[speeder]

The thing is, CA. has an exemption for 1975 and older gas vehicles and 1998(?) and older diesels. Seems reasonable to me and I have owned a lot more old cars than most people here. As Mike pointed out above, the improvement in air quality in Southern California in the last 40 years has been nothing short of dramatic, especially in the last 25 or so. It's a result of the fleet on the roads getting steadily and continuously newer and cleaner with hybrids and EVs replacing a lot of older, dirtier vehicles.

When I first moved here, I would see people jogging and wonder why TF they were even bothering? Why hyper-ventilate smog? It didn't seem healthy, at all. CARB and the EPA has done a fantastic job of cleaning up the air and water in CA but of course that might start going backwards now. Other states have emissions testing, including where Randy lives. Everyone in the USA has the freedom to live anywhere they want, as long as they can afford it. Many places do not emissions test vehicles.

What I'm getting at is that there are several different objectives at play and now might not have been the best time to try to pass a bill to loosen any air quality regs, with the way that the general winds are blowing. Most of the people crowing the loudest about smog checks either downplay or completely dismiss air quality concerns and those are people not worth talking to.