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Senate votes to study halt of tailpipe tests
Thursday, February 15, 2001 By Don Hopey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The state Senate has unanimously voted to review whether tailpipe emissions tests that are a main component of air pollution control programs in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia should be discontinued.
But don't hold your breath.
Even if the review concludes an alternative to tailpipe tests is available and the federal government concurs, no changes will occur before the end of March 2002 at the earliest.
The Senate early Tuesday directed the state Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate whether computerized diagnostic equipment on most newer vehicles can be substituted for tests now performed during annual inspections of vehicles in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.
The so-called "on-board diagnostics" systems monitor performance of catalytic converters and other air cleaning devices, and have the potential to be used for emissions tests that are easier and cheaper.
An amendment offered by Sen. Gerald LaValle, D-Rochester, and Majority Leader David Brightbill, R-Lebanon, requires the DEP to establish a policy review group to determine the level of emissions reductions achieved by the current tailpipe inspection program and determine if the vehicle diagnostic equipment or "other emerging technologies" could be substituted.
It directs the DEP to report those findings to the Legislature no later than March 31, 2002. If the DEP misses the deadline, the tailpipe tests would be automatically suspended.
The Senate acted two weeks after the DEP and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced they would not follow recommendations of their own air quality committees to include tailpipe tests as part of inspection and maintenance programs in Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley.
LaValle and other senators representing metropolitan Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have been angry that their constituents have been required to have tailpipe tests while the tests have been delayed in other areas where they have been mandated to reduce pollution.
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