Article 8. Gross Polluters of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 26. >> Part 5. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 8.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) California's air is the most polluted in the nation and the
largest source of that pollution is automobiles.
(b) California has the most stringent new car emission standards
in the nation as well as a vehicle inspection (smog check) program
that result in most cars producing very little pollution.
(c) A small percentage of automobiles cause a disproportionate and
significant amount of the air pollution in California.
(d) These gross polluters are primarily vehicles in which the
emission control equipment has been disconnected or which are very
poorly maintained.
(e) New technologies, such as remote sensing, can identify gross
polluters on the roads, enabling law enforcement authorities to stop,
inspect, and cite vehicles with disconnected emission control
equipment, and can promote the development of incentives for the
repair of other high-emitting vehicles.
(f) Requiring owners to reconnect emission control equipment and
developing incentives for needed maintenance on high-emitting
vehicles may be cost-effective methods to reduce emissions and help
achieve air quality standards in many districts.
(a) (1) The department, in cooperation with the state board,
shall institute procedures for auditing the emissions of vehicles
while actually being driven on the streets and highways of the state.
The department may undertake those procedures itself or seek a
qualified vendor of these services. The primary object of the
procedures shall be the detection of gross polluters. The procedures
shall consist of techniques and technologies determined to be
effective for that purpose by the department, including, but not
limited to, remote sensing. The procedures may include pullovers for
roadside emissions testing and inspection. The department shall
consider the recommendations of the review committee based on the
outcome of the pilot demonstration program conducted pursuant to
Section 44081.6.
(2) The department may additionally use other methods to identify
gross polluting vehicles for out-of-cycle testing and repair.
(b) The department shall, by regulation, establish a program for
the out-of-cycle testing and repair of motor vehicles found, through
roadside auditing, to be emitting at levels that exceed specified
standards. The program shall include all of the following elements:
(1) Emission standards, and test and inspection procedures and
regulations, adopted in coordination with the state board, applicable
to vehicles tested during roadside auditing. Emission standards for
issuance of a notice of noncompliance to a gross polluter shall be
designed to maximize the identification of vehicles with substantial
excess emissions.
(2) Procedures for issuing notices of noncompliance to owners of
gross polluters, either at the time of the roadside audit, or
subsequently by certified mail, or by obtaining a certificate of
mailing as evidence of service, using technologies for recording
license plate numbers. The notice of noncompliance shall provide
that, unless the vehicle is brought to a designated test-only
facility or a test-and-repair station that is both licensed and
certified pursuant to Sections 44014 and 44014.2, for emissions
testing within 30 days, the owner is required to pay an
administrative fee of five hundred dollars ($500) to be collected by
the Department of Motor Vehicles at the next annual registration
renewal or the next change of ownership of the vehicle, whichever
occurs first. Commencing on the 31st day after issuance of the notice
of noncompliance, the fee shall accrue at the rate of five dollars
($5) per day up to the five hundred dollars ($500) maximum.
(3) Procedures for the testing of vehicles identified as gross
polluters by a designated test-only facility, or a test-and-repair
station that is both licensed and certified pursuant to Sections
44014 and 44014.2, to confirm that the vehicle exceeds the minimum
emission standard for gross polluters set by the department.
(4) Procedures requiring owners of vehicles confirmed as gross
polluters to have the vehicle repaired, resubmitted for testing, and
obtain a certificate of compliance from a designated test-only
facility, or a test-and-repair station that is both licensed and
certified pursuant to Sections 44014 and 44014.2, or removed from
service as attested by a certificate of nonoperation from the
Department of Motor Vehicles within 30 days or be required to pay an
administrative fee of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), to
be collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles at the next annual
registration renewal or the next change of ownership, whichever
occurs first. Commencing on the 31st day after issuance of the notice
of noncompliance, the fee shall accrue at the rate of five dollars
($5) per day up to the five hundred dollar ($500) maximum. The
registration of a vehicle shall not be issued or renewed if that
vehicle has been identified as a gross polluter and has not been
issued a certificate of compliance. Except as provided in subdivision
(b) of Section 9250.18 of the Vehicle Code, any revenues collected
by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to this subdivision and
Section 9250.18 of the Vehicle Code shall be deposited in the Vehicle
Inspection and Repair Fund. If the ownership of the vehicle is
transferred, the administrative fee provided for in this subdivision
shall be waived if the vehicle is brought into compliance.
(5) A procedure for notifying the Department of Motor Vehicles of
notices of noncompliance issued, so that the Department of Motor
Vehicles may provide effective collection of the administrative fee.
The Department of Motor Vehicles shall cooperate with, and implement
the requirements of, the department in that regard.
(c) The department may adopt any other regulations necessary for
the effective implementation of this section, as determined by the
department.
(d) Upon the request of the department, the Department of the
California Highway Patrol shall provide assistance in conducting
roadside auditing, to consist of (1) the stopping of vehicles and
traffic management, and (2) the issuance of notices of noncompliance
to gross polluters. The department shall reimburse the Department of
the California Highway Patrol for its costs of providing those
services. The Department of Transportation and affected local
agencies shall provide necessary assistance and cooperation to the
department in the operation of the program.
(e) There shall be no repair cost limit imposed pursuant to
Section 44017 for any repairs that are required to be made under the
roadside auditing program, except as provided in Section 44017.
(f) This section does not apply to vehicles operating under a
valid repair cost waiver or economic hardship extension issued
pursuant to Section 44015.
(a) The California Environmental Protection Agency, the
state board, and the department, in cooperation with, and with the
participation of, the Environmental Protection Agency, shall jointly
undertake a pilot demonstration program to do all of the following:
(1) Determine the emission reduction effectiveness of alternative
loaded mode emission tests compared to the IM240 test.
(2) Quantify the emission reductions, above and beyond those
required by Environmental Protection Agency regulation or by the
biennial test requirement, achievable from a remote sensing-based
program that identifies gross polluting and other vehicles and
requires the immediate repair and retest of those gross polluting
vehicles at a test-only station established by this chapter.
(3) Determine if high polluting vehicles can be identified and
directed to test-only stations using criteria other than, or in
addition to, age and model year, and whether this reduces the number
of vehicles which would otherwise be subject to inspection at
test-only stations.
(4) Qualify emission reductions above and beyond those that are
required by the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency,
achievable from other program enhancements pursuant to this chapter.
(5) Determine the extent to which the capacity of the test-only
station network established pursuant to Section 44010.5 needs to be
expanded to comply with Environmental Protection Agency performance
standards.
(b) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall enter
into a memorandum of agreement with the Environmental Protection
Agency to establish the protocol for the pilot demonstration program.
The memorandum of agreement shall ensure, to the extent possible,
that the Environmental Protection Agency will accept the results of
the pilot demonstration program as the findings of the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency. The pilot demonstration
program shall be conducted pursuant to the memorandum of agreement.
(c) The review committee established pursuant to Section 44021
shall review the protocol for the pilot demonstration program, as
established in the signed memorandum of agreement, and recommend any
modification that the review committee finds to be appropriate for
the pilot demonstration program. Any such modification shall become
effective only upon the written agreement of the California
Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(d) The department shall contract, on behalf of the committee,
with an independent entity to ensure quality control in the
collection of data pursuant to the pilot demonstration program. The
department shall also contract, on behalf of the committee, for an
independent analysis of the data produced by the pilot demonstration
program.
(e) Any contract entered into pursuant to this section shall not
be subject to any restrictions that are applicable to contracts in
the Government Code or in the Public Contract Code.
(f) To the extent possible, the pilot demonstration program shall
be conducted using equipment, facilities, and staff of the state
board, the department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
(g) The pilot demonstration program shall provide for, but not be
limited to, all of the following:
(1) For the purposes of this section, any vehicle subject to the
inspection and maintenance program may be selected to participate in
the pilot demonstration program regardless of when last inspected
pursuant to this chapter.
(2) Registered owners of vehicles selected to participate in the
pilot demonstration program shall make the vehicle available for
testing within a time period and at a testing facility designated by
the department. If necessary, the department shall increase the
capacity of the existing referee network in the area or areas where
the pilot demonstration program will be operating, in order to
accommodate the convenient testing of selected vehicles.
(3) If the department finds that a vehicle is emitting excessive
emissions, the vehicle owner shall be required to make necessary
repairs within the existing cost limits and return to a testing
facility designated by the department. The vehicle owner shall have
additional repairs made if the repairs are requested and funded by
the department. The department shall also fund the cost of any
necessary repairs if the owner of the vehicle has, within the last
two years, already paid for emissions-related repairs to the same
vehicle in an amount at least equal to the existing cost limits, in
order to obtain a certificate of compliance or an emission cost
waiver.
(4) Vehicle owners who fail to bring the vehicle in for inspection
or fail to have repairs made pursuant to this section shall be
issued notices of noncompliance. The notice shall provide that,
unless the vehicle is brought to a designated testing facility for
testing, or repair facility for repairs, within 15 days of notice of
the requirement, the owner will be required to pay an administrative
fee of not more than five dollars ($5) a day, not to exceed two
hundred fifty dollars ($250), to be collected by the Department of
Motor Vehicles at the next annual registration renewal or the next
change of ownership of the vehicle, whichever occurs first.
Commencing on the 31st day after issuance of the notice of
noncompliance, the fee shall accrue at the rate of five dollars ($5)
per day up to the two hundred fifty dollars ($250) maximum. Except as
provided in subdivision (b) of Section 9250.18 of the Vehicle Code,
any revenues collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant
to this subdivision and Section 9250.18 of the Vehicle Code shall be
deposited into the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund by the
Department of Motor Vehicles.
(h) The Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of
Transportation, local agencies, and the state board shall provide
necessary support for the program established pursuant to this
section.
(i) As soon as possible after the effective date of this section,
the department and the state board shall develop, implement, and
revise as needed, emissions test procedures and emissions standards
necessary to conduct the pilot demonstration program.
In addition to other programs authorized in this article, a
district may, on or after March 1, 1993, establish programs to
identify gross polluters and other high-emitting vehicles whose
emissions could be reduced by repair, using remote sensors or other
methods, and to provide financial incentives to encourage the repair
or scrapping of these vehicles as a method of reducing mobile source
emissions for the purposes of Section 40914. The programs authorized
by this section are not intended to impose additional emission
reduction requirements, but instead are intended to provide more
cost-effective alternative methods to meet existing requirements.
Districts may establish procedures to generate marketable
emission reduction credits from programs established pursuant to
Section 44084. Emission reduction credits generated pursuant to this
section may be used to meet or offset transportation control
requirements, average vehicle ridership reductions, or other mobile
source emission requirements, as determined by the district.
Each district shall, in establishing, reviewing, or updating
the plan required by Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 40910) of
Part 3, consider the relative cost-effectiveness of the programs
authorized in this article compared to other control measures under
consideration.