Smog check bill runs into opposition

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 | 7:48 p.m.

A bill to require vehicle smog checks every two years instead of annually in Clark and Washoe counties ran into opposition from air pollution officials and emission station owners Tuesday.

Assemblyman Jim Wheeler, R-Minden, sponsored Assembly Bill 146 and told the Assembly Transportation Committee it was “burdensome” for the average car owner to have emission tests annually in the two most populous counties.

He said new technology in vehicles reduces the pollution from the cars.

Newer vehicles are better assembled and there are improved computer systems to reduce pollution, he said.

But Robert Tekniepe of the Clark County Department of Air Quality said in prepared testimony about 30 percent of the air pollution in Clark County comes from motor vehicles.

He said the bill would “jeopardize Clark County’s effort to maintain the current federal standards for ozone and carbon monoxide ..." and it would hurt efforts to attain the increased federal standards expected to be announced later this year.

This idea of lengthening the time for smog checks has been proposed several times in the last decade. There is no emission testing required in the rural counties.

Lou Gardella, a Las Vegas smog shop owner, said the bill would devastate the industry. He predicted that half of the 400 emission stations would go out of business.

Gardella said the county would be in violation of the federal standards and might lose highway construction funds. The average motorist can get the check done for less than $20.

Wheeler’s bill would also double the state fee from $3 to $6, so there would not be any loss of revenue to the government, he said.

There was testimony that new vehicles are exempt from smog tests for two years and this bill would extend that time to four years.

The committee did not take any action on the measure.