Effective immediately, owners of California Diesel Motorhomes with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 14,000 pounds or more must comply with the Clean Truck Check program. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will place a hold on registrations that do not comply with the requirement.
The program encompasses almost all non-gasoline vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 14,000 pounds that operate within California. These include public vehicles, non-gasoline powered California-registered motor homes, trucks, buses, personal vehicles, single-vehicle fleets, and vehicles registered outside of California (excluding out-of-state motor homes, which are specifically exempted).
Clean Truck Check is implemented in three phases:
Phase 1:
- Began on January 1, 2023.
- Involved the deployment of Remote Emissions Monitoring Devices (REMDs) that monitor exhaust emissions of passing heavy-duty vehicles and flag potential high emitters.
- Vehicle owners flagged with Notice to Submit to Testing (NST) must submit a passing compliance test to CARB within 30 days of receiving the notice after making any necessary emissions-related repairs.
- Failure to comply and remedy emissions-related concerns could result in DMV registration holds and/or removal from the compliance database.
Phase 2:
- Began on October 1, 2023.
- Requires all vehicle owners subject to the program to enter their vehicles in CARB's Clean Truck Check database and pay an initial annual compliance fee of $30 per vehicle by December 31, 2023.
- From January 2024, all trucks operating in California will need proof of compliance to continue operating in the state.
- Operating without registration in the compliance database may result in violations from CARB and/or the California Highway Patrol.
Phase 3:
- Commences in 2024 and requires heavy-duty vehicle owners to conduct periodic emissions testing, similar to California's Smog Check program for cars.
- Periodic testing applies to all compliance deadlines after July 1, 2024, with compliant tests accepted as early as April 2024.
- Testing frequency is initially twice per year for most vehicles in the program, while agricultural vehicles and California-registered motor homes require annual testing.
- Testing requirements vary based on the vehicle's OnBoard Diagnostics (OBD) equipment.
- For California-registered vehicles, compliance testing deadlines align with each vehicle's DMV registration expiration/renewal date.
- Vehicles registered outside of California and those exempt from DMV registration requirements have compliance deadlines based on the last number of their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
- Passing test results can be submitted up to 90 days before a compliance deadline.
- Timely testing is crucial to avoid penalties and potential DMV registration holds.