Turning to Technology in a Bid for Blue Skies : Centralized auto testing is an option in the war on smog
The history of technology is a history of change.
Before the invention of the electric starter for automobiles came along, driving cars was limited to people muscular enough to hand-crank an engine to life--mostly strong men.
By turning nearly every American into a driver, the starter helped turn the country into a nation of suburbs, superhighways, regional shopping malls and commuters. All of which also helped bring smog to Southern California’s blue skies.
Now a new wave of technology far more sophisticated than the starter is about to force changes in the way California tests cars to see whether engines are running clean.
It might take relatively minor changes for tests to keep up with the new electronics, new engine designs and computers on today’s cars. Or it could mean changes affecting all 8,000 of the licensed Smog Check service stations that now test emission controls to make sure they work.
State Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) will play a key role in any change. He plans to spend next year looking at options and seeking changes that will be least disruptive for service stations that now depend on smog checks to break even. Especially in these recessionary times, that makes good sense.
As Times writer William Trombley reported last week, the state could be forced to shift to a more sophisticated system of large and costly testing centers to replace today’s network of service stations.
Officials of the state Air Resources Board say they are not yet ready to throw in the towel for the old system. But three recent days of hearings by Presley made it clear that centralized testing cannot be ruled out if California is to maintain momentum in the war on smog.
The magnitude of the problem is dramatically illustrated by statistics from a two-year study commissioned by the state Air Resources Board. Just over half of the survey’s results are now available.
In the survey, researchers drove 1,200 cars whose smog control devices they knew were defective into Smog Check stations to see how much pollution would be reduced by repairs to the devices.
The state goal is to reduce emissions of hydrocarbons in all cars with such control repair by nearly half--48%. For the test cars, reductions averaged 16%. Findings were similar for oxides of nitrogen, the other key ingredient of smog. The statewide goal is 28% but cuts in emissions in the test cars averaged only 7.6%.
Such results are unsatisfactory if we’re going to fight smog effectively. Among the options for improvement is a proposal to divide the typical smog check into two parts--the test and the repair work. We think this option would make sense.
However the system changes, costs of repairs may very well increase. Under the 1990 federal Clean Air Act, the limit on repair costs could rise from the present $50-to-$300 range to a flat $450 for all cars.
Repair costs for older cars would hit the poorest Californians hardest, and the state may have to find ways to prevent hardships in some cases. That’s yet another reason to applaud Presley’s decision not to rush into any change.
