Arizona SB1324 Emissions testing

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URGENT LEGISLATIVE ALERT​

Arizona Introduces Bill to Exempt Older Vehicles from Emissions Tests; Hearing Scheduled for Mon., Feb. 7 ​

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A bill (S.B. 1324) has been introduced in the Arizona State Senate to exempt all vehicles more than 25-years old, without condition, from the state’s mandatory biennial emissions inspection and maintenance program. A hearing on the bill has been scheduled for Feb. 7, 2011 in the Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee.

We Urge You to Contact Members of the Arizona Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee (List Attached Below) Immediately to Request Their Support for S.B. 1324



For those interested in attending the hearing to voice support, the Committee will meet on Mon., Feb.7 at the following address:

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Senate Hearing Room 109​

Arizona State Senate
Capitol Complex
1700 West Washington​

Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890​

· Existing law in Arizona only exempts pre-1967 model year vehicles and those vehicles designated as “collectible.”

· Under Arizona law, a “collectible vehicle" is a vehicle that is at least fifteen years old or of a unique or rare design, of limited production and an object of curiosity. Collectible vehicles must be maintained primarily for use in car club activities, exhibitions, parades or other functions of public interest and used only infrequently for other purposes and have a collectible vehicle or classic automobile insurance policy that restricts the collectible vehicle’s mileage and/or use to qualify for the current collectible vehicle emissions exemption. To qualify for the exemption, the owner must also own a secondary vehicle for general transportation.

• S.B. 1324 provides for a rolling emissions inspection exemption that would exempt qualifying vehicles upon enactment and would pick up an additional model year for each year the law is in effect.

• S.B. 1324 acknowledges the relatively minimal environmental impact of older vehicles, such as the historic cars targeted for this exemption.

• S.B. 1324 recognizes that such vehicles constitute a small portion of the vehicle fleet and are well-maintained and infrequently operated.

DON’T DELAY! Please contact members of the Arizona Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee immediately by phone or e-mail to request their support for S.B. 1324.

Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org. Also, please forward this Alert to your fellow car enthusiasts. Urge them to join the SAN and help defend the hobby! Thank you for your assistance.

Arizona Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee​

Senator John Nelson - Chairman
Phone: 602/926-5872
Email: jnelson@azleg.gov

Senator Russell Pierce - Vice-Chairman
Phone: 602/926-5760
Email: rpearce@azleg.gov

Senator Olivia Cajero Bedford
Phone: 602/926-5835
Email: ocajerobedford@azleg.gov

Senator Gail Griffin
Phone: 602/926-5895
Email: ggriffin@azleg.gov

Senator Jack Jackson
Phone: 602/926-5862
Email: jjackson@azleg.gov

Senator Don Shooter
Phone: 602/926-4139
Email: dshooter@azleg.gov


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great post don! let hope this bill is passed.

 

Here is an odd point of view from a car enthusiast:

I think this is a waste of taxpayer time and money. First off if you have a classic vehicle why not have collectors insurance on it? Its a whole lot cheaper and better coverage. And you would be exempt from emmision testing. But you need to have a different car for daily driving. If you have a classic car and use it as a daily driver I would assume you would keep it in good running order a car that is properly tuned to drive everyday shouldn't have a problem passing an emmisions test. Both my Maverick and truck got through the testing before I had collectors insurance, and they are both modified for higher performance. I think this bill will just allow people to drive their beaters without having to properly maintian them. The enthusiasts that maintain their vehicles properly and/or carry collector insurance have no problem registering their cars.

 

I see your point ryan, but also bear in mind a lot of people have older model cars and trucks out of need and lack of money. and owning a newer vech requires you have something more than shade tree knowledge to keep them in running order to pass emissions testing.

 

Ok but say you drive an old maverick cause you got it cheap and its all you can afford. Do you think you should put a big cam and a 4 bbl intake and carb on it? Probably not, for two reasons. If you are on a tight budget you shouldnt spend $1k on car parts and also increase your fuel consumption. But say you have the same Maverick that you got cheap/free whatever, and its stock and original. Do you think that car would have any problem passing an emmisions test? It shouldnt if the so called shade tree mechanic has tuned it to run it best and most efficient. Which will also allow the owner the better MPG he needs for his small budget.

 

Don't get me wrong, If I was asked to vote Yes or No on this bill I'd vote Yes. But I don't see why its neccessary to take up lawmakers time and taxpayer money for an unnessary bill.

 

The ones that might be an issue that would benefit from this are the 75 to 80's cars that have carburetors and catalytic converters that parts are no longer available for that are limited use by peope who can't afford and probably don't need a new car but may not pass an emissions test with a gas type tester. A little old lady with a 1980 LTD with a VV carb and converters that runs a little rich but gets her to the hairdresser comes to mind. Just a thought.

 

Call me crazy but I am kinda with Ryan on this and MOST of my vehicles would fall into no emmisions testing on this.

I don't think it should be a 25 years or older setup that are allowing each year new cars into this category. I do believe the 67 year is a little off I would say maybe 73 and older.

I personally do not want the general public thinking they can safely drive a 25 year old car and not be putting as much maintenance and work into these cars as the hobbyist guy does.

Say for instance you go to an area not requiring emmisions testing in AZ, and look at the normal class of vehicles on the road. If your familiar with these areas you know what I am talking about, and I am NOT trying to knock the economic value of the vehicle or these communitys way of living. This is the type I am from, and plan to retire in this type of community.

Now think of these types of cars driving safely in rush hour traffic in PHX area........... Not safe in my opinion, and would lead to more accidents with vehicles less equipted to handle an accident or the steering and suspension not up to snuff for an emergency situation.

I have a 56 caddy, and it has NO BUSINESS in heavy traffic. I have got the old technology as good as I can without getting a whole newer front end under it.

I will not even let me wife drive it during normal traffic as in if we take it to a cruise or something. Its just to much car for me to handle some times let alone her.

I also do not think this should be put into the states concerns, I think this should be a county problem, and county's with larger population should be able to inforce the emmisions testing as it is now.

I think this will eventually just cause more accidents because of this bill.

I vote NO

 

emissions testing has nothing to do with safety. that is air quality.

 

Adam was referring to the overall quality of car the vehicle recieves. If they cant/dont properly mantain the the vehicle to run properly do you think they are going to maintain the ball joints, tie rods, and brakes, that would be required to perform perfectly in a panic stop situation?

 

point made- i still vote yes!

 

Most people that would drive a car with the suspension and brakes falling apart or driving like a psychopath wouldn't have emissions done on their cars anyway so the law would be useless. Some common sense rules allowing officers on case by case basis to remove a vehicle from the road if it's a safety violation might be in order, but that's an entirely different issue.

 

We bought a 73 Comet off of ebay. When I went to license it they told me they could not give me plates since it failed emissions. We are going to rebuild the engine pretty soon, but come on, at least let me have some plates for it. Heck, we don't even have emissions testing here.

BTW, while I was writing this I got a thank you note from Senator Bedford.

 

if it''s not running, get a black tag. this way you will not get fined for back tag cost. I think it is as high as .25 cents a day.

 

No emmisions testing here in AZ means no tags or expired tags, pretty easy for a cop to spot when behind them.