HOV Access for Natural Gas Vehicles

Following are the details of using natural gas vehicles (NGVs) under the California Clean Air Vehicle Decal Program. If you have questions about the information, please contact the California NGV Coalition at (916) 448-5036 or info@cngvc.org.

What Does the Clean Air Vehicle Decal Program Do?
The purpose of the program is to incentivize purchase and use of the cleanest available vehicle models by fleets and private citizens. Until December 31, 2007, single occupant operators of qualifying vehicles will be exempt from the multi-occupancy requirement for use of HOV lanes throughout the state. This will increase the ease of travel for and productivity of these drivers by reducing their time stuck in congested freeway traffic.

What NGVs Qualify?
Every original equipment NGV ever certified by CARB as a ULEV or SULEV, and by US EPA as an ILEV, qualifies for this program. However, NGVs with a gross vehicle weight rating over 14,000 pounds do not qualify, regardless of the engine certification. Vehicles must be federally certified ILEVs to qualify.

Bi-fueled NGVs (those that can use gasoline or CNG) and gasoline powered ULEVs and SULEVs do not qualify.

After December 31, 2003, only SULEV ILEVs will qualify for obtaining decals and the exemption. ULEV vehicles that received their decals before this date will be allowed to continue using the HOV lanes. The entire program ends December 31, 2007 unless extended by the State Legislature.

Current NGV Owners -- DMV will not automatically mail applications or ILEV decals to currently registered owners of NGVs. Anyone who desires to register an NGV(s) into the program must obtain a revised DMV Form "REG 156" from a DMV field office or by download from the DMV's website: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg156.pdf.

New NGV Purchasers -- At the time of purchasing a newly acquired NGV, tell the dealer you want to register the vehicle as an ILEV for HOV access. The dealer can complete Form REG 156 and submit it to DMV with your new vehicle registration package. This process normally takes six to nine weeks. You will receive ILEV decals in the mail after you have received your other registration and license materials.

Processing Applications -- All ILEV registration applications will be processed through the DMV Special Processing Unit office in Sacramento only. DMV field offices that receive applications from private parties or dealers will forward them to Sacramento. No ILEV decals will be issued directly by the field offices.

In addition to the ILEV identification decals being placed on the vehicle, the ILEV designation will appear on the vehicle's annual registration card. This will provide CHP with an opportunity to cross-check to ensure that decaled vehicles are in fact qualifying ILEVs.

Application Fee -- A fee of $8.00 must accompany each application for registration of an NGV as a California ILEV in order for the appropriate decals to be issued.

Enforcement -- By their signature, applicants for ILEV registration and identification decals certify under penalty of perjury that their vehicle is a qualifying ILEV. Proper placement of ILEV decals on the vehicle is the responsibility of the NGV owner. Neither DMV nor CHP will routinely verify proper decal placement.

CHP began the enforcement change July 1, 2000. You must obtain and affix the appropriate ILEV identification decals on your qualifying vehicle before using the HOV access multiple-occupant exemption. Without the decals, you will still be subject to citation and a fine of at least $251.

CHP is aware that other states recognize variations on the ILEV HOV access program, including the use of the US EPA specification ILEV decals different from California's. CHP anticipates the use of some discretion in citing out-of-state vehicles that do not have California ILEV decals.

• June 15, 2000: First day that ILEV registration application forms were available from DMV. Forms now can be picked up at all DMV field offices or downloaded from: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg156.pdf.
• Dec. 31, 2003: Last date upon which DMV will issue decals for a ULEV ILEV. (SULEVs and ZEVs still qualify.)
• Jan. 1, 2004: First date upon which DMV will issue decals for a SULEV ILEV or ZEV only.
• Dec. 31, 2007: Date upon which ILEV HOV access program is terminated, unless extended by legislation.