Fog Around Smog Check II

California lawmakers developed compromise legislation this week that purports to soften the impact of the controversial Smog Check II program on low-income owners of the worst-polluting vehicles on the road. But in fact, the major effect of the legislation may be to delay further the implementation of the Smog Check II program and to invite punitive measures from the federal government for failing to comply with the federal Clean Air Act of 1992.

At a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee, the legislators deleted a key element of Smog Check II that would have helped low-income motorists pay for repairs needed to bring their “grossly polluting” vehicles into compliance with the law. Now, the legislation directs the Bureau of Automotive Repair to develop such a program by March.

Under the measure’s current provisions, low-income Californians would not have to spend more than $200 to repair a grossly polluting vehicle in an effort to meet anti-smog standards. But the legislation does not yet define who would qualify for this program, nor does it provide for payment of any amount above $200 that may be necessary to fix the vehicle.

Lacking those elements, the only choice might be to exempt everyone from such repairs at least until March. Environmental groups that earlier supported the Smog Check II reform now are opposed. They question whether the money will ever be made available.

One effect of the reform may be to ease for now the political heat put on lawmakers by angry crowds of motorists who had demonstrated at the Capitol for repeal of the entire Smog Check II program, passed under intense federal pressure in 1994. They protested that they could not afford to fix their polluting vehicles and feared seizure of their autos.

Smog Check II does not in itself provide for confiscation of autos. But motorists cannot renew an auto registration without passing a smog test. Their options are to park the car or drive in violation of the law. If they drive, they continue to pollute. About 15% of all vehicles are believed to be responsible for as much as 50% of vehicular smog.

The crowds of angry motorists may be gone from the Capitol, but the flaws in Smog Check II have not gone away. The Legislature still has until midnight Sept. 12 to fix it.