MERCER COUNTY Some inspections to test emissions

Motorists in neighboring Lawrence County are exempt from the testing.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Mercer County motorists who drive 1975 and newer cars or light trucks will have an extra hoop to jump through to get their vehicles inspected this year.
Beginning Thursday, Pennsylvania is requiring that certain vehicles in Mercer and many other counties undergo some testing as a result of population and federal Environmental Protection Agency determination of air quality in those counties.
It's called emissions testing, but vehicles in Mercer County won't actually have their emissions tested.
Joan Nissley, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said the level of testing varies, based on the air quality rating for that particular region.
Requirements
In Mercer County, cars built over the past 28 years and trucks weighing less than 9,000 pounds must undergo a gas cap pressurization test to make sure that gasoline vapors aren't escaping and a visual anti-tampering examination of their emission control systems to make sure that all of the equipment that is supposed to be on that vehicle is still present and appears to be working.
Missing equipment, such as a catalytic converter, exhaust gas recirculation valve or evaporative controls system devices must be replaced to pass the test.
Actual emissions coming from the exhaust won't be tested, Nissley said.
The testing must be done in conjunction with the annual state-required vehicle safety inspection, and vehicles must pass the test or they can't be driven on Pennsylvania roads.
Vehicles will be given an emissions test sticker that will be placed adjacent to the regular safety inspection sticker on the windshield.
Diesel-powered vehicles and motorcycles are excluded from the testing as are all vehicles over 9,000 pounds.
Nissley said the EPA hasn't developed any testing parameters yet for diesel-powered vehicles.
Lawrence County
Only 25 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are required to do some level of emissions testing, and Lawrence County is among those excluded.
However, even Lawrence County motorists will now have to undergo the visual anti-tampering test as part of their annual vehicle safety inspections.
Failing that test means the vehicle won't get a new inspection sticker until that equipment is replaced, Nissley said.
Mercer County is one of eight counties in the northern region of the state now required to do testing.
Kurt Knaus of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said those counties get an average of 170 tons of pollution per day and the emissions testing program is expected to reduce that by 3.8 tons per day.
Vehicles in the region travel an average 43 million miles per day in the summer. In Mercer County alone, that number is 4 million miles, he said.
Although some state legislators are talking about setting a price cap for the tests, the state hasn't standardized the cost of the testing, saying that the price will be "market driven."
Nissley said motorists are urged to shop around for the best prices.
Certified by state
She said 81 Mercer County stations have signed up for the program and 21 have been certified thus far. Those are stations that have bought the necessary testing equipment, had their technicians certified and passed a visit by a state inspector.
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have had to do emission testing for years, Nissley said.
Stations in Philadelphia had to buy equipment costing between $40,000 and $60,000 to do the level of testing required there, and the average price for the service is $44 per vehicle, she said.
Equipment bought by Pittsburgh stations cost between $16,000 and $20,000, and the average test cost there is $28, she said.
Equipment required to do the level of testing in Mercer County will cost between $5,000 and $8,000 for each station, she said.
The state will list stations that are certified to do the testing on a Web site at www.drivecleanpa.state.pa.us. The list is expected to include testing prices. Six stations were on the list as of Tuesday, but their prices were not listed.