Calif. diesel pickup smogtest & inspection '08

In another thread regarding CCV mods, a member (Howie) brought up some concerned about upcoming new diesel engine smog testing and inspections.

The tests and inspections would be mandated by the State of California, on a biennial basis, retroactive to earlier model diesels (even those without DPFs when mfr'd).

The proposed testing and inspection specfically identifies light duty pickups owned by private individuals, not just agencies and fleets, not just medium duty trucks that are commercially used.

Vehicle registration renewals, as well as vehicle title transfers, would first require passing the BAR developed test and inspection, similar to what gasoline fueled vehicles are already subject to.

Under current law, diesel powered pickups under 14,000 gvwr have been exempt.

Under the new proposed law, Assembly Bill 1488, authored by State Assemblyman Tom Mendoza of California, this is about to change.

The bill has already passed in the Assembly after 3 rounds of revisions, and is currently (as of last Thursday, September 6, 2007) under committee hearing in the State Senate.

There are several more steps prior to this bill being codified into law, since it has yet to be voted on before the Senate. Therefore, now would be the time to offer whatever input or insight you might have to the Senator of your District.

It is improbable that your elected representative would have much sympathy for your desire to run a hot chip.

However, to the extent that passing or failing a future emissions test would present an unpredictable and sudden economic hardship on a contractor who requires his or her truck to make a living, cannot afford a new truck, and as a non-expert could not predict how the stock vehicle in stock trim would perform under testing that had not yet even been devised at the time the vehicle was engineered, manufactured, purchased, and placed into service... you may then have a case worth hearing.

What is currently proposed is a "study" test period for two years, from 2009 through 2011, with the goal of full implementation of the testing and inspection program in force by 2012.

Here are some links to give you some background information on AB1488 and it's progress this year through the California legislative system:

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1451-1500/ab_1488_cfa_20070709_102524_sen_comm.html

http://lgdb.com/bill/show/7744-California_2007_Air_Pollution__Smog_Check_Program_

http://www.legisweb.net/calm/model/Retrieve.asp?ref=urn:calm:2007:ab1488:doc


If you do have any input, the time to say it is now, to your State Senator, because it won't do any good to say it to the clerk at the counter of the DMV two years from now.

I'd have posted this information in the other thread, where this topic was first raised, but since the other thread was really about CCV mods, I didn't want to clutter that topic.

I personally am delighted that diesel emissions are being cleaned up. I always hated to be stuck driving behind diesel city buses spewing out black smoke... and to top it off only one or two passengers would be inside. A van or an airporter type vehicle would cost less to acquire, less to maintain, and less to fuel up for lightly travelled bus routes. Well, thankfully some cities are finally doing that, and it's great.

But not everyone lives in the city. And not everyone can afford a new truck every five years. And not everyone can stand to have big brother poking around under their hoods, in their cabs, and in their livelihoods.

While we all share the same air, city or country, and we all have to cooperate together to protect that air, we must also look realistically on exactly who is polluting that air most, and what is being done about that.

When big business can literally buy "pollution credits" as perfectly acceptable "mitigation factors" so that they can continue to pollute as before, that doesn't make our air any cleaner. That only makes state budgets swell larger. And those swelled budgets pay salaries to cubicle bound bureacrats that often lack a sense of balance that some broader life experience might have otherwise afforded them.

And it is balance that must be considered here, when creating regulations such as what AB1488 proposes. Perhaps, with the study period and phase in, that balance has been adequately acheived. What do you think about it?

Read up on it, using the handy and comprehensive links I provided above, and after reading, post up what you think (and what you'll do, if anything).