CA SB 1392 "Leno's Law" signed into law

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

SB 1392, which was signed into law this week, will exempt vehicles made from 1976 to 1981, from the CA bi-annual smog checks, beginning in 2028.  In order to qualify for the exemption, the vehicle will need to be insured as a collector motor vehicle or driven less than 1,000 miles annually.

[MO]

Interesting, I thought I heard it was to 1985?

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

Initially, vehicles built between 1976 thru 1980 will be eligible to be exempt from emission testing in 2028.  In 2029, vehicles built in 1981 will added to the exemption listing.  The following year, 1982 will be added, with additional years added until the 1985 model year, which is in 2033, which ends the smog exemption period.  Previously, CA exempted vehicles which were at least 30 years old, but this was stopped at the 1975 model year when a law was passed in 2005.

[MO]

Wow, how convoluted and difficult can they make it? Thanks for the explanation!

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

As I have owned my 1979 Trans Am since 1986, I have first hand knowledge of how hard it has become to get such a vehicle tested for the bi-annual emissions test in California.  The car needs to be driven onto rollers (like it was being tested for rear-wheel horsepower) and the emissions are tested at various speeds.  The State then later for some reason combined the emission standards for the Pontiac 400 with the Buick 403, which are completely different engines.  The technician would rely on the original labels in the engine compartment of my Pontiac 400 to see that at idle, the advance was supposed to be set at 18 degrees, with the vacuum advance plugged, and check to see the routing of all the vacuum lines for the various emission hardware are in place.  I guess if all the labels were missing, the vehicle would fail the emissions test.  I even once had a technician tell me that I had replaced the front cover as the timing marks are cast on the cover and 18 degrees is the last mark.  I showed the technician a front cover photo from my Pontiac shop manual, and he did complete the emissions test.

In 2010, California passed a law that all catalytic convertors installed at the beginning of 2010 needed an E.O. number stamped on the convertor as it had to certified for use on that particular vehicle.  I had to replace the original convertor with a newer 2-way unit in 1999 as it wouldn't pass the emissions test.  Even though convertors installed before 2010 were exempt from the new law, only one of my local test stations would test my Pontiac, even though I showed them the original invoice when the convertor was installed and the State law that said if it was installed before 2010, it did not need an E.O. number.

Jay Leno got involved as he knew that there were owners of vehicles made after 1975 who could not get their registration renewed as even though their vehicles met the emissions standards, they could not get anyone to test their vehicles.  I used to have the Pontiac tested at another local shop, but they lost their license to test older vehicles because the State said their pass rate was too high (that is what the technician told me).

The good news is that the Pontiac passed its emissions test in April 2026 and it will not need to be tested again with the new State law as it should be exempt beginning 2028.

[MO]

Very complicated! Great that you are capable of doing the research and providing the needed documentation!