California Calls Upon U.S. EPA to Approve Smog Check II

For Immediate Release (C-02-96)
Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670
February 5, 1996

555 Capitol Mall, Suite 525
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 324-9670
FAX (916) 445-5563

SACRAMENTO -- California Secretary for Environmental Protection James M. Strock released the following letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Carol Browner requesting immediate and full approval of California's technologically advanced enhanced Inspection and Maintenance program - known as Smog Check II.

The February 2, 1996 letter was also signed by California Secretary for State and Consumer Services Joanne C. Kozberg, whose agency is responsible for implementing the Smog Check II program.

"California is moving ahead with its innovative program which can better assure clean air progress while also providing greater convenience for motorists. A final approval of our SIP element will put an end to the long running conflict over California's right to establish our own advanced technology program -- and have that program unmolested by federal bureaucrats," Strock said.

California's enhanced Inspection and Maintenance program focuses on identifying and repairing the dirtiest vehicles. These so-called "gross polluting" vehicles will be directed to state-controlled inspection centers, representing up to 15 percent of all vehicles on the road. Failing vehicles can get repairs from any licensed repair facility.

Gross polluters cannot obtain waivers, and once repaired, must be re-inspected at a centralized facility annually for the next two years. Gross polluting vehicles will be directed to centralized stations in three different ways.

First, a two percent random sample will be chosen to monitor the emissions of the entire fleet. Another six percent will be directed to the state-operated stations through the use of advanced, on-the-road remote sensing devices. These sensors will cull out the dirtiest vehicles and direct them by mail notice to the test-only facility. The remaining seven percent will be identified by use of a sophisticated High Emitter Profile which uses make, model year, vehicle miles travelled and past history to predict the likelihood of a vehicle becoming a gross polluter.

"California's leadership has enabled other states to break from the grasp of Washington D.C.'s outdated illusions of one-size-fits-all bureaucracy. We are pleased that other states -- most recently New York -- have also moved to develop their own programs and have adopted some of the innovative elements contained in ours," Strock concluded.

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