As reported by Steve Jagler of the Business Times Republican lawmakers were recently asked what they’d target to cut from the state’s budget, and State Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) reportedly said he would like to see the elimination of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ automobile emission testing stations.
According to a recent Legislative Fiscal Bureau report, the state’s Vehicle Inspection Program costs $11 million, but apparently that’s just too much to spend on clean air, at least in Jeff Stone’s opinion.
How about a little context…maybe some facts about what effect they actually have in keeping the air clean.
The whole thing seems a bit odd to me, considering only vehicles newer than 1996 are required to be tested. Emissions have improved tremendously the last 20 or so years. LEV and ULEV have become more and more common, even on up to fullsize SUVs. Given that, policing only newer vehicles seems strange to me.
But ultimately, to the point…what are the testing stations actually contributing? Are they actually removing heavily polluting vehicles from the road? To what degree? And is this having a significant or even discernible impact or is it a tiny drop in a bucket compared to the emissions of all the old vehicles, large trucks, farm vehicles and all the other vehicles exempted from testing?