Out-of-State Motorhomes Exempt From California Smog Plan

Above, out-of-state motorhome owners can continue to visit Yosemite
 with no fears of forced emissions testing. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A while back, I blogged about a California plan (scheme is more like it) to smog test vehicles with gross vehicle weight ratings of 14,000 or more and diesel powered. There were no exemptions for out-of-state motorhomes.

Since then, holy hell was raised and the California Air Resource Board backed off.

RV Travel reported:

In early March we reported on the new pollution-reduction rule-making going on in California. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been tasked by law to create new rules. These apply to diesel-powered vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds or more. Under the proposed rule, ANY vehicle meeting that criteria, including motorhomes, will be required to undergo periodic emissions testing. After a lot of “intervention” from industry groups, CARB is retreating – a little. Out-of-state motorhomes are exempt.

Three-days-OK shut down

Prior to backing off, CARB indicated it could be expansive and allow non-residents with big diesel motorhomes to cross into the Golden State. Then they could stay without the need for testing. The catch was, they could only stay for 72 hours. It’s hard to imagine much of a visit to California and holding it down to three days. But that was the thinking for CARB rule-drafters.

So when industry-types got wind of the smog stand, it must have rung a bell. The RV Industry Association (RVIA) and campground owners’ associations both in California and on the national level created a stink about the testing plan. One letter from the California RV dealers’ association struck a responsive chord. Using expressions like, “catastrophic impacts not only to rural economy dollars, but the overall economic health of California” and “California will be mocked as having created a system where we make perpetrators out of tourists and subscribe to an infrastructure that enforces the three-day rule” must have stung.

Money talks. Evidently pride does as well. CARB now says motorhomes are exempt from the testing regimen. No three-days-OK permits, no “tailpipe intrusions” and no hooking up a black box to OBD ports. Motorhoming vacationers trying to get a vacation break get a break from intrusive testing. The fine print in the contract does say the visiting motorhomes must be non-commercial in nature to avoid the testing.

To read more, go here.