A group of state Senate Republicans recently announced a bill package designed to reform the Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Program.
The program requires motorists in 25 counties to have annual emissions testing for gasoline-powered passenger cars, vans, and light-duty trucks model year 1975 and newer. Diesel-powered vehicles are federally exempt.
The Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing last month to collect testimony from an inspection mechanic, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Pennsylvania AAA Federation, and the Joint State Government Commission.
Findings from the hearing were used as the basis for the bill package.
The bills would remove seven counties from the program and exempt vehicles for the first eight years after they are manufactured in counties that require emissions testing change the annual emissions testing to a two-year testing requirement for vehicles older than eight years. It would also extend the transition date for existing emissions inspection stations to obtain new emissions testing equipment by Nov. 1, and replace the outdated tailpipe test in Pittsburgh and the two-speed idle test in the Philadelphia region with a gas-cap test and a visual inspection for model year 1994-95 vehicles.
Approximately 96 percent of vehicles pass emissions testing in the state.