home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Time - Man of the Year
/
Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
/
moy
/
072792
/
0727992.000
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-04-08
|
2KB
|
50 lines
THE WEEK, Page 17NATIONJust Clearing the Air
To curb pollution, the EPA demands tougher auto-emissions testing
The Bush Administration may be making life easier for
industries that pollute the air -- but not for motorists. Though
the White House last month issued an environmental regulation
enabling businesses to sidestep provisions of the 1990 Clean Air
Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has now issued a rule
that will enforce part of the same measure by requiring tougher
emissions tests and more expensive repairs for car owners.
The proposed regulations, which become final in November,
require 55 new urban areas to begin testing emissions from cars
and light trucks by next July. That would bring to 177 the
number of regions conducting such tests. And in about 80
metropolitan areas with the worst air problems -- home to more
than 60 million automobiles -- the test will be made much
tougher. The simple tail-pipe gauge that measures exhaust while
the engine idles will be gone. The new test requires a high-tech
treadmill device with the Jetson-ish name dynamometer. It
collects exhaust while the car idles, accelerates and brakes.
Then it runs the material through computerized equipment so
sensitive that millions of cars now capable of passing
inspection are likely to fail. And not just old smokies: the EPA
estimates that as many as a third of recent-model cars will
flunk, instead of the current 8% to 10%.
The EPA had good reason to issue the new rules. More than
20 years after the government began requiring annual emissions
tests for many cars, half of the smog and 90% of the carbon
monoxide in the air still pours out of tail pipes; the rest
comes mainly from the smokestacks of factories and oil
refineries. The new regulations could reduce smog-producing
emissions and carbon monoxide pollution from vehicles by 30% in
many cities. But repairs to pass the test could cost drivers
from $25 to $450, a stiff increase from the present average of
$50 to $75. (Anyone whose car still can't make the grade even
after an outlay of $450 will get a waiver until the next
required test.) Maybe that kind of expense would be less painful
if industry were also paying its share.