PENNSYLVANIA State plans to replace tailpipe exhaust test

Now all counties will have some sort of vehicle emission system test to pass.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The tailpipe exhaust test, dreaded by motorists but praised by environmentalists as a weapon against automobile pollution, is being replaced in Pennsylvania.
Transportation officials announced sweeping changes to the state's vehicle inspection program Wednesday that will phase-out the tailpipe test and introduce new types of emissions inspections in dozens of counties.
The reforms will settle a series of lawsuits, filed by environmentalists, that had charged officials with failing to implement elements of the federal Clean Air Act.
Among the changes:
Tailpipe tests, now done only in nine counties in metropolitan Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, will be eliminated for most cars made in 1996 or later.
Instead, post-1996 cars in 25 counties will undergo a new type of test performed by an onboard computer that doesn't measure pollutants, but can tell whether a vehicle's emissions system is functioning.
In 42 rural counties that never had emissions tests, cars still won't get the computer checks, but their emissions systems will be given a visual inspection by a mechanic who will have the power to order repair or replacement of broken and disabled parts.
Cars built before 1996 will still get the tailpipe test in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, though state officials predicted the tests would become less common as older cars die off.
Expectations
Environmentalists and transportation officials alike said they think the new rules will lead to fewer polluting cars, without putting too heavy a burden on drivers or the privately owned garages that perform inspections.
Two federal judges in Philadelphia ruled in separate cases last year that Pennsylvania violated the Clean Air Act when it missed a 1999 deadline to implement tailpipe exhaust tests in most of the state's industrialized areas.
Cheaper machines
Garages will need to buy new equipment to conduct the computerized tests, but at a cost of between $2,500 and $7,500, the units will be cheaper than the ones needed for tailpipe testing, said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Joan Nissley. Those machines cost between $15,000 to $40,000 apiece, she said.
Nissley said she don't know how much garages will charge for the new tests, but said she didn't think drivers would object to the changes.