OBI WAN
02-05-05, 08:18 PM
Vehicle passes smog test, but state tells Modesto owner it's got to go
http://www.modbee.com/images/ips_content/05b1truck.jpg
State air regulators have told David Starck to get this truck out of California or he could face a $5,000 fine.
BART AH YOU/THE BEE
By ERIC STERN
BEE CAPITOL BUREAU (metro@modbee.com?subject=New%20truck%20turns%20in to%20nightmare)
Last Updated: February 5, 2005, 06:17:09 AM PST
What started as a fun idea — a road trip last summer from New York to California in a new pickup — has become a bureaucratic headache for a Modesto engineering firm. Donald Kan, president of SKW & Associates, was in New York for his daughter's wedding. Rather than fly home, he decided to buy a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 for survey work and drive it to Modesto.
The truck ran well, but apparently not well enough. Air pollution regulators in California say it doesn't belong here. They have ordered SKW to get the truck out of the state or face a $5,000 fine.
That ultimatum baffles SKW vice president and architect David Starck, because the $27,000 truck was new and passed an emissions check in California.
Here's the problem: Since 1985, California vehicles have to be built to meet the state's clean air laws, which are tougher than federal standards. Car manufacturers build two sets of vehicles — those to be sold in California and those to be sold in the other 49 states.
Cars with more than 7,500 miles are exempt from this rule, which means new residents to California can register their old cars, as long as the vehicles pass the smog test. The SKW truck had 3,463 miles when it was brought in July to SpeeDee Oil Change and Tune Up in Modesto for a smog check.
The truck has a label that states the vehicle is certified for federal "and/or" California emissions standards.
State officials say that label shouldn't be there — that the pickup wasn't manufactured according to California's antismog standards.
Why should that matter, Starck asks, if the truck passed the emissions test in California? Or what if it had a few thousand more miles — and surpassed the 7,500-mile mark?
"This is just a nightmare, and it's so silly," he said. "The state is trying to regulate emissions with paper as opposed to what is actually produced from the tailpipe of the vehicle."
He said SKW wasn't trying to circumvent the law. Starck has spent the past six months on back-and-forth phone calls with the Department of Motor Vehicles, trying to head off an ultimatum to get the truck out of California.
Officials at the Air Resources Board said they are working with Starck to find a resolution.
"We have made him a settlement offer and he has yet to respond," spokesman Jerry Martin said.
"That's news to me," Starck said upon learning of Martin's comment.
Martin said the air board flags two or three vehicles a month for similar problems — often involving people who are unfamiliar with the rules on out-of-state vehicles.
Passing the smog check has nothing to do with the issue, Martin said.
"Of course it's going to pass a smog check; it's a new car," Martin said. "(But) over the life span, the car will pollute many more times over than a California car. There's no question."
Fixing the problem is not as simple as equipping the vehicle with a "widget," Martin said.
"Generally, they cannot be modified," he said. "They're built from the ground up differently. That's why the automakers fight us so hard on our standards. They have to spend a little bit more money on each car."
Dave Barthmuss, a spokesman for General Motors, which manufactures the Silverado truck, said many auto buyers don't realize that California has unique emissions standards.
"I feel for the guy," Barthmuss said. "Unfortunately, he's got to follow the letter of California law. It's very difficult to understand unless you're on top it.
"The safest thing to do," he said, "is to buy a car in California."
Bee Capitol Bureau reporter Eric Stern can be reached at 916-326-5544 or estern@modbee.com.
http://www.modbee.com/images/ips_content/05b1truck.jpg
State air regulators have told David Starck to get this truck out of California or he could face a $5,000 fine.
BART AH YOU/THE BEE
By ERIC STERN
BEE CAPITOL BUREAU (metro@modbee.com?subject=New%20truck%20turns%20in to%20nightmare)
Last Updated: February 5, 2005, 06:17:09 AM PST
What started as a fun idea — a road trip last summer from New York to California in a new pickup — has become a bureaucratic headache for a Modesto engineering firm. Donald Kan, president of SKW & Associates, was in New York for his daughter's wedding. Rather than fly home, he decided to buy a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 for survey work and drive it to Modesto.
The truck ran well, but apparently not well enough. Air pollution regulators in California say it doesn't belong here. They have ordered SKW to get the truck out of the state or face a $5,000 fine.
That ultimatum baffles SKW vice president and architect David Starck, because the $27,000 truck was new and passed an emissions check in California.
Here's the problem: Since 1985, California vehicles have to be built to meet the state's clean air laws, which are tougher than federal standards. Car manufacturers build two sets of vehicles — those to be sold in California and those to be sold in the other 49 states.
Cars with more than 7,500 miles are exempt from this rule, which means new residents to California can register their old cars, as long as the vehicles pass the smog test. The SKW truck had 3,463 miles when it was brought in July to SpeeDee Oil Change and Tune Up in Modesto for a smog check.
The truck has a label that states the vehicle is certified for federal "and/or" California emissions standards.
State officials say that label shouldn't be there — that the pickup wasn't manufactured according to California's antismog standards.
Why should that matter, Starck asks, if the truck passed the emissions test in California? Or what if it had a few thousand more miles — and surpassed the 7,500-mile mark?
"This is just a nightmare, and it's so silly," he said. "The state is trying to regulate emissions with paper as opposed to what is actually produced from the tailpipe of the vehicle."
He said SKW wasn't trying to circumvent the law. Starck has spent the past six months on back-and-forth phone calls with the Department of Motor Vehicles, trying to head off an ultimatum to get the truck out of California.
Officials at the Air Resources Board said they are working with Starck to find a resolution.
"We have made him a settlement offer and he has yet to respond," spokesman Jerry Martin said.
"That's news to me," Starck said upon learning of Martin's comment.
Martin said the air board flags two or three vehicles a month for similar problems — often involving people who are unfamiliar with the rules on out-of-state vehicles.
Passing the smog check has nothing to do with the issue, Martin said.
"Of course it's going to pass a smog check; it's a new car," Martin said. "(But) over the life span, the car will pollute many more times over than a California car. There's no question."
Fixing the problem is not as simple as equipping the vehicle with a "widget," Martin said.
"Generally, they cannot be modified," he said. "They're built from the ground up differently. That's why the automakers fight us so hard on our standards. They have to spend a little bit more money on each car."
Dave Barthmuss, a spokesman for General Motors, which manufactures the Silverado truck, said many auto buyers don't realize that California has unique emissions standards.
"I feel for the guy," Barthmuss said. "Unfortunately, he's got to follow the letter of California law. It's very difficult to understand unless you're on top it.
"The safest thing to do," he said, "is to buy a car in California."
Bee Capitol Bureau reporter Eric Stern can be reached at 916-326-5544 or estern@modbee.com.