<VV> Way to go California - New law exempts our hobby

[scott morehead]

Governor Signs Smog Check Exemption Repeal Bill into Law

Despite receiving thousands of messages in opposition to the bill
from dedicated SEMA Action Network (SAN) members across the state, 
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed A.B. 2683 into law. 
The new law repeals Californias current rolling emissions-test
exemption for vehicles 30 years old and older and replaces it with a law
requiring the lifetime testing of all 1976 and newer model-year vehicles.
    
We remain confident that the facts are on our side: Californias
30-year rolling exemption recognized the minimal impact vintage cars have on air quality, since they constitute a minuscule portion of the overall
vehicle population. These older cars are overwhelmingly well maintained and 
infrequently driven and are poor candidates for reducing pollution.
They are, in the end, convenient scapegoats for legislators, regulators
and stationary source polluters using exaggerated data and inflated
annual mileage assumptions in order to secure any legislative victory that
sounds as if it will reduce emissions.
    
"The SAN has generally encouraged the enactment of environmental 
legislation to create genuine air quality improvement," said SEMA Vice 
President of Government Affairs Steve McDonald. "When such efforts 
become the subject of hyperbole and misinformation, it is our duty to 
speak out. We challenge supporters to spot a single vehicle of a
model year relevant to this bill on their next commute. These cars and
trucks are simply not the problem. The old-car hobby must stand united against future attacks from environmental activists and smokestack industries that will accomplish nothing except require unnecessary testing, waste money and burden car hobbyists."

The new law becomes effective April 1, 2005. As originally written,
the bill would have required vehicles of the post 1975 era to undergo an 
enhanced smog inspection for the duration of the vehicles life.
However, hobbyists were able to secure a small concession in the enacted
version of the law, in which vehicles 35 years old or older of the post 1975 era need only undergo a basic Smog Check inspection, a tailpipe test, 
functional inspection of the fuel cap and a visual inspection for
liquid fuel leaks. To qualify for this basic test, these vehicles must be insured under a collector policy and only driven to parades, exhibitions, etc.

"With the California Air Resources Board having proposed yearly
testing of these older vehicles, this new law could be far costlier and even more burdensome to vehicle collectors in the future," McDonald added.
"Even the benefits of the less stringent smog check inspection available to
these 1976 and newer model-year vehicles could be short lived. These 
regulators could set emissions standards to any level that suits
their purposes in order to ensure inspection failures of these 1976 and
later model cars. Nothing in this new law prevents regulators from bringing 
model-year 1968 through 1975 vehicles back into the Smog Check 
program at a later date."
    
As always, the SAN is grateful to the thousands of car clubs, media 
outlets and enthusiasts throughout the state that bombarded the 
Governors office with phone calls, letters and e-mails requesting
his veto of the is bill. Working together, we will live to fight another day!

Scott Morehead

-- 
_______________________________________________
Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages
http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10