@graybyrd
I think I'd like to see a citation for that before I take up arms and write a screed
Quote on USA emissions from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_standard#United_States_of_America
The California ARB standard for light vehicle emissions is a regulation of equipment first, with verification of emissions second. The property owner of the vehicle is not permitted to modify, improve, or innovate solutions in order to pass a true emissions-only standard set for their vehicle. Therefore, California's attempt at regulation of emissions is a regulation of equipment, not of air quality. This form of regulation prevents vehicle modifications that may assist in cheating emissions tests, but it also prevents grassroots or creative individuals from participating in the math, science, and engineering that could lead to breakthroughs in this area of research. They are wholly excluded from modifying their property in any way that has not been extensively researched and approved by CARB.
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Quotes from the California Air resources Board website:
How do I verify if a car, truck, or motorcycle is compliant with California law?
All vehicles that comply with California regulations have a Vehicle Emissions Information label on a visible location on the vehicle. In addition to listing all equipment used on the vehicle to comply with California requirements, the label lists the vehicles test group or Engine family Number. This number can be cross referenced on our website by checking the Executive Order for the year make and Test Group.
New vehicles that have not yet been registered will also have a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin that will state the standards that the vehicle complies with and list the manufacturers legal name so that you can cross reference that information with the Executive Order.
Vehicles without these required information labels are not legal for sale in California.
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On-Road New Vehicle & Engine Certification Program
The On-Road Light-Duty Certification Section is responsible for the certification and production audit of new passenger cars (PC), light-duty trucks (LDT), medium-duty vehicles (MDV), highway (on-road) motorcycles (HMC), off-highway recreational vehicles (OHRV) including off-road motorcycles (OFMC), all-terrain vehicles (ATV), off-road utility vehicles (UV), off-road sport vehicles (SV), sand cars (SCAR), and electric golf carts (eGC). The Compression Ignition and Heavy-Duty Certification Section is responsible for the certification and production audit of new heavy-duty engines (HDE) and vehicles (HDV) including urban buses (UB), and new off-road compression ignition (OFCI) engines. Vehicles and engines (hereinafter, vehicles) are not legal for sale in California until certified. Violation of the requirement for certification can subject the vehicle manufacturers and/or selling dealers to enforcement actions including a fine of up to $37,500 per vehicle.
CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW
o be certified, a vehicle must demonstrate that its exhaust and (as applicable, depending on the specific vehicle category) evaporative emission control systems are durable and comply with the emission standards for the vehicle's useful life. This is done through durability and certification testing of the prototype certification vehicle(s). Compliance with on-board diagnostics, anti-tampering, fuel tank fill-pipe and openings, crankcase emissions, etc., as applicable, must be demonstrated also. An application for certification must be submitted to, and approved by, the Air Resources Board (ARB) (and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) concurrently).
Production vehicles must be identical in all material respects to those (of the certification vehicles) for which the certification was granted; all emissions-related production running changes and field fixes must be approved. Production vehicles must be properly labeled and their emission control systems are warranted for the specified duration. New and customer-owned production vehicles are subject to compliance testing (by either the manufacturers or ARB) and warranty repairs reporting by the manufacturers, either of which can result in remedial actions.
Certification is granted only to the manufacturer of the vehicles who controls the vehicle specifications to ensure compliance by all production vehicles. Certification can be granted to an importer only if the importer demonstrates that it has control of the vehicle specifications. As an example, this demonstration can be effected by a contractual agreement between the vehicle manufacturer and importer giving the importer the sole authority to approve any changes to the production vehicles in the certified engine/evaporative family. Importers lacking this vehicle specifications control are subject to the direct-import (a.k.a. gray-market) vehicle certification.
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How do I register a NON-USA or "Grey Market" car in California?
Vehicles first sold, or vehicles intended for sale by their manufacturers outside the United States are called NON-USA or "Grey Market" cars. Greymarket cars are typically not able to be used or registered in California. The following information lists the minimum requirements to register a greymarket car in California:
Important note regarding NEW greymarket vehicles: any greymarket vehicle obtained by a California resident within two years of its date of production or any greymarket vehicle entering California within two years of its date of production are considered NEW vehicles and are forever prohibited from registration in California. No modifications on NEW vehicles are permitted.