Nevada bill to change vehicle smog-testing draws opposition

Ryan Bettencourt conducts an smog emissions test on Jan. 28, 2015, at Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles Emissions Control Lab, 2701 E. Sahara Avenue. The DMV is starting a Smog Spotter program for the public to call an anti-smog hotline to report smoking vehicles. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A proposal to change auto emissions testing to once every two years instead of annually is facing an uphill battle.

Several representatives of the emissions testing industry and county air-quality regulators testified against the bill submitted by Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Wheeler, R-Minden, and reviewed in a committee hearing Tuesday.

The bill would require emissions tests every other year starting July 1 and require new cars to be tested after four years on the road instead of two years.

Under the proposal, the fee collected by the state to finance air-quality measures would double from $6 to $12 for each test, but the bill contains no provisions to change the cap on the amount a station could charge for a smog test. In 2015, stations in Clark County can charge no more than $42.50 for tests on light-duty gasoline-fueled vehicles and no more than $45.50 for diesel-fueled vehicles.

Representatives of the emissions testing industry said if the bill were approved, hundreds of smog-testing stations statewide would have to close because the number of tests would be more than cut in half.

Emissions testers predicted that half of the 1,000 technicians who conduct tests would lose their jobs and 300 of the 400 emissions testing stations, particularly the small mom-and-pop franchise operations, would close their doors.

Air quality experts in Clark and Washoe counties, the only two counties where emissions tests are required, said levels of carbon monoxide and ozone pollutants would rise because most motorists don’t respond to “check engine” trouble lights until they face an emissions test.

“We need to do more about automotive safety and air quality, not less,” said Mike Prince, director of lube service for the Terrible Herbst service station chain.

Terri Weiss, who manages a chain of Smog Hut testing stations in Clark County with her husband, said “putting this plan in place on July 1 would bankrupt us.” She said the testing equipment companies buy costs at least $20,000.

Air quality monitors from Clark and Washoe counties said the state could lose federal funding if air quality in Las Vegas and Reno fall below federal standards.

Legislation changing emission testing frequency has failed in the past four legislative sessions, Wheeler said. He said he resurrected the proposal at the request of constituents who say auto technology has improved dramatically and testing isn’t required as often.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta.