California legal catalytic converters
As a mandatory requirement set by California State Law, all vehicles plying on the roads of the state must have California legal catalytic converters fitted into them. This state in the United States of America has been diagnosed with severe air pollution issues and therefore all motor vehicles here need to conform strictly to the state emission laws fixed for public and environmental health and welfare. Only those vehicles which are passed as “Emission equipped vehicles”, conforming to legal standards are expected to qualify for the CARB smog test and meet the requirements posed as mandatory. Some commonly asked questions regarding this are answered here -
What is CARB?
CARB is the acronym for California Air Resources Board and is a governmental agency in the state which actively helps in eliminating air pollutants from the environment, thus playing a pivotal role in protecting/ promoting public health and welfare and maintaining ecological balance. This leading organization has taken up the responsibility of implementing stringent vehicle emission requirements in the state, overseeing the use of emission control equipments in automotives and conducting the bi-yearly mandatory smog check-up tests for motor vehicles. Vehicles which fulfill the criterions set by it are projected to be equipped with fitting and legal emission devices for reducing environmental pollution.
What are California legal catalytic converters?
In California, it is illegal to replace any emission equipment in a vehicle without it being exempted by CARB. For instance, an emission control device like a catalytic converter is a mandatory requirement for every motor vehicle running on the state road. All vehicles, during the time of manufacture, are fitted with a stock-produced catalytic converter by the manufacturer, which conforms to legal state emission levels set by CARB. It is only after this product gets damaged, does a car user look for a replacement and it is here that CARB strictly insists on the use of California legal catalytic converters.
Are California Aftermarket converters legal for use?
Although aftermarket products can be equally good and sometimes being replaced with one does not have any significant effect on the emission of a car (can even pass the smog check), it can still be illegal if it is a non-exempt product. This precisely means that one can use an aftermarket converter if it has been submitted for lab-testing from the CARB and obtained an exemption certificate from the agency confirming that it is safe for use. Such a part will always have an Executive Order No. tagged to it, the application status of which can be checked at the CARB website. Check here for more info about Aftermarket Catalytic Converters.
Which is the best one?
California Magnaflow catalytic converters are CARB approved and are the most commonly used emission control devices that are fitted into internal combustion units for legal emission control. Apart from motor vehicles, these California legal catalytic converters are also fitted into generators, mining equipments and forklifts.
Vehicle owners in California therefore must take special care to check the authenticity and legality of replacement California catalytic converters before buying them from dealers and installing them into the combustion units of machines or vehicles.
