Vehicle retirement: low-income motor vehicle owners.

(1) Existing law establishes a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program, referred to as a smog check program, developed, implemented, and administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The duty of enforcing and administering the program is vested in the Chief of the Bureau of Automotive Repair within the department. This bill would require instead a motor vehicle to have been registered without substantial lapse, as determined by the department, in the state for at least 2 years prior to vehicle retirement and to have failed any type of smog check inspection lawfully performed in the state to qualify to receive a specified vehicle retirement payment. The bill would authorize, rather than require, the department to permit vehicle retirement for any motor vehicle that has been registered without substantial lapse in the state for at least 2 years prior to vehicle retirement and that fails any type of smog check inspection lawfully performed in the state. (2) Existing law creates an enhanced fleet modernization program for the retirement of high polluting vehicles to be administered by the Bureau of Automotive Repair pursuant to guidelines adopted by the State Air Resources Board. Existing law requires the department to pay a person who retires his or her vehicle $1,500 for a low-income motor vehicle owner, as defined, and $1,000 for all other motor vehicle owners, and authorizes additional payments above these amounts based on consideration of specified criteria. This bill would require the state board, in consultation with the bureau and no later than June 30, 2015, to update the guidelines for the enhanced fleet modernization program to include specified elements and to study and consider specified elements. The bill would make various findings and declarations. The bill, in addition, would establish compensation for replacement vehicles for low-income vehicle owners at not less than $2,500, would make replacement an option for all motor vehicle owners, and would make this compensation available to an owner in addition to the compensation for a retired vehicle. The bill would prohibit this compensation for all other motor vehicle owners from exceeding the compensation for low-income motor vehicle owners. The bill would authorize instead an increase in the compensation under these programs for either retired or replacement vehicles for only low-income motor vehicle owners as necessary to balance maximizing air quality benefits of the program while ensuring participation by low-income motor vehicle owners, as specified.