appropriations Committee and Florez says he hopes to have it on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk in August.
