THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509240073
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
After years of discussion, Richmond-area cars and light trucks may be required to undergo emissions testing every other year under rules being considered by the state's Air Pollution Control Board.
Under draft rules made public Wednesday, officials will use biennial inspections at state-licensed inspection stations, as well as high-tech roadside testing, to curb polluting vehicles.
The board plans to hold a public hearing on the new rules, but the session has not yet been scheduled. The new rules are expected to go into effect next summer or fall.
The testing is required under the federal Clean Air Act to reduce ozone and other pollution.
The pollution testing will be done in conjunction with the current annual state safety inspections.
In addition, state officials hope to use roadside vans armed with remote sensing devices that use a beam of light to measure the exhaust of passing cars. The system has been in used experimentally in California and Arizona.
When a polluting car passes, a camera would photograph its license plate and the driver would get a letter telling him to get his car tested.
``We are breaking new ground with this program,'' said Jim Sydnor, director of mobile source programs for the Department of Environmental Quality. The vans could be in place for a trial run next year, he said.
Safety inspections now done at licensed stations include checks of tires, brakes, lights, windshield wipers and exhaust connections.
Under the new system, a sensor will measure the amount of pollution coming from the tailpipe while the car is idling. An inspector will also check the car's gas cap to make sure it isn't leaking vapors.
Experts expect 20 percent to 25 percent of the vehicles to fail when the tests begin, a number that should shrink markedly as the cars are repaired. In many cases, a tune-up is the only repair required.
Gov. George F. Allen plans to ask the Environmental Protection Agency to relax its regulations for the region because air here has been fairly clean in recent years. But officials plan to go forward with the program anyway. by CNB