Published Sunday, January 12, 2003
Herald Staff Writer
If a federal judge's ruling that cars and trucks in Mercer and 16 other Pennsylvania counties must undergo emissions testings stands, drivers may see their money go up in smoke if they don't pass exhaust tests.
Local garages said many drivers could fall prey to tough emissions standards included in the federal Clean Air Act. In 1992 the federal Environmental Protection Agency identified 15 areas in Pennsylvania with air pollution, including Mercer County. The state was required to implement an air cleanup plan in all of them, but the effort stalled.
In December, a federal judge ruled that the state missed a 1999 deadline to implement emissions tests. PennDOT and the state Department of Environmental Protection have been ordered to come up with a plan to implement the inspections but the order doesn't specify a timetable. Hearings on how and when to test cars are set for next month.
Testing could include an annual computerized exhaust system check via newer cars' on-board computers or old-fashioned tail pipe tests.
Cars that pass Pennsylvania's annual inspection may not pass the emissions test.
"Right now, with a regular inspection, if the 'check engine' light is on, it does not fail," said John Hall, manager of Monroe Muffler Brake in Hermitage. "But once emissions testing is in effect, if your 'check engine' light is on, you'll automatically fail the pollution inspection."
Donald P. Niec, manager of Gourley's Express Lube in Hermitage, who described a check engine light as an "internal emission checker," considers emission testing a "more of a pain in the neck than anything."
It might hurt vehicle-owners pocketbooks, too, if their cars fail inspection.
"I'm not sure how they're going to stipulate the law here, but in California, if your car fails, depending on the year (of the car's make), you have to spend a certain amount of money that day to get it up to the emissions limit," said Hall, who moved to the area in 1995 from California where he worked in the same field.
"The maximum cost of (getting it up to the emissions limit) was $850 in 1995. If it still failed, you'd get a sticker and a one-year reprieve. It had to be repaired by the time you came back (a year later) or you parked it."
Another thing Hall said that residents may have a problem with is with the catalytic converter. "If it's bad, it fails," he said. "The way emissions work, there's a standard for how much hydrocarbons or illegal gases are coming out of the tailpipe. In other words: It's putting more gas out of your tail pipe then your car is burning."
He explained that a lot of people remove the catalytic converters to get more power out of their cars.
Since there are no universal converters made for newer cars, Hall said replacing a missing converter starts "from the dealer at about $600 and up."
Though Ernie Malamisura, fixed operations manager of Greenville Motors in Greenville, joked about the EPA's fear of the so-called greenhouse effect in the freezing weather, he thought that in the long run, emissions inspection was a good idea.
"I guess it's a good idea for a number of reasons, like doing it along with safety inspections will force people to take better care of their car, and it will help save the atmosphere and protect people's investments because cars cost a lot of money," he said. "In turn it will save them on gas mileage."
But getting prepared to do emissions testing on vehicles will be a challenge for many small vehicle repair businesses that do inspections. "I'm not going to do it. Its about $100,000 worth of equipment to do it," said Keith Hogue, owner of Hogue Automotive on Fruit Avenue in Farrell. "I'm a small business-owner. I don't have that kind of money."
Hall said Monroe would probably lease the computerized equipment for about $5,000, and both Malamisura and Niec said they did not have the equipment and the businesses would probably have to purchase or lease it.
"It will be more time consuming for everyone, absolutely," said Malamisura. "How much more, I don't know."
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and surrounding counties have had emissions inspections since 1997.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.