For those of you who don't have to deal with smog stuff, please
disregard.
In light of the recent stuff about smog checks and the concern about
rolling exemptions, I wrote my state senator a couple of times. She was
very good about responding, and today I got a letter from the Air
Resources Board that I thought I'd share with those interested--it might
put "paid" to some of the rumors that have been going around lately.
"Thank you for your recent letters to Senator Dede Alpert regarding the
Smog Check Program. The Senator asked me to respond to you directly.
Earlier this year, the Air Resources Board was sponsoring legislation to
repeal the 30-year rolling exemption scheduled to take effect January
2003. Our intention was to achieve additional emission reductions.
However, based on significant concerns raised by individual legislators
and other interested parties, we decided not to pursue the bill.
Regarding pre-1974 vehicles, ARB never planned to put those vehicles
back into the program. In fact, our July 12, 2000 report to the
legislature on the status of the California Smog Check Program advised
against that action. Additionally, ARB has no plans to use remote
sensing to bring otherwise exempt vehicles back into the program.
I appreciate your comments and assure you that by maintaining the Smog
Check Program, ARB is not attempting to force the scrappage of vehicles.
Smog Check is intended to ensure that vehicles are running according to
the proper specifications for that model year."
It was signed by Allan Lloyd.
While I have to admit to some suspicion regarding the veracity of that
last paragaph, I was reassured that, for now, we seem to be in a good
place regarding Smog check stuff. I appreciate those who blew the
whistle in the first place--it looks like our "cards and letters" had a
positive effect. Hopefully, you'll keep us informed about their next
attempt and we'll do it all over again.
Regards
David Sosna
65 S4 GT
P.S. They also included a draft of the evaluation of smog check II.
While I haven't had a chance to peruse it yet, I did notice that between
1998 and 2010 they expect to reduce new car, light and medium duty truck
emissions by about 30%. Ah, for the good old days when you could close
the garage door, turn on the motor and commit suicide by carbon monoxide
poisoning. These newfangled contraptions make that just about
impossible:-).
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