State and county air-quality officials unleashed Smog Dog on Utah Valley drivers Monday in an attempt to take a bite out of pollution.
The high-tech pollution detector's line of infrared sensors and cameras drew puzzled stares from motorists on Center Street between 100 East and 200 East. A few drivers slowed down; other sped up. Some went out of their way, even crossing a double yellow line, to avoid what appears as the environmental version of Photo-Cop."They don't need to. It's not a scary thing," said Tom Moore, Utah County emissions control manager.
No one's going to be issued a citation for having a gross-polluting car - yet. Conversely, those who maintain clean-running cars could receive an exemption from the annual emissions test.
As vehicles pass the sensor, tailpipe emissions (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons) are auto-matically measured, cataloged and stored in a computer. An image of the vehicle's license plate is also taken and recorded digitally with the emissions data. The device can test thousands of cars a day.
The county Bureau of Air Quality will spend the next several months testing Smog Dog at various locations throughout the Provo/Orem area. Officials want to ensure that the $250,000 equipment is working properly. They also want to determine whether the device could improve or possibly supplant the current emissions inspection and maintenance program.
County officials say they can use a remote sensing program to compel the drivers of dirty cars to get them repaired. They also say it is less onerous than EPA-mandated oxygenated gasoline use and centralized emissions testing.
"It's more of a rifle approach than a shotgun approach," said Commissioner Gary Herbert.
While county officials believe Smog Dog might be a viable solution to some of the valley's air quality problems, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been skeptical about the effectiveness of remote sensing. The EPA, however, recently decided to allow some pollution-control credit to communities that use it.
The county will use the information Smog Dog provides to identify dirty as well as clean cars.
The Utah County Commission is drafting an ordinance that would call for letters to be sent to drivers who violate a set carbon monoxide standard more than once. Compliance initially would be voluntary. But if owners fail to repair their cars, the commission will consider more punitive measures such as fines or revoking vehicle registrations.
Moore said he's asked county commissioners to also consider using the device to identify continually clean cars that could be given exemptions from the annual emissions test.
"We'll use this in connection with their past emissions history," he said. The county has vehicle emissions data going back nine years.
County officials will likely confine Smog Dog's use to the Provo/Orem area, even though all vehicles registered in Utah County are subject to a yearly emissions test. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers Provo/
Orem a "non-attainment area" of federal health standards for carbon monoxide. Cars are the pollutant's greatest source.
The state Division of Air Quality bought the equipment from Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Hughes Aircraft with an allocation from the Utah Legislature. Utah County will lease it from the state for about $60 a month plus mileage.