Colorado Debuts Roadside Emissions Testing to Identify High-Polluting
Vehicles
January 10, 2008—Denver—High-polluting vehicles,
identified by roadside testing
equipment as they are driven, now are subject to additional
inspection
and, if needed, mandatory repairs as part of the auto
emissions testing
program in the Denver-metropolitan area. The Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment today sent out
the first batch of notification letters to the owners of
potentially
high-polluting vehicles, requiring them to contact the
department for a
more detailed compliance inspection. “The identification
of high-polluting vehicles is an important part
of Colorado’s continued effort to improve air quality in the
Denver-metropolitan area,” said James Martin, executive
director of
the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“It also is
indicative of the state’s commitment to an effective and
efficient
auto emissions program.” The identification of
high-polluting vehicles is the result of
legislation passed by the Colorado General Assembly in 2006.
Using
existing roadside testing equipment that also is used to
identify
exceptionally clean-operating vehicles and exempt them from
a standard
emissions inspection, the new component of the emissions
program seeks
to identify those vehicles that pollute disproportionately
to the rest
of the vehicle fleet. Department officials indicate that
approximately 25 to 35 vehicles will
be identified weekly during the implementation phase.
Vehicle owners
will be notified by mail and instructed how to make an
appointment for
further inspection. Compliance inspections will be
performed using the I/M240 emissions
test, the same emissions test given at Air Care Colorado
testing
facilities operated by Envirotest Systems under contract
with the state
of Colorado. Should the compliance inspection validate the
roadside data, the
identified vehicle must be repaired or the owner could face
the
suspension of vehicle registration and subsequent fines.
“The concept here is to identify the high-polluting vehicles
as they
are driven and have them repaired or scrapped,” Martin said.
“These
vehicles eventually would be identified when their next
regularly
scheduled emissions inspection is due upon registration
renewal.
However, through this effort, we can identify many polluting
vehicles
off-cycle and get them fixed right away, thereby benefiting
air
quality.” If a compliance inspection indicates a vehicle
was misidentified and is
not high-polluting, that vehicle will be exempt from further
roadside
testing for the remainder of the implementation phase. All
compliance
inspections are free to the motorist. “There may be
certain variables that can impact whether a high
roadside test reading actually means that a vehicle is
broken and needs
to be repaired,” said Garry Kaufman, program manager for the
Mobile
Sources section of the department’s Air Pollution Control
Division.
“That’s one reason why the compliance inspection is needed.
It
protects the motorist and provides more detailed and
extensive data on
the vehicle’s emissions than can be collected by the
roadside
equipment. This also helps with the repair process so that
the
appropriate and necessary repairs are made.” Vehicles that
fail both a roadside test and a subsequent compliance
inspection are subject to the same requirements that
vehicles failing a
regularly scheduled emissions inspection at one of the
Envirotest-operated facilities face. A vehicle owner is
required by law to have the vehicle repaired and
then bring the v
ehicle back for a follow-up compliance inspection to
confirm that repairs have been made and were successful. If
the vehicle
still is unable to comply, the owner may be eligible for a
waiver from
future inspection for the remainder of the registration
cycle if at
least $715 of documented repairs have been performed.
Waivers allow
vehicles to be driven legally until the next regular
emissions
inspection is due. A vehicle owner also may be eligible
for a one-time-only financial
hardship waiver if he or she can provide evidence of such
hardship. The
financial hardship waiver only will be granted one time per
household
and is only good for one registration cycle. Another
option available to motorists seeking repairs for
high-polluting vehicles is the Regional Air Quality
Council’s Repair
Your Air Program. Repair Your Air provides subsidized
repairs at
selected Denver-metropolitan area repair facilities. For
more information, motorists can either contact the Air Care
Colorado hotline at 303-456-7090 or visit the Colorado
Department of
Public Health and Environment’s Web site at
www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/highpolluter.html. --30-- |
