Law could trigger Idaho emissions test

Keeping a car on the road in Kootenai County could eventually require passing an auto emissions test.

Gov. Butch Otter signed legislation this week initiating vehicle emissions testing for metropolitan areas whose air pollution is approaching federal limits.

“Clean air is among Idaho’s most precious resources,” Otter said in a letter accompanying the legislation. “We are blessed with skies as open and clear as any in the world.”

But Otter also called the bill that passed through Idaho’s House and Senate “less than perfect.” He asked legislative leaders to bring him a revised version next year, allowing counties greater flexibility in crafting alternatives to emissions testing.

That’s a concession Kootenai County leaders wanted.

“This bill blindsided us,” said Jeff Selle, governmental affairs manager for the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization, which represents the transportation interests of city governments, Kootenai County, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and four highway districts. “It raced through the Legislature.”

The Department of Environmental Quality alerted KMPO late last week that Kootenai County was at 89 percent of the federal threshold for smog-forming ozone, Selle said.

When pollutants hit 85 percent of federal limits, according to the new law, DEQ must determine where the pollution is coming from. “If autos are one of the top two contributors,” the state can require emissions testing, said Leonard Herr, airshed manager for DEQ’s Boise regional office.

Counties can offer an alternative for reducing air pollutants. But the alternative must be as effective as emissions testing in scrubbing pollutants from the air, the new law says.

That’s where KMPO wants greater flexibility. Selle said Kootenai County’s ozone levels would probably drop dramatically with educational programs, such as asking people to avoid filling their gas tanks during the heat of the day. Requiring vapor collection nozzles at gas stations would also make a difference, he said.

Both those programs are less onerous than requiring emissions testing, Selle said. “Why thrust us into the regulatory process?”

Vehicle emissions testing started in Spokane County in 1985, when the county violated federal standards for carbon monoxide. The testing is mandatory in ZIP code areas covering about 90 percent of Spokane County, said Ken Gamble, environmental specialist with the Department of Ecology in Spokane. Though the county hasn’t had a violation in 4 ½ years, the program continues on a maintenance basis, Gamble said.

Idaho’s Ada County, home to Boise, also has emissions testing. Neighboring Canyon County could be next in line, said DEQ’s Herr.

The legislation caps inspection fees at $20 per vehicle.

Vehicles exempt from emissions tests include electric or hybrid cars, cars or trucks that are less than five years old, classic automobiles, and farm equipment.