SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 10, 2016) — In what the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) called “a severe disappointment for the old-car hobby,” the California Senate failed to gain final approval of a bill to exempt motor vehicles prior to the 1981 model year from the state's emissions-inspection requirement.
The state senate missed the June 3 deadline for amended S.B. 1239, according to Diamond Bar, Calif.-based SEMA.
Under that amended bill, vehicles manufactured after the 1976 model year but prior to the '81 model year would have been exempted if the owner submitted proof the vehicle was insured as a collector motor vehicle. This exemption, the trade group noted in its SEMA e-News online publication, would have been a two-year trial requiring renewal by separate legislation in order to continue.
Current law requires the lifetime testing of all 1976 and newer model-year vehicles, SEMA said.