Smog Control Without Tears

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was wise to show flexibility with California in coming up with new Smog Check rules for the many vehicles driven in this car-dependent state. While the new rules aren’t quite as tough as EPA officials wanted, the feds can take encouragement from the fact they were approved overwhelmingly by the Legislature.

Thursday the Assembly (in a 55-0 vote) and the state Senate approved a bill by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) to beef up California’s Smog Check program. Under the new rules most of the vehicles in California will still be tested for emissions every two years. Drivers will continue to be able to get the tests and repair work done at neighborhood garages and service stations.

Beginning in 1995, 15% of the vehicles in the state’s smoggiest regions, including the South Coast Air Basin, will be subject to more detailed inspections at new, specially equipped test stations.

Among the vehicles subject to more rigorous tests are those that have had their smog-emission equipment tampered with, high-mileage fleet vehicles and a sampling selected at random. High-tech roadside sensors will also be set up along roads and freeways to seek out high-polluting vehicles. The aim of the new rules is to target “gross polluters,” those that generate the most smog. Owners of such vehicles would be required to have them repaired or junked, and a government fund will help low-income drivers who cannot afford the repairs or a new car.

The rules represent a compromise between state officials and the EPA, which had pushed California to adopt a centralized smog-test program like that used in parts of Arizona. Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature objected, largely in response to protests from Smog Check station owners who feared being put out of business. The resulting standoff lasted almost a year and for a time threatened to cost the state most of its federal highway funds.

The compromise is a good one. It keeps the highway funds flowing. It toughens the state’s Smog Check program, which can only help clean the air over cities like Los Angeles. And it shows the EPA that the political will to work for cleaner air still exists in this state, despite California’s recent economic troubles.