Front Range drivers have been fed up for years with the hassle of putting their vehicles through the state smog inspection.
The state has smartly recognized that today’s fleet of vehicles run cleaner and don’t require such frequent inspections. Relief is on the way, slowly but surely.
Mandatory tailpipe testing started in the early 1980s, first at about 900 garages but limited in 1995 to just over a dozen large testing centers run by a contractor.
The goal was to help control air pollution, something all of us can support – many of us remember the brown haze that used to really fuzz up the Denver skyline. But the inconveniences of getting tested and paying a $25 fee have long chafed area drivers.
The real rub is that the system is inefficient – nowadays, fewer than 5 percent of vehicles fail. Cars under four years old don’t have to be tested at all; older cars are checked every two years.
The first sign of change came last spring, when the legislature passed House Bill 1302, which set the state on a path to replace drive-in inspections with cheaper and more convenient drive-by inspections by 2010.
That new system uses specially equipped vans that test emissions as cars pass by. Results are mailed to drivers, who pay a $9 fee.
Now, a new idea has been tossed into the mix. The state Department of Public Health and Environment is studying extending the period that newer cars are exempt – perhaps for as long as eight years. Officials say the discussion was prompted by a 2002 policy directive from Gov. Bill Owens to reduce the regulatory burden on drivers.
The state Air Quality Control Commission received a briefing on the idea Aug. 17 and will get a more detailed report (and perhaps a staff recommendation) later this month.
If the commission proceeds with a plan, there will be a three-month comment period. The legislature, governor and federal regulators would have to sign off, so implementation of any plan is a ways off.
There are potential tradeoffs to extending the inspection exemption period. Officials say making more cars exempt would modestly increase pollution (although they’d make adjustments elsewhere to continue meeting federal smog standards). And the idea could complicate phasing in drive-by inspections, because fewer drivers would be paying fees, so there would be less money to expand the new-style inspections, which now cover only about 8 percent of cars.
Creating a friendlier inspection system is a worthy goal, as long as clean-air standards are met. It’s essential to achieve a balance.
