V C Section 27156 Gross Polluter Air Pollution 

Control Device

Gross Polluter: Air Pollution Control Device 

27156. (a) No person shall operate or leave standing upon a highway a motor vehicle that is a gross polluter, 

as defined in Section 39032.5 of the Health and Safety Code. 

(b) No person shall operate or leave standing upon a highway a motor vehicle that is required to be equipped 

with a motor vehicle pollution control device under Part 5 (commencing with Section 43000) of Division 26 of 

the Health and Safety Code or any other certified motor vehicle pollution control device required by any other 

state law or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to that law, or required to be equipped with a motor vehicle 

pollution control device pursuant to the National Emission Standards Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 to 7550, inclusive) 

and the standards and regulations adopted pursuant to that federal act, unless the motor vehicle is equipped 

with the required motor vehicle pollution control device that is correctly installed and in operating condition. No 

person shall disconnect, modify, or alter any such required device. 

(c) No person shall install, sell, offer for sale, or advertise any device, apparatus, or mechanism intended for 

use with, or as a part of, a required motor vehicle pollution control device or system that alters or modifies the 

original design or performance of the motor vehicle pollution control device or system. 

(d) If the court finds that a person has willfully violated this section, the court shall impose the maximum fine 

that may be imposed in the case, and no part of the fine may be suspended. 

(e) "Willfully," as used in this section, has the same meaning as the meaning of that word prescribed in Section 

7 of the Penal Code. 

(f) No person shall operate a vehicle after notice by a traffic officer that the vehicle is not equipped with the 

required certified motor vehicle pollution control device correctly installed in operating condition, except as may 

be necessary to return the vehicle to the residence or place of business of the owner or driver or to a garage, 

until the vehicle has been properly equipped with such a device. 

(g) The notice to appear issued or complaint filed for a violation of this section shall require that the person to 

whom the notice to appear is issued or against whom the complaint is filed produce proof of correction 

pursuant to Section 40150 or proof of exemption pursuant to Section 4000.1 or 4000.2 

(h) This section shall not apply to an alteration, modification, or modifying device, apparatus, or mechanism 

found by resolution of the State Air Resources Board to do either of the following: 

(1) Not to reduce the effectiveness of a required motor vehicle pollution control device. 

(2) To result in emissions from the modified or altered vehicle that are at levels that comply with existing state 

or federal standards for that model-year of the vehicle being modified or converted. 

(i) Aftermarket and performance parts with valid State Air Resources Board Executive Orders may be sold and 

installed concurrent with a motorcycle’s transfer to an ultimate purchaser. 

(j) This section applies to motor vehicles of the United States or its agencies, to the extent authorized by federal 

law. 

Amended Ch. 27, Stats. 1994. Effective March 30, 1994. 

Amended Sec. 1, Ch. 325, Stats. 2007. Effective January 1, 2008.