In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to exempt the following counties from vehicle emissions testing: Blair, Cambria, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer, and Westmoreland counties. This is companion legislation mirroring Senate Bill 35 introduced by Senator Langerholc.

In 2017, Senate Resolution 168 directed the Joint State Government Commission (JSGC) to evaluate the impacts of exempting certain counties from the emissions inspection program. The JSGC identified that removing these seven aforementioned counties would have a minimal effect on the ability of Pennsylvania to meet the air quality standards of the federal government.

Our constituents believe that it is ridiculous to pay an expensive vehicle emissions fee on top of an already expensive safety inspection process, when the JSGC has evaluated that removal of these seven counties from the program would have a minimal impact on our air quality. I understand the importance of having clean air, but we should not continue to punish our constituents with an unnecessary fee simply because of where they choose to live. In the past, these counties were placed into the vehicle emissions testing program due to their populations, however many of these counties are now seeing downward trends in population, while their air quality remains fine.

Furthermore, for a County that is not included in the seven to be removed by this legislation, my legislation requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to initiate the process of removing the county, if DEP can demonstrate that the county can maintain relevant standards without the vehicle emissions inspection program. These reforms to the vehicle emissions testing program are common-sense and help put money back into the pockets of Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth.

I hope you will consider joining in co-sponsoring this important legislation to remove this costly testing program in counties where it is no longer necessary.
 

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 0785: 75-4706