>Bill Sohl wrote:
>> Don Sforza wrote me about the Wall Street Journal article:
>> >I'll send you a copy if you can't find it. It's at my office, and I'm home
>
>Bill,
>I live in NJ, and have been following the new legislation somewhat
>closely. I agree with you that the things aren't as bad as the article
>seems to indicate. OTOH, this whole idea of the EPA-enforced IM-240
>centralized testin is an outrage. The original NJ legislature, passed
>last June, starts with 1 page of statements of the sort "we understand
>this is stupid and will be a burden to citizens of NJ, but otherwise the
>feds will take away our highway $$ and industry pollution credits.
>sorry. it's not our fault." That's less than I expected my state gov't
>to do for me. PA governor didn't sign it. Enough PA folks cared and
>made their opinion known.
I agree completely. My comments were directed strictly from that of
being an owner of several classic cars (all Triumphs of course). The
legislature won't wake up and smell the coffee until the public at
large gets outraged. Frankly, that probably won't happen
until the numbers of failed daily drivers starts to escalate.
After that, watch the legislature react.
>BTW, the original legislature didn't have the 25-yr classic rule,
>it was left up to the DMV director's discretion.
I have the original legislature (SC-1700) and what it did was ADD
the new catagory of classic while leaving intact the full exemption
for cars with antique (QQ Tags).
>- there was also scrapping of confiscated cars for pollution credits to
>the industrial stinkers (also scrapped)
>- you, the owner, are not authorised to work on any emission-related
>part (no changing the sparkplugs)
That was never true. Some people misread the special exemption
that could be granted if an owner spent at least (about $400 as I recall)
on the vehicle's emmission problems. The legislation never prohibited
the owner from effecting his/her own repairs.
>- there'll be 7 of these inspection station (vs. 26) - do you like the
>lines now? just wait...
And that is when the public outcry will hapen. At present, it is the old car
enthusiasts against the envirnmentalists and, unfortunately, the
environmentalists have better lobbying, etc. Never-the-less, at
least the classic cars enthusiast has a reasonable set of circumstances
under the system...if and when it really does start.
>Anyway... before this gets too long.. a couple of more points:
>DMV director Kamin is on tape basically criticizing IM-240, saying that
>if we shut off every IC engine in the state we still would not comply.
>Christie was jumping up and down 2 years ago saying it wouldn't happen
>here. Then she signed it in June '95.
I've personally spoken with Dick Kamin (he lives in my town) and
while he and others would just as soon scrap the whole thing, the
bottom line at the moment is politically driven. As a prior
elected official myself, I understand the reality...even if I don't
like it. For now I'm content to focus on keeping things well off
for those with classic cars. As I've asaid above, the public outcry
that I expect if IM-240 testing is as bad as predicted, is still
yet to come.
>My point: things ain't as bad as they were meant to be not due to us
>sitting on our hands and telling each other not to panic. Panic!
>Otherwise your elected officials will do what's best for their political
>aspirations and industry lobbies. If we had paniced early enough, the
>whole thing might have gone away (like in PA). If you sit quietly,
>you'll end up with 7billion $ (Kamins estimate) flop that we'll have to
>repay either through taxes or DMV fees. Hey, kinda like the NJ state
>insurance flop we're repaying now.
I absolutely agree, and have been an activist on that basis myself.
The thing I try to remeber is that wars are won a battle at a time.
Better to keep going forward on the defense than to go for an all
or nothing battle and lose. For now, I think the classic owner in
NJ has a reasonable set of circumstances to live with. That was sure
better than being included in the testing that has yet to come.
>OK, enough for a Monday - coffeetime.
Hey, what's Monday for anyway?
Cheers,
Bill Sohl Budd Lake, NJ billsohl@planet.net
----
Visit the Mount Olive Township Republican Party Home page at:
http://www.cns-nj.com/mtolive
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