Arizona crosses first hurdle in exempting older vehicles from emissions tests

SEMA ACTION NETWORK

URGENT LEGISLATIVE ALERT (UPDATE)

 Arizona Bill to Exempt Older Vehicles from Emissions Tests Passes First Committee; Moves to Senate Rules Committee

The Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee passed legislation (S.B. 1324) to exempt all vehicles more than 25-years old from the state’s mandatory biennial emissions inspection and maintenance program. The bill will now be considered by the Senate Rules Committee before making its way to the floor for a vote by the full body.

We Urge You to Contact Members of the Arizona Senate Rules Committee (List Attached Below) Immediately to Request Their Support for S.B. 1324

Existing law in Arizona only exempts pre-1967 model year vehicles and those vehicles designated as “collectible.”

· Under Arizona law, a “collectible vehicle" is a vehicle that is at least fifteen years old or of a unique or rare design, of limited production and an object of curiosity. Collectible vehicles must be maintained primarily for use in car club activities, exhibitions, parades or other functions of public interest and used only infrequently for other purposes and have a collectible vehicle or classic automobile insurance policy that restricts the collectible vehicle’s mileage and/or use to qualify for the current collectible vehicle emissions exemption. To qualify for the exemption, the owner must also own a secondary vehicle for general transportation.

S.B. 1324 provides for a rolling emissions inspection exemption that would exempt qualifying vehicles upon enactment and would pick up an additional model year for each year the law is in effect.

S.B. 1324 acknowledges the relatively minimal environmental impact of older vehicles, such as the historic cars targeted for this exemption.

S.B. 1324 recognizes that such vehicles constitute a small portion of the vehicle fleet and are well-maintained and infrequently operated.

DON’T DELAY! Please contact members of the Arizona Senate Rules Committee immediately by phone or e-mail to request their support for S.B. 1324.

Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org. Also, please forward this Alert to your fellow car enthusiasts. Urge them to join the SAN and help defend the hobby! Thank you for your assistance.

Arizona Senate Rules Committee

Senator Sylvia Allen
Email: sallen@azleg.gov
Phone: 602/926-5219

Senator Scott Bundgaard
Email: sbundgaard@azleg.gov
Phone: 602/926-3297

Senator Olivia Cajero Bedford
Email: ocajerobedford@azleg.gov
Phone: 602/926-5835

Senator Russell Pearce
Email: rpearce@azleg.gov
Phone: 602/926-5760

Senator Steve Pierce
Email: spierce@azleg.gov
Phone: 602/926-5584

Senator Kyrsten Sinema
Email: ksinema@azleg.gov
Phone: 602/926-5058