http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com:80/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/ display?slug=smog19&date=20010719 The Seattle Times: Nation & World : Thursday, July 19, 2001
Study: Revise smog-check system By Gary Polakovic Los Angeles Times Smog check, a critical program for cutting tailpipe exhaust coast to coast, needs an overhaul because it fails to cut emissions sufficiently and doesn't concentrate on the dirtiest cars, according to a new study released yesterday by the National Research Council. The program, mandatory in many states, requires motorists to have their cars tested for excessive emissions and make necessary repairs. Smog check is one of the few anti-smog measures that affects almost every driver and puts the onus on them to pay for pollution cleanup. The study says most states are only achieving half or less of the anticipated emissions reductions from cars and trucks. The findings call into question the effectiveness of local and state clean-air plans, the study says. The findings by a panel of experts assembled by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, provide a comprehensive overview of how states administer the program, which is required in smoggy regions. Congress sought the review based on similar conclusions in other surveys. Despite the shortcomings in smog check, however, the panel says the program should be improved, not scrapped. Vehicles produce about 50 percent of the smog-forming emissions nationwide. Smog check is the only pollution-control program that targets cars after they have left the assembly line. "Inspection and maintenance programs should focus on repairing the worst-polluting vehicles and verifying repairs, but in ways that are both cost-effective for states and not overly burdensome for owners," said University of California, Irvine, Chancellor Ralph Cicerone, who chaired the committee that wrote the report. "We also need better methods of evaluating the impact of these programs, but having said that, it's important to emphasize that these programs are absolutely necessary to reduce harmful auto emissions and achieve better air quality." In the report, investigators found too much attention focused on new cars, which typically run very clean, and not enough attention on the dirtiest cars. Old models account for only 10 percent of all cars, but they produce about half the emissions. As many as one in four dirty cars never pass the test, but many of them remain on the road, the study shows. But concentrating on the dirtiest cars would be a burden for low-income motorists driving old cars, who would be required to bear a greater share of cleanup costs. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
