Nationwide Alert to all MROs

Nationwide Alert to all MROs

California’s motorcycling community is once more under assault by the legislature. SB-435, authored by California State Senator Fran Pavley, was originally written to require all street legal motorcycles beginning with model-year 2000 and newer to pass a smog check every two years beginning in 2012. Thanks to vigorous opposition from ABATE of California, this bill did not gather the required votes to get it out of Senate Transportation Committee as written, it was turned into a two year bill, amended, and it is currently sitting in the Assembly Transportation Committee where it is scheduled to be heard on Monday, June 28, 2010.

Senator Pavley has been forced to amend this bill in an attempt to gain enough support to pass SB-435 in an amended version. As it currently reads, SB-435 has had the smog check provisions removed and it has been amended to a bill which calls for increased inspections by law enforcement to check for owner’s who have replaced the original manufacturer’s exhaust and emissions equipment with aftermarket systems due to normal wear and tear or damage, thereby handing law enforcement another excuse to make traffic stops and inspect motorcycles when no other good reason exists. Moreover, under Senator’s Pavley’s bill, a motorcycle owner can be cited for not having matching Federal EPA noise labels on the frame and exhaust. The EPA labels are the equivalent of mattress tags and are only a manufacturer’s warranty. Since the original Federal EPA standards only called for a muffler system to be compliant for one year or 3, 730 miles, whichever come first, Senator Pavley is looking to enact a statute that is not only unfair and unenforceable but one which is extremely discriminatory since SB-435 targets motorcycles ONLY and not other motor vehicles.

In any form, SB-435 does little to help California achieve cleaner air since motorcycles do not contribute enough pollution to warrant the cost of establishing such a smog check program. Motorcycles contribute a minute amount of air pollution in comparison to passenger cars and long haul trucks when examining the amount of PM2.5 and PM10 released daily into the atmosphere. Moreover, motorcycles comprise less than 3 % of the total registered vehicles in California and accrue 25 % less miles traveled on average than other vehicles. This, notwithstanding the fact that California motorcycle emission standards were already the cleanest in the nation after being significantly reduced in 2008. And in addition, California Vehicle Code Sections 27150 & 27151 can already be used to cite loud mufflers. Given the $24 billion deficit the people of the State of California are currently struggling under, it would be foolish and profligate of the California legislature to enact a costly new statute for muffler and exhaust compliance when existing laws requiring legal, properly maintained exhaust systems have been enacted for nearly 40 years. This bill would have extremely negative financial ramifications for any motorcycle owner who has had to replace OEM exhaust systems with aftermarket systems due to wear and tear or damage. It will also have a huge financial impact on the aftermarket manufacturers, many of whom are located in California. We in ABATE have to wonder what Senator Pavley is thinking as she moves forward with such an inept piece of legislation that not only will saddle motorcyclists with large repair bills to meet her bill requirements since the current quote to replace a set of California mufflers is around $900 installed. In addition, SB-435 will also cost many currently employed people their jobs in the aftermarket industry since it appears on one replacement set is CARB approved.

SB-435 is a poorly written piece of proposed legislation that must be killed in committee and not be allowed to proceed to the floor of the legislature. Should it pass, it could then be further amended at a later date to replace the smog check language. In its original form, SB-435 contained absolutely no information regarding the way the smog check program would be implemented, it merely authorized the program to begin in 2012. The particulars of the smog check program would be left to the un-elected bureaucratic regulators at the California Air Resources Board and the Bureau of Automotive Repair. The problem is that if they are allowed to succeed and establish a model for motorcycle EPA noise label matching and/or smog checks in California, that model will surely be exported to other states as well. It should be noted that in 2002 Senator Pavley was the sponsor of California’s Clean Cars law and 17 other states followed suit. If this bill succeeds in California, expect to see it other states soon.

For the aforementioned reasons, ABATE of California is asking other state and national MROs to assist us by voicing their disapproval of this particular piece of legislation by writing to Assembly Transportation and Housing Committee Chairman Bonnie Lowenthal and asking that they not support this bill without risking loss of tourism and tax revenue by other state MROs issuing travel advisories to their members to avoid California. Additional letters may be also sent to Governor Schwarzenegger informing him of the potential loss of tourism and tax revenue in the event SB-435 is passed. ABATE of California asks that you send cards, letters, faxes, or emails as promptly as possible. For those who would like further information to help fight this, please contact Carol Cromwell at the ABATE state office at: 10240 7th Avenue, Hesperia 92345-2631. Telephone: (760) 956-1669. (Fax) 760-956-6519.

Respectfully submitted,

Anthony Jaime
Executive Director
ABATE of California


Contact Info:
Assembly Transportation & Housing Committee Chairman Bonnie Lowenthal
4140 Capitol Building, Sacramento, Ca., 95814
Fax: (916) 319-2193
Chairman’s Office Telephone: (916) 319-2054
E-Mail: Assemblymember.Lowenthal@assembly.ca.gov

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, Ca., 95814
Fax: (916) 558-3160
Phone: (916) 445-2841