CAA Legislative Updates

CAA Legislative Update June 2025

Towing and Storage


AB 987 – Towing and Storage –Concerns/Amendments. This bill would prohibit automotive repair dealers from charging storage fees on holidays and when the repair shop is closed. We met with the Assembly member's staff and requested amendments. The bill was amended to address concerns. Status: Senate Transportation Committee.


Electric Vehicle Batteries


SB 615 –Electric Vehicle Batteries – Concerns/Amendments. This bill, among other things, requires that automotive repair dealers who remove electric battery from a vehicle for repair, remanufacturing, or recycling must ensure that the battery is disposed of properly, adhering to the end-of-life requirements specified in the legislation. Clarifying amendments have been requested. Status: Assembly Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee.


AB 855 – Commercial Electric Vehicle Safety- Watch. This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, on or before January 1, 2027, to develop and post on its internet website an action plan for responding to electric commercial motor vehicle battery fires that covers specified topics, including best practices for reducing wildfire risk and mitigating the risk of battery reignition. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee – Held in Committee.


Employment


AB 1221 – Workplace Surveillance Tools. Concerns. This bill would require an employer, at least 30 days before introducing workplace surveillance tool to provide a worker written notice that includes, among other things, a description of the worker data to be collected, the intended purpose of the workplace surveillance tool, and how this form of surveillance is necessary to meet that purpose. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee – Held in Committee.


AB 1234 – Employment – Nonpayment of Wages. Concerns. This bill would impose a 30% administrative penalty fee on every order, decision, or award issued by the Labor Commissioner. Status: Senate Rules Committee.


AB 1331 – Workplace Surveillance- Concerns. This bill would limit the use of workplace surveillance tools, as defined, by employers, including by prohibiting an employer from monitoring or surveilling workers in private, off-duty areas, as specified, and requiring workplace surveillance tools to be disabled during off-duty hours, as specified. Status: Senate Rules Committee.


AB 1371 – Occupational Safety: Hazardous Waste – Watch. This bill would, among other things, allow an employee, acting in good faith, to refuse to perform a tasked assigned by an employer if it would violate those prescribed safety standards or if the employee has a reasonable apprehension that the performance of the assigned task would result in injury or illness to the employee or other employees. Status: Assembly Labor & Employment Committee. Two-year bill.


SB 310 – Failure to Pay Wages: Penalties – Concerns. Existing law allows wage claim penalties to either be recovered by an employee as a statutory penalty or by the Labor Commissioner as a civil penalty, as prescribed. This bill also would permit the penalty to be recovered by an independent civil action through the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Status: Senate Floor – Inactive File.


SB 464 – Publication of Pay Data – Watch. This bill, among other things, requires an employer with 100 or more employees to collect and store demographic information gathered by an employer or labor contractor for the purpose of submitting the pay data separately from employees’ personnel records. Status: Assembly Labor & Employment Committee.


Vehicle Emissions


AB 1368 – Smog Check- Exemption – Watch. This bill would extend the smog check exemption from vehicles that were manufactured prior to the 1976 model year, to any motor vehicle that is 30 or more model years old. Status: Assembly Transportation Committee. Two-year bill.


SB 712 – Smog Check: Exemption - Watch. This bill, known as the Jay “Leno’s Law”, would fully exempt a collector motor vehicle from the smog check requirement if the vehicle is at least 35 model years old and proof is submitted that the motor vehicle is insured as a collector motor vehicle, as specified. Status: Assembly Transportation Committee.


Ignition Interlock Devices


AB 71 – Ignition Interlock Devices – Watch. This bill would extend the sunset of the ignition interlock device program currently in place from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2033. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee – Held in Committee.


AB 366 - Ignition Interlock Devices – Watch. This bill would extend the operation of the ignition interlock device provisions indefinitely and would repeal related reporting requirements. Status: Senate Public Safety Committee.


Career Technical Education


AB 401 - Career Technical Education- Watch. This bill is intended to provide greater stability in funding for career technical education by automatically renewing grants awarded pursuant to the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program for three years if the grant recipient meets specified requirements. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee – Held in Committee.


SB 343 – Career Technical Education Teaching Credentials – Watch. This bill would require the commission to grant a waiver from the minimum requirements for the 3-year preliminary designated subjects career technical education teaching credential and the 5-year clear designated subjects career technical education teaching credential to an individual meeting prescribed requirements, including, among other things, having a valid industry-recognized certification in a trade designated by the commission. Status: Senate Education Committee. Two-year bill.


SB 845 – Career Technical Education – Watch. This bill, among other things, makes several changes to the state’s framework for career technical education and work-based learning. Status: Assembly Education Committee.


Other Bills of Interest


AB 646 – Insurance: Warranty: Catalytic Converter - Watch. This bill would limit the warranty benefit to the actual cost of replacing the catalytic converter if the warranty covers only the vehicle's catalytic converter. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee – Held in Committee.


AB 1355 – Location Privacy – Watch. This bill would prohibit a covered entity, as defined, from collecting or using the location information of an individual unless doing so is necessary to provide goods or services requested by that individual and the individual has expressly opted into the collection or use of their location information for that purpose. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee – Held in Committee.


SB 354 – Insurance Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2025 – Watch. This bill would create and update standards for the collection, processing, retaining, or sharing, collectively known as “processing”, of consumers’ personal information by licensees and their third-party service providers. Status: Assembly Insurance Committee.


SB 682 – Environmental Health: Product Safety. Concerns. Prohibits a person from distributing, selling or offering for sale in the state a product that contains Polyfluoroalkyl substance, unless currently unavoidable. These substances are used in many products, including automotive products such as gaskets, shock absorbers and bushings. This bill is similar to last year’s SB 903, which died in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Status: Assembly Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee.


SB 766 – California Combating Auto Retail Scams Act – Watch. The bill sets new requirements for motor vehicle dealers including customer disclosures, document retention, and a 10-day right to cancel for customers. Status: Assembly Judiciary.


SB 774 – Department of Real Estate – Support, if Amended. This bill extends the sunset date of the Department of Real Estate. Amendments have been requested to also extend BAR remedial training sunset, allowing an ARD to avoid public disclosure of citations. Status: Assembly Business and Professions Committee.


SB 791 - Vehicle Dealers – Watch. This bill increases the dealer document processing fee a dealer can charge when a buyer/lessee purchases a car.  Status: Assembly Transportation Committee.


SB 861 – Consumer Affairs- Watch. This is the annual omnibus bill for the Department of Consumer Affairs and makes non-substantive, and non controversial changes to the Business and Professions Code. Status: Assembly Business & Professions Committee.


Regulations


BAR Implements New Regulations


These new BAR regulations will impact all automotive repair dealers. BAR is updating the Write it Right guide to include these new requirements and will provide a Q&A section to help dealers stay compliant. The regulations will take effect on July 1, 2025. See link for the text of regulations.

https://www.bar.ca.gov/pdf/regulatory-actions/tear-down-2024/approved-text.pdf


Automotive Repair Dealers must follow the guidelines below:

1. Towing Services:

  • If a dealer provides or contracts for towing services (to have a car towed to their shop), they must obtain authorization from the customer and create a separate estimate and invoice for the towing. Towing services should be considered a separate, standalone transaction and not be included in the repair estimate or invoice.


2. Third-Party Payment for Repairs:

  • If a dealer is accepting payment for repairs from a third-party payor (e.g., a car warranty company or insurance company), prior to obtaining customer authorization, the dealer must do one of the following:
  • Include the amount approved for payment by the third-party payor in the estimate, if known.
  • If the payment amount is unknown, the dealer must include the following disclosure in the estimate:


“This estimate is for repairs to meet vehicle manufacturer and industry standards. As the customer, it is your responsibility to contact the third-party payor for payment approval.”


3. Estimate and Invoice Clarity:

  • Estimates and invoices should be free of technical or industry-specific terms so that individuals without professional or specialized knowledge can understand them.


4. Tear-Down Estimates:

  • No changes are required for tear-down estimates related to transmissions or engines. For auto body teardowns, a description of the area being worked on is required (e.g., "Right front side of vehicle").


5. Preparation of Own Repair Estimates:

  • Dealers should prepare their own repair estimates for customers and should not copy, use or attach a third-party payor’s estimate to create their own estimate. If they do, they must follow strict and burdensome new rules regarding the use of third-party payor estimates.


Pending Bureau of Automotive Repair Regulations


Vehicle Storage Fee Regulations. The BAR is also moving forward with new regulations that will significantly impact how automotive repair dealers charge for vehicle storage fees. Under the proposed regulations, repair dealers that perform repairs resulting from accidents or theft recoveries must to report their daily storage rate to BAR annually. The proposal has raised many concerns, including how storage fees are calculated and whether BAR’s oversight could limit the rates that repair dealers can charge. For more details, see link below. https://www.bar.ca.gov/public-workshops/


California Energy Commission (CEC) – Replacement Tire Regulations


The California Energy Commission (CEC) continues its work on replacement tire efficiency regulations that require tire retailers, including all automotive repair dealers, to display signs, provide tire efficiency disclosures to consumers and to include this information in all advertising, and ensure retailers receive training on the sale of these new efficient tires. We are waiting the release of the revised tire regulation text and will provide updates as they become available. For more details, see link below.

https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/replacement-tire-efficiency-program