Trump Cancels CA's Emissions Standards = Skylines for All?

[Hella_GTR]

As some of you may be aware, trump ended CA's waiver to have its own emissions standards above Fed law. I don't know all the details and it sounds like a big legal fight to follow but does this mean CA folks only need to follow federal rule for importing 25+ year old cars? No $10k fee for CA compliance work? No obd2 requirement? 

Just wanted to start the conversation! I'm not sure if the changes impacts all CA's own laws or if it's only for future rules like the increased fuel efficiency standards for new cars... 

 

BBC News - Trump strips California of power to set auto emission standards
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49746701

[GTSBoy]

This will last as long as the next election when the Dems finally convince enough of you lazy arse Yanks to vote in your elections to kick his orange arse out of Washington and back to prostitute infested backrooms in Eastern Europe where he belongs.

[Rusty Nuts]

25 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

This will last as long as the next election when the Dems finally convince enough of you lazy arse Yanks to vote in your elections to kick his orange arse out of Washington and back to prostitute infested backrooms in Eastern Europe where he belongs.

Aww come on mate, don't hold back, say what you really feel.

[Hella_GTR]

55 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

This will last as long as the next election when the Dems finally convince enough of you lazy arse Yanks to vote in your elections to kick his orange arse out of Washington and back to prostitute infested backrooms in Eastern Europe where he belongs.

Yeah agreed with Rusty lol.  I actually echo what you're saying but I take the initiative to vote even while living overseas but there are a lot of lazy ones out there.  I don't have much faith lately so we could see Trump remain in office another term.  We'll see next November.

That all said, even assuming this lasts until Jan 2021 when the next presidential term starts, that's a pretty decent loophole in to get some series 2 GTR's and 1996 ITR's in and save people a ton of money on compliance work!  I don't know how it will play out in the courts but shoot if I can catch the loop hole I may send over my series 1 now and save $10k on compliance work or pick up a series 2.

[niZmO_Man]

Stop ruining the economy and buy more F250s

But seriously, that amount of compliance is bullshit.

[Hella_GTR]

Agreed.  The new cars, sure I am ok with them trying to reduce emissions, but for the handful of folks who want to import a 25 year old car (should be 15 like Canada if we're going down that road), let us just abide by the fed law.  I sold my bnr34 because of this and switched to a series 1 BCNR33. (1996+ is a no-go cause of OBD2 requirements in CA...that's a whole different story though).  I'll still have to pay $10k for CA compliance work though.

[joshuaho96]

I would not count on the federal government being able to do anything for you in particular, this is mostly a fight over CA's new car emissions requirements (LEV III by 2020) + ZEV marketshare from 4.5% in 2018 to 22% by 2025. The EPA doesn't regulate direct import beyond the 21 year rule for EPA compliance, other states have 25 year rule for smog exemption. CA's smog check is by far the most draconian but there's nothing really stopping them from requiring smog check every 2 years for all cars made after 1976. 1994-2003 emissions standards are also the same for both CA and federal, tier 1 limits are identical. The federal government and CA are on the same page here so really the state is just enforcing federal law by requiring you to meet tier 1 emissions.

Federal law also mandated OBD2 in 1996 so technically CA is just enforcing federal law again. It's just that other states aren't interested in doing so due to time and cost constraints.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to import a series 2 or 3 instead of a series 1 but I think it's important to be realistic.

Forgot to mention this but keep in mind that the EPA technically does not allow you to modify any emissions control systems in a car regardless of age. EGR deletes, decat, DPF delete, SCR delete, smog pump deletes, thermostatic air cleaner delete, evap delete, etc... are all illegal in the US. The only reason why anyone gets away with this stuff is because the state they live in doesn't care to actually enforce the law and the federal EPA doesn't have the resources to chase down individuals like this. California doesn't even enforce these laws in some counties, if you live in a very rural area smog only happens upon sale.

Personally my assessment is even regardless of enforcement, we should be mindful of the emissions that gasoline engines produce. Unburned gasoline vapors are acutely toxic in high concentration and carcinogenic at lower ones, NOx damages your lungs, PM2.5 gets into your brain and can cause early onset dementia, and carbon monoxide is pretty universally understood to be bad for you. Keeping catalytic converters on does not cost as much power as it might seem.

Edited September 19, 2019 by joshuaho96

[Hella_GTR]

Hi Josh, thanks for all the info there.  I didn't know the Fed mandated OBD2 in 1996+ so then yeah there would still be no way to get a car in through CA.  I just got my series 1 that I already love so all is good.  I was just thinking it would have been a good opportunity to bring over a car and save some money on compliance work.  

That PM2.5 stuff is real.  It comes over here in Japan from China and leaves a yellow dust everywhere.  Super gross stuff.