Assembly votes to end vehicle emissions testing program

The vote was unanimous after a brief discussion among the 11-member panel.

"It's an unreasonable tax and a burden on the public," said Assemblyman Chris Birch just before the vote.

The anti-pollution program requires that drivers get their cars and trucks tested every two years and costs drivers a maximum of $68, depending on fees charged by the testing company. Cars up to 6 years old are exempt, as are antique cars.

The emissions test was begun in 1985 to help Anchorage meet federal clear air standards for carbon monoxide, but Anchorage has not violated the standard since 1996.

Newer vehicles run cleaner, and even without testing, and with increasing numbers of cars and trucks, CO levels are expected to decline in time, the city Health and Human Services Department reported.

If Anchorage eliminates emissions testing, the probability of violating the CO standard "is negligible," health department officials said.

Assembly Chairman Dick Traini, who campaigned on ending the emissions program, said earlier this week that he can't wait to sign the measure killing it.

It will take until at least April 2011 to get final approval to end the program, said city air quality program manager Steve Morris. The state takes about six months for public notices and its own review, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency has up to 18 months to do the same.

The Assembly agreed to wait six months after the approvals to actually end the program, to give emission testing companies time to prepare.

It's the second time the Assembly has tried to get rid of the program. In November 2007, the Assembly voted to scrap it, but in July of 2008, an Assembly with new members on it reversed that decision. One reason cited by those wanting to keep the program back then was that emissions testing, also known as I/M for inspections and maintenance, reduces other pollutants besides carbon monoxide, such as benzene, which can cause cancer.

Assemblymember Elvi Gray-Jackson said before the vote Tuesday night that she was one of the six who voted in 2008 to keep the program. Since the city health commission reported back that it wasn't necessary, she said she was willing to see it go this time around.

The city health department memo to the Assembly said that monitoring suggests benzene levels in Anchorage air are among the highest in the country, and there are links to vehicle exhaust emissions. Benzene content in Anchorage gasoline is about a 5 percent whereas it is 2 percent in most U.S. gas, the department says.

But from July 2012 onward, new EPA rules limit benzene content in gasoline to 1.2 percent or less.

A major Anchorage gas supplier, Tesoro Alaska, has told the city it hopes to begin meeting this new benzene limit by early next year.

In that case, Anchorage would have four times less benzene in its gas.

A few people testified on either side of the issue at Tuesday's Assembly meeting. Some said the testing should continue because it is doing some good. Others said it's not necessary.

Find Rosemary Shinohara online at adn.com/contact/rshinohara or call her at 257-4340.