New contract to bring Emission Check improvements

Washington State Department of Ecology

Department of Ecology News Release - August 21, 2001

01-143

New contract to bring Emission Check improvements

LACEY - Emission Check stations will be open longer hours and accept credit cards under a new 10-year contract awarded to Agbar Technologies, Inc., of Chicago to operate testing stations beginning in July 2002 for the Department of Ecology's motor vehicle Emission Check program.

The test fee will remain unchanged at $15, the limit under state law.

The company will begin testing gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles in metropolitan Clark, King, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane counties July 1, 2002. The current contractor, Envirotest Systems, Inc., will continue operating its test-station network through June 29, 2002.

"We're expecting significant air-quality benefits," said Mary Burg, who manages Ecology's air-quality program. "The new testing will provide information for more precisely targeted repairs. In addition, with longer hours and an improved process, we're hopeful people will find this an easier errand to run."

The new contract will bring several changes to the Emission Check process:

Test stations will accept checks and credit cards, ending a 20- year cash-only policy.
Hours will expand. The tentative new schedule will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Current hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Lines must not exceed four vehicles or 20 minutes.
Five- to 25-year-old vehicles registered in the test areas will continue to need inspections every two years.
The inspection process itself will change - most noticeably in Puget Sound - as Ecology implements test procedures statewide that are now used in Vancouver and Spokane:
Dynamometers will return to the Puget Sound area. The test station attendant "drives" the vehicle on rollers set in the floor to simulate on-road acceleration. Heavy-duty and four-wheel-drive vehicles won't use this test.
Gas cap leak checks will expand to the Spokane and Puget Sound areas. Worn seals on gas caps allow fuel to leak into the air even when the vehicle isn't running. Leaky gas caps also defeat other parts of the evaporative emission control system.

Two other changes will be new to all areas:

1996 and newer gasoline cars and light trucks will receive an "on-board diagnostics" (OBD) test instead of a tailpipe check. The attendant will connect a data cable to the vehicle's computer to download information on emission-related engine conditions. OBD will prevent high emissions before they occur.
Diesel cars and light trucks will receive dynamometer inspections. Heavy-duty diesel trucks will continue to receive the current "snap-idle" test, a series of brief engine revvings.

Each year about 900,000 vehicles undergo exhaust inspections in the five counties. Repairs to vehicles with excessive emissions reduce overall tailpipe emissions by 20 percent. Emission Check prevents more than 146,000 tons of air pollution a year, and is a major part of local clean-air efforts in the Puget Sound, Spokane and Portland-Vancouver regions.

Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7192, or pager 206-978-0122L
Mary Burg, manager, Ecology air-quality program, 360-407-6880

For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/CARS/Automotive_Pages.htm (Link updated Feb. 12, 2002)