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California Bill to Repeal 2018 Exhaust Noise Law to Be Considered by Transportation Committee

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

California
Legislation (A.B. 390) in California to repeal the section of a 2018 law (AB 1824) that amended how state law-enforcement officials issue citations for exhaust noise violations has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Transportation.

Legislation (A.B. 390) in California to repeal the section of a 2018 law (AB 1824) that amended how state law-enforcement officials issue citations for exhaust noise violations has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Transportation and will be heard on March 25.

Signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 2018, A.B. 1824 amended how excess exhaust noise violations are treated by law enforcement. Pursuant to the law, a vehicle cited for violating exhaust noise laws no longer receive what is known as a “fix-it” ticket. Instead, violations now result in an immediate fine. A.B. 390 would re-institute law enforcement’s discretion to issue “fix-it” tickets.

In California, exhaust systems installed on motor vehicles with a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of less than 6,000 lbs., other than motorcycles, may not exceed a sound level of 95 decibels when tested under Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) test procedure J1492 (formerly J1169). This would be unchanged by A.B. 390.

For more information, visit the SEMA Action Network (SAN) website

For details, contact Christian Robinson at stateleg@sema.org.