(a) The California Environmental Protection Agency, the state board, and the department, in cooperation with, and with the participation of, the Environmental Protection Agency, shall jointly undertake a pilot demonstration program to do all of the following:
(1) Determine the emission reduction effectiveness of alternative loaded mode emission tests compared to the IM240 test.
(2) Quantify the emission reductions, above and beyond those required by Environmental Protection Agency regulation or by the biennial test requirement, achievable from a remote sensing-based program that identifies gross polluting and other vehicles and requires the immediate repair and retest of those gross polluting vehicles at a test-only station established by this chapter.
(3) Determine if high polluting vehicles can be identified and directed to test-only stations using criteria other than, or in addition to, age and model year, and whether this reduces the number of vehicles which would otherwise be subject to inspection at test-only stations.
(4) Qualify emission reductions above and beyond those that are required by the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency, achievable from other program enhancements pursuant to this chapter.
(5) Determine the extent to which the capacity of the test-only station network established pursuant to Section 44010.5 needs to be expanded to comply with Environmental Protection Agency performance standards.
(b) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to establish the protocol for the pilot demonstration program. The memorandum of agreement shall ensure, to the extent possible, that the Environmental Protection Agency will accept the results of the pilot demonstration program as the findings of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The pilot demonstration program shall be conducted pursuant to the memorandum of agreement.
(c) The review committee established pursuant to Section 44021 shall review the protocol for the pilot demonstration program, as established in the signed memorandum of agreement, and recommend any modification that the review committee finds to be appropriate for the pilot demonstration program. Any such modification shall become effective only upon the written agreement of the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency.
(d) The department shall contract, on behalf of the committee, with an independent entity to ensure quality control in the collection of data pursuant to the pilot demonstration program. The department shall also contract, on behalf of the committee, for an independent analysis of the data produced by the pilot demonstration program.
(e) Any contract entered into pursuant to this section shall not be subject to any restrictions that are applicable to contracts in the Government Code or in the Public Contract Code.
(f) To the extent possible, the pilot demonstration program shall be conducted using equipment, facilities, and staff of the state board, the department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
(g) The pilot demonstration program shall provide for, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) For the purposes of this section, any vehicle subject to the inspection and maintenance program may be selected to participate in the pilot demonstration program regardless of when last inspected pursuant to this chapter.
(2) Registered owners of vehicles selected to participate in the pilot demonstration program shall make the vehicle available for testing within a time period and at a testing facility designated by the department. If necessary, the department shall increase the capacity of the existing referee network in the area or areas where the pilot demonstration program will be operating, in order to accommodate the convenient testing of selected vehicles.
(3) If the department finds that a vehicle is emitting excessive emissions, the vehicle owner shall be required to make necessary repairs within the existing cost limits and return to a testing facility designated by the department. The vehicle owner shall have additional repairs made if the repairs are requested and funded by the department. The department shall also fund the cost of any necessary repairs if the owner of the vehicle has, within the last two years, already paid for emissions-related repairs to the same vehicle in an amount at least equal to the existing cost limits, in order to obtain a certificate of compliance or an emission cost waiver.
(4) Vehicle owners who fail to bring the vehicle in for inspection or fail to have repairs made pursuant to this section shall be issued notices of noncompliance. The notice shall provide that, unless the vehicle is brought to a designated testing facility for testing, or repair facility for repairs, within 15 days of notice of the requirement, the owner will be required to pay an administrative fee of not more than five dollars ($5) a day, not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250), to be collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles at the next annual registration renewal or the next change of ownership of the vehicle, whichever occurs first. Commencing on the 31st day after issuance of the notice of noncompliance, the fee shall accrue at the rate of five dollars ($5) per day up to the two hundred fifty dollars ($250) maximum. Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 9250.18 of the Vehicle Code, any revenues collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to this subdivision and Section 9250.18 of the Vehicle Code shall be deposited into the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(h) The Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Transportation, local agencies, and the state board shall provide necessary support for the program established pursuant to this section.
(i) As soon as possible after the effective date of this section, the department and the state board shall develop, implement, and revise as needed, emissions test procedures and emissions standards necessary to conduct the pilot demonstration program.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 728, Sec. 94. (SB 71) Effective January 1, 2013.)