44081.6
. (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.