California has the strictest air quality controls in the nation, but with its coast-hugging highways made for convertibles, the state is also known for its classic-car lovers.
Chief among them is Jay Leno, the comedian and former late-night host, who has a garage full of collectible cars in Burbank, Calif., the same city in which he used to tape “The Tonight Show.”
Since last year, Mr. Leno has pushed to exempt classic cars from the state’s stringent emissions rules, and the effort in the California State Capitol has been labeled “Leno’s Law.” But it wasn’t until this week that state lawmakers passed bipartisan legislation that could ease regulations for these older cars.
The bill would exempt some cars made before the model year 1981 from the standard smog checks that determine whether the pollutants they emit are within safe limits. Car collectors say that the current rules in California — which generally require gasoline-powered vehicles from model year 1976 onward to undergo a smog check every two years — are overly restrictive.
“Most of these cars that we’re talking about, they get driven to a car show on a Saturday,” Mr. Leno said. “The car’s parked all day, and then it’s driven home at night.”
The exemption, which applies only to qualifying collector cars, would take effect in January 2028 and be phased in over five years, eventually exempting collector cars made before model year 1986 from smog checks. To qualify, owners must either have collector-car insurance or prove that the vehicle is driven fewer than 1,000 miles per year.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has until Sept. 30 to decide whether he will sign the bill into law. His office said it would not comment on pending legislation.
Democratic lawmakers blocked a similar version of the bill last year. Environmentalists say they worry that relaxing the rules would worsen air pollution and related health impacts like asthma, especially as the Trump administration takes aim at the state’s environmental policies, which are already far more restrictive than in many other states. Various environmental groups have asked Mr. Newsom to veto the proposal.
“Wealthy celebrities like Jay Leno can afford to have their cars repaired to comply with current law and reduce excessive emissions, but poor people cannot afford the costs of asthma and other respiratory diseases caused by air pollution,” said Bill Magavern, the policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, a statewide advocacy group that has opposed the bill.
Michael Kleeman, a professor specializing in air quality at the University of California, Davis, estimated that some of the older cars covered by the bill could emit about 20 times as much pollution as newer vehicles. Assuming those cars (which are estimated to account for less than 1 percent of the state’s registered vehicles) remain within their mileage limitations, the impact on California’s total motor vehicle emissions is likely to be small, but not zero, said Dr. Kleeman, who is not involved with the bill. The bill, he added, seemed generally out of line with California’s emissions goals.
“Decision makers need to weigh the benefits of honoring our car culture heritage against the public health implications of air pollution, especially since there are so many other efforts to weaken emissions standards,” Dr. Kleeman said.
The emissions from newer cars are usually measured using a scanner that is plugged into the vehicle. But Mr. Leno, who has a large personal collection of historic vehicles, said that it had become difficult to get old cars smog-checked because doing so required an increasingly hard-to-find machine, known as a dynamometer, used only for cars made in or before 1999. The machine works like a heavy-duty treadmill, applying resistance as a car’s wheels spin on its rollers, while a probe inserted into the tailpipe measures chemicals emitted by the exhaust.
“Someone has a car, but there’s no place to get it tested,” Mr. Leno said.
John Kayajian, the owner of a smog and safety inspection businessin Burbank, said he was one of a few who still offered smog checks in Los Angeles County using the dynamometer, which is often referred to as a “dyno.”
He said that even though he did not expect the bill, if passed, to significantly affect his overall business, he still felt it was a bad idea.
“There’s some cars that come in here, that while I’m driving it on the dyno, my eyes are burning from how bad the emissions are,” Mr. Kayajian said.
The post Jay Leno’s Classic Car Bill Passes in California Legislature appeared first on New York Times.
