For the CA smog "enthusiasts" I just heard the Al Stock talk show (San
Diego). He's not one of my regulars, but he was having as a guest Bob Brown,
public relations director of Bureau of Repairs, apparently a division of the
Bureau of Consumer Affairs. The topic of course, was Smog II. One of the
first callers was Karen-Lee Bixman, the editor of a Bay area newsletter,
"The Investigative Reporter". The May issue started my own interest in this
matter with the lead article "The EPA's War Against Your Car".
The talk discussion was a battle between the bureaucrat Brown and the
investigator, Bixman. Alan Stock had his hands full keeping them under
control. The bottom line as I interpreted the bureaucrat is:
1 Pre-1965 cars are exempt from Smog II (they are exempt from current
smogging too)
2 Under Smog II, cars must meet the emission standards of their year of
manufacture (Bixman debated this)
3 A car that does not pass smog II and cannot be made to pass will not be
registered, but can be sold to the state (?) for $450.
4 A car that does not pass smog II can be kept on one's property and will
not be confiscated if the $5 annual non-operation fee is paid (Bixman
strongly debated this on her interpretation of the law)
5 Brown did indicate that Smog II involves a "central" smog certification
process, not your friendly smogger at the local gas station. (Seems like a
lot of small businesses would be affected, but that wouldn't bother the
bureaucrats.)
My own reading of the literature defines a dyno type of test in which
emissions are measured at simulated road speeds on a "rolling road" device.
This will deter the down tuning approach to passing smog (attention MGBers)
and then tuning up for operation. If the car won't run properly on the test
rig it won't pass smog.
There are about 17 peices of California legislation that are either
currently passed into law or pending. I have copies of them and will be
happy to provide the bill numbers to anyone who requests them. You can then
get the copies from your local Senate or Assembly rep. Prepare for difficult
legalese reading.
This is obviously a major political issue, and the MG list (as well as all
the other car lists) is not where we expect political discussion. However,
when the bureaucrats in California threaten to deprive us of our cars, there
will be a lot of people that will be mad as hell and I'm sure one of them!
Stay tuned.
Bill Harkins
Fallbrook, CA
33 MG J2
48 MG TC
67 MGB-GT (Groan)
|