California once charged people $300 to register certain vehicles that had previously been registered outside the state. It called the charge a “motor vehicle smog impact fee.”
That name made the program sound like an emissions measure. In practice, however, the state did not require the affected vehicle to be made cleaner in exchange for the $300. It did not use a different tailpipe standard for the vehicle. It did not calculate the fee from the vehicle’s measured emissions. The owners in the court case had cars that passed California’s Smog Check, yet California still demanded another $300 simply because the cars were federally certified and had come from outside the state.
Paying the state did not remove a pound of pollution from the air. It only removed $300 from the vehicle owner’s pocket.
- The affected cars had already passed California’s Smog Check.
- The state did not require an emissions repair or conversion.
- The same used vehicle market included California certified and federally certified cars.
- The charge fell on specified vehicles coming from outside California.
- The money originally went into California’s general fund.
- A California court ruled the fee unconstitutional.
California’s $300 Smog Impact Fee
The Legislature created the fee in 1990. With certain exceptions, a person registering a vehicle last registered outside California had to pay $300 unless the vehicle was California certified.
The state justified the program by saying California certified vehicles were generally more expensive, less polluting and subject to California’s stronger emissions program. It also claimed the fee would promote health and provide money for environmental programs.
Those explanations avoided the most basic question: What did the $300 actually do to the individual car?
Nothing.
If the concern had truly been the pollution produced by the vehicle in front of the DMV, California could have based its requirements on actual emissions. It could have required a repair when a car failed. It could have used a neutral, graduated fee based on measured pollution. Instead, a vehicle could pass the same used vehicle Smog Check and still owe the money because of its certification history and where it came from.
That is the difference between regulating emissions and monetizing a label.
The Cars Passed Smog, but the Owners Still Had to Pay
The dispute became Jordan v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 75 Cal. App. 4th 449 (1999).
Four people challenged the fee after moving to California and registering federally certified vehicles. Their vehicles passed California’s Smog Check. Each owner still had to pay the additional $300, and the state denied their refund requests.
That fact is central to understanding the program. California was not saying, “This car failed, so repair it.” California was saying, in effect, “This car passed, but its paperwork is different, so pay us anyway.” Once the payment was made, the supposedly harmful vehicle was allowed to operate in exactly the same condition.
California and Federal Certification Are Not the Same as Actual Used Vehicle Emissions
California has special authority under the federal Clean Air Act to adopt its own standards for new motor vehicles. Manufacturers therefore produced California certified vehicles and federally certified vehicles.
That distinction can matter when a vehicle is new. The smog impact fee, however, targeted used vehicles. The Court of Appeal noted that Congress’s special treatment of California applied to “new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines.” California could not simply stretch that authority into a discriminatory charge on used vehicles moving through interstate commerce.
The record also showed why a certification label was a poor substitute for testing the actual car. Thomas Austin, a former executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, submitted an analysis stating that 56 percent of the federally certified 1981 through 1993 vehicles studied could have met California new vehicle standards. More importantly, California’s used vehicle Smog Check did not apply one tailpipe standard to California certified cars and another to federally certified cars.
The state treated them alike when measuring used vehicle emissions, then treated them differently when collecting the fee.
The Money Originally Went to the General Fund
For much of the program, the proceeds, after administrative costs, were deposited in California’s general fund. That undercut the environmental branding even further.
Article XIX of the California Constitution restricts how revenue from taxes and fees imposed on vehicles may be used. California tried to avoid that restriction by placing the smog impact fee in the Sales and Use Tax Law and arguing that the label made it exempt.
The court rejected that maneuver. A flat $300 registration charge was not transformed into a sales or use tax merely because the Legislature placed it in that part of the code. The opinion used an old riddle to make the point: calling a tail a leg does not make it one.
California later directed the revenue to the High Polluter Repair and Removal Account, but changing the destination of the money did not cure the fee’s discrimination against interstate commerce.
The Court Found the Fee Unconstitutional
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed that the motor vehicle smog impact fee violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. It also agreed that depositing the revenue in the general fund violated article XIX of the California Constitution.
The court found that a comparable federally certified used vehicle cost more to register than a California certified used vehicle. California had not shown that the two categories served different used vehicle markets, and it had not established that the discrimination was necessary because no reasonable, nondiscriminatory alternative existed.
In plain English, California erected a $300 barrier around its used car market and wrapped it in environmental language.
The state also fought over how broadly refunds had to be provided. The appellate court upheld refunds for the four named plaintiffs but reversed portions of the trial court order that attempted to create refund claims for people who were not parties to the lawsuit.
In 2000, the Legislature finally created a refund program. It transferred $665,261,000 from the general fund into a Smog Impact Fee Refund Account and directed the DMV to return the $300 charges, penalties and interest. California law even specified the wording that had to accompany each check: the refund was being issued because the court had ruled the fee unconstitutional. See California Vehicle Code section 1673.7. The fee is no longer collected.
Why This Old Case Still Matters
This is not a claim that the old $300 fee still exists. It does not. The case matters because the bureaucratic instinct behind it never really disappears.
California agencies, including the Air Resources Board, often present their rules as if disagreement with the agency is disagreement with clean air. Those are not the same thing. It is entirely possible to support lower emissions and still question a program that relies on labels, paperwork, selective enforcement, costly administrative paths or payments that have little connection to the actual emissions of the vehicle.
People dealing with imported and out of state vehicles see this constantly. A vehicle may be federally legal. It may be more than 25 years old and exempt from federal motor vehicle safety standards. It may pass the applicable tailpipe test. None of those facts automatically makes California registration simple. California maintains a separate regulatory system, especially for a direct import vehicle from the 1975 model year or newer.
For current procedures, see our guides to registering a vehicle imported from another country in California, California Smog Check requirements by vehicle type and collector car Smog Check requirements.
Clean Air or a Cover Charge?
If a government program is really intended to reduce emissions, it should be able to show a connection between the requirement and an actual emissions reduction. Test the vehicle. Identify the excess pollution. Require an effective repair. Measure the result.
The smog impact fee did none of that for the owners in Jordan. Their cars passed. California took $300. The cars stayed exactly as they were.
That was not cleaner air. It was a cover charge for bringing the “wrong” used car into California.
Jordan v. Department of Motor Vehicles
75 Cal. App. 4th 449, 89 Cal. Rptr. 2d 333
Third District Court of Appeal, October 1, 1999
Read the complete published opinion
This article discusses a historical California fee and court decision. It is general information, not legal advice. Vehicle import, emissions and registration rules can change. Confirm current requirements before importing, purchasing or registering a vehicle.
No comments:
Post a Comment