Mayor Dan Sullivan on Wednesday said he plans to resurrect efforts to kill the city's vehicle emissions testing program.

The program, which has come under fire before, is an unnecessary burden on taxpayers, who spend an estimated $9 million a year on tests and related repairs to ensure Anchorage is in compliance with federal air quality standards, Sullivan said.

The mayor said newer vehicles are simply cleaner than those of yesteryear and the vast majority of vehicles pass testing without a hitch.

"We're essentially taxing all residents of the city for such a very, very small percentage of cars that don't pass the test," Sullivan said. "I think it's time to recognize that the program did what it was supposed to do. Our air quality is so vastly improved with the new car standards, as older cars get replaced with newer cars. It really is no longer a problem in Anchorage."

Eliminating the government program will remove some of the burden from taxpayers and could result in personnel reductions, he said.

The administration has already begun working to get Anchorage "decertified" from Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Conservation requirements. That will allow Anchorage to have the local option to end testing, said Sullivan, who estimated that process could take a year to 18 months.

Sullivan said he wants to get Assembly approval before that happens, so that as soon as Anchorage is decertified the program can end. The administration plans to introduce the ordinance at the Assembly meeting April 13, allowing for public comments to begin April 27, he said.

It will be at least the third time in recent years the Assembly has debated the program. In November 2007, the Assembly voted to nix emissions testing. That decision was reversed eight months later, in July 2008, by an Assembly of a different political makeup.

The vote meant most vehicles in Anchorage had to continue undergoing an I/M (inspection and maintenance) check every two years, though there were exceptions for new and old cars.

The idea of axing the program should be debated but lawmakers need to proceed cautiously, said Assemblyman Matt Claman. Cutting the program before getting the all-clear from the EPA could mean local businesses would stop providing the tests while Anchorage still needs them, he said.

"Passing legislation now is premature because we need to get, essentially, permission from the feds to opt out before we do it," Claman said. "I think the first step should be to address this (with the EPA) before we take steps that could hurt us in the future. The last thing we want to do is be out of compliance."

It might make more sense now to just lengthen the time between required tests, he said.

Assembly Chairman Pat Flynn said he isn't categorically opposed to eliminating emissions testing but some planning is needed to ensure the city remains in compliance with federal law.

"What Anchorage needs is an air quality conformity plan," Flynn said. "Whether it involves I/M testing or not is immaterial. Every time we've talked about this in the past, people have said, 'We don't need I/M testing, we just need to make sure we comply with the standards of the Clean Air Act.' And yet, no one ever says, 'Here's how we're going to do it.' "

The program was created in the mid-1980s to get control of pollution and to bring the city into compliance with federal air standards, which were often violated before then. The program requires vehicle owners pay about $60 to have their vehicles' emissions checked for problems every other year.

Anchorage carbon monoxide readings declined significantly after the birth of the program, which cheered I/M program supporters and stirred opponents to undertake efforts to kill it.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough in January ended its inspections and emissions tests after 25 years. The borough adopted the program in 1985 to curb carbon monoxide emissions, and officials pulled the plug because carbon monoxide levels in Fairbanks have been in compliance with federal standards since 2000.