EPA opens door to inspection, maintenance program changes

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether it ought to "right size" its current inspection and maintenance (I/M) requirements for autos as part of its implementation of its new ozone air emission standard.

The I/M programs require owners to get their car emission levels inspected every year or two depending on the state, with a service station pulling data off the onboard diagnostic (OBD) computer. Dynamometers must be used on the decreasing number of cars on the road built before the arrival of OBD systems, required by the EPA in 1996.

Any change in EPA I/M requirements would affect cities and counties currently required to have those programs, and any additional localities that may be designated ozone non-attainment areas when the EPA next adjusts the ozone standard, expected sometime in 2014. The agency last tightened the ozone standard in 2008 to 0.075 parts per million. That level was set by the George W. Bush administration.

The Obama EPA tried to lower the standard further in the first year of that administration, but the White House Office of Management and Budget blocked the EP's attempt. Forty-six "areas" in the U.S. covering 227 counties and 123 million people are out of compliance with the 2008 standard. Many of them have or will implement I/M programs.

The agency's options for right-sizing include establishing state- or insurance company-funded programs where vehicle owners could get free emission system repairs from local technical colleges, instead of having to pay a service station. Another option would be a state adopting some sort of program to accelerate the retirement of vehicles.

Arthur Marin, executive director, Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), agrees that practical flexibility is warranted for the future. But he argues that the EPA right-sizing options "are not well developed." He says that if the EPA wants to make changes in the I/M program, it should do that through a separate rulemaking, not in the context of ozone standard implementation.

Because of the EPA's attempts to lower the 2008 standard, the agency's implementation of that standard was delayed for a number of years. It was only last May that the EPA published a proposed rule setting out potential timeframes for states to submit what are called "SIP" plans to the agency. That proposed rule included some ideas on right-sizing the I/M program, whose details are specified in a separate I/M rule.    

Marin says that if the EPA wants to change I/M requirements it should do so via a separate rulemaking. Most cities with populations of more tan 100,000 have I/M programs, for example.    

Any tightening of the 0.075 ppm standard in the future would subject many more cities and counties to I/M requirements. Paul Miller, deputy director of NESCAUM, says it is reasonable to expect the EPA to ask for comments on lowering the standard to 0.60-0.70 ppm, which is what it did in 2009 before it was admonished by the OMB. The EPA is required by law to consider revisions of the ozone standard every five years. Since it has not done so this year, environmental groups may soon file a lawsuit to force the agency's hand.

The costs of running some I/M programs are substantial, making some cities that might be forced to comply in the future unenthusiastic about a lowering of the 2008 standard, but eager for some regulatory flexibility. John Paul is the administrator of the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency responsible for six Ohio counties. Dayton is among his responsibilities. It had an I/M program for 10 years, but doesn't now. He is concerned that Dayton may once again have to have an I/M program once the ozone standard is revised in 2014.

"I/M is a controversial program, especially if older cars are tested using dynamometers," he says. "That makes the program expensive. If EPA revises their criteria to make the program easier to implement and less expensive, then that will help."

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