Hope this article helps to clear the air. (Pun intended)
Joseph
Still waiting for that 66 roadster to pass smog so I can buy it.
Reported in today's paper via the Associated Press.
FAILURE RATE ABOUT AS EXPECTED IN NEW SMOG-CHECK SYSTEM.
SACRAMENTO - Less than a third of the vehicles assessed in a prototype of
California's stricter new smog-check program failed emmissions inspections,
which state officials said yesterday matched expectations.
About 28 percent of the randomly selected vehicles failed in the test,
conducted
during the first six months of the year in the Sacramento area, said state
Bureau of Automobile Repairs Chief Marty Keller.
No more than 30 percent are expected to fail when the program, dubbed Smog
Check
2, starts next year, said bureau spokeswoman Maria Chacon Kniestedt.
In the first two months of the test, the failure rate was higher, Keller said.
About 46 percent of the randomly selected vehicles, tested or retested, failed
to meet standards, he said.
About half of the vehicles picked for the test were suspected smog belchers.
The failure rate among those cars was 72 percent.
Under Smog Check 2, testers will expand the number of emissions they check. It
is scheduled to start in the Central Valley in spring, extend to the San Diego
area by summer and spread throughout the Los Angeles basin by the end of the
year.
The prototype was conducted as a means of "testing and refining the elements of
what will be the Smoke [sic] Check 2 program," said Kniestedt. The program may
be altered, based upon the results of the test.
Officials expect no more than 10 percent to 15 percent of vehicles tested to be
dubbed "gross polluters," the worst kind of smog producer, subject to the
greatest repair costs.
Currently, vehicles in California's most smoggy areas -- as well as in some of
the less smoggy regions -- must be tested every two years to ensure that their
smog-control equipment is functioning properly.
The new program was authorized by 1994 legislation to meet federal clean air
requirements and is in the process of being implemented.
The program involves use of more sensitive testing equipment and will require
owners of smog-belching vehicles to repair their cars, despite the cost, except
is certain circumstances.
Drivers who can not afford repair costs can apply for a one-time, one-year
extension.
Or, if the owner makes up to $450 in repairs, they can get a two-year waiver on
further repairs.
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