The Salt Lake City-County Board of Health has approved a new type of emissions test. It is not the controversial centralized testing that drew heated reaction in the past.
This test, intended to more precisely measure vehicle pollutants, may still be performed by garages, service stations and other private testing facilities.To help pay for new county equipment and mechanic training, the board raised the maximum fee for emissions testing from $14 to $15. Board members also doubled the $1 fee that testing stations now pay the county for compliance certificates given to owners of vehicles that pass.
If the changes are adopted by county commissioners as expected, the fee increases will take effect Sept. 20. The new emissions test will not be required until 1998, to give the county time to train mechanics and enable station owners to get equipment.
Changes in the county's inspection and maintenance program were prompted by the Environmental Protection Agency. Salt Lake, Utah and Davis counties have exceeded or are bumping up against standards for pollutants largely caused by vehicles.
Until the end of 1995, the EPA was telling the counties to beef up emissions testing by using more sophisticated equipment in centralized testing centers. But late last year, Congress passed the Highway Systems Designation Act. That allowed states to try to reduce vehicle pollutants with programs that have no proven track record. It also allowed the counties to avoid the centralized testing.
"Under the old rule, they would have to prove, based on past performance, that they should get the emission-reduction credits," said Scott Lee, an environmental engineer in the Denver office of the EPA's Air Program. "In theory, we have signed off on what they (Salt Lake County officials) have proposed."
The new test Salt Lake County plans to use is known as acceleration simulation mode, or ASM. The current test measures emissions when the vehicle is idling. With ASM, the wheels turn on rollers to simulate driving. ASM more accurately measures carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. It also measures nitrogen oxides (NOX), a precursor of ozone and a growing problem in Salt Lake County. NOX is not currently measured.
Jim Brande, who runs the county emissions testing program, said testing station owners will have to buy or lease the new equipment, which can be used for more than emissions tests.
"We think it's a great opportunity for these repair shops that ought to be having these anyway," he said. "They'll be able to test-drive a car right there in their bay."
Davis County, which has exceeded ozone standards, is upgrading testing equipment, retraining mechanics and building one centralized facility that will use the ASM test.
Only vehicle models known to be more likely to violate NOX standards will be tested there, said Richard Harvey, director of environmental health for the Davis County Health Department.