Categories: Cars

It Might Actually Pass This Time!

Leno’s Law, or SB1392, is a California Senate bill introduced to provide emissions exemptions for classic cars.
The bill has been reworded so it now has a better chance of passing and becoming law.
Only vehicles registered as collector cars would qualify.

California Senate Bill 1392 aims to provide emissions exemptions for collector cars. If this sounds familiar, it’s because SB1392 is a resurrected version of a prior bill dubbed Leno’s Law. That prior bill failed to pass, but legislators apparently have higher hopes for this new version.

Leno’s Law, so called because it’s backed and promoted by comedian and car lover Jay Leno, would provide a smog exemption for collector cars up through 1981. Eventually, that would increase to 1986.

This certainly sounds interesting, at least to most car enthusiasts here in the Golden State. But a closer look at the bill’s wording shows this would apply only to a narrow set of car owners.

The bill would provide a smog exemption for vehicles registered as collector cars. This means they must be at least 35 years old, and the vehicle’s primary use is car shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions. You have to insure the vehicle as a collector car, as well.

Initially, the law would allow vehicles manufactured up to 1981 to be granted a smog exemption, provided they meet the other criteria. This exemption would be rolling during the term of the law, which would run up to 2032. Thus, exempting vehicles up to the 1986 model year.

Right now, California doesn’t require smog tests for gas vehicles built before 1976. If you have a diesel-drinking vehicle, that exemption applies to vehicles built before 1998.

According to Road & Track, California expects to see more than 17,500 applications for a smog exemption if SB1392 passes.

So the new law, if passed, would certainly allow a number of cars to gain emissions-exempt status. But the average enthusiast won’t suddenly be able to register their V8-swapped project car. I’m not saying every swap should be allowed, though, either.

But it would be great if the law were simplified to allow for a generalized rolling smog exemption. This would allow normal, older cars to stay on the road. Not everyone can afford a new car, or even a lightly used car, right now. Keeping an older car on the road might be someone’s only option.

Even if we didn’t go with a pure smog exemption, but an easing in the testing requirements for certain models. My 1991 Mitsubishi Montero passes smog with zero issues thanks to its California-approved Magnaflow catalytic converters. Yet my 1986 Jaguar XJ6, with a California-legal V8 swap, struggled to pass despite fresh exhaust components. It was possible, but needlessly difficult.

Leno’s Law wouldn’t have helped in that case at all.

Motor1’s Take: I understand why some car enthusiasts here in California would be excited about the prospect of this bill passing. But your average enthusiast should know it likely won’t do much for them.

Despite being a car enthusiast myself, I’m not entirely opposed to California’s approach to keeping the air clean. This is a place where I want my child to grow up and enjoy the beautiful world around us. But the largest contributor to dirty air isn’t simply the cars on the road. There are larger actions we could take to curb emissions, but there’s too much money at stake to see them through.

My 1967 Mustang and its 351, which is driven maybe once or twice per week, aren’t the reason we have smog. And sending old cars to junkyards and wreckers just makes more trash we need to find space for.

There’s certainly a right way to do this bill. I think this is a good first step, but it’s really only helping a small subset of car enthusiasts.