The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a)
The emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles is the primary cause of air pollution in many parts of the state.
(b)
The control and elimination of those air pollutants is of prime importance for the protection and preservation of the public health and well-being, and for the prevention of irritation to the senses, interference with visibility, and damage to vegetation and property.
(c)
The state has a responsibility to establish uniform procedures for compliance with standards which control or eliminate those air pollutants.
(d)
Vehicle emission standards applied to new motor vehicles, and to used motor vehicles equipped with motor vehicle pollution control devices, are standards with which all motor vehicles shall comply.
(e)
Dependence on petroleum based fuels in motor vehicles not only contributes to substantial degradation of air quality and risk to public health, but also impedes the state’s progress toward the petroleum use reduction goal prescribed in Section 25000.5 of the Public Resources Code.