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SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake County is facing an April 1 deadline for total replacement of equipment used for vehicle emissions testing. Through a contract between the county health department and an equipment supplier, a new generation of testing equipment is being installed at 342 testing locations in the Salt Lake Valley.
"The old equipment has been in use for 13 years," said Corbin Anderson, supervisor of the bureau of air pollution control in the Salt Lake Valley Health Department. "It's actually gone beyond its useful period and it's time to replace it. It's not cost-effective to keep maintaining the old equipment."
- 82 tons of carbon monoxide (CO)
- 4 tons of hydrocarbons (HC)
- 4 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx)
One change will be very noticeable: testers will no longer use dynamometers. Those are rollers embedded in the floor. Older vehicles are placed on the rollers so the wheels can spin while the exhaust pipe is tested for pollutants. The new equipment uses idling tests only, without spinning the vehicle's wheels.
"I think it's a good thing," said Dan Northrup, owner of the Emissions Plus chain of testing stations. "Old equipment was getting older, especially the 'dynos' in the floor. There's a lot more moving parts that could go wrong."
The new equipment is purchased under the health department contract, but testing station owners have to pay for the equipment they use. The overall cost of the conversion is nearly $4 million, but there are no up-front costs for the station owners. They pay off the equipment costs over time by collecting fees from their customers.
The new equipment is expected to be cheaper in the long-run. Fees charged to customers for the tests are not set by law and vary from station to station. Anderson and Northrup agree the new equipment might result in slightly lower fees for vehicle owners.
A car, truck, motor home or RV (recreational vehicle) requires an emissions test when it is a 1968 model or newer. A vehicle is exempt from emissions testing when it is:
- A 1967 model or older
- A new vehicle
- A motorcycle
- Bought anywhere other than Davis, Salt Lake City, Weber or Utah County with the appropriate form
"The testing is just as good," Anderson said. "And actually it's superior as far as the data transfer capability."
The old equipment came from the era of dial-up internet service. The new equipment has instant high-speed internet access. In that respect, customers might benefit slightly from the upgrade.
"I think they'll notice a little bit of speed in it," Northrup said. "Especially if you just come for emissions (tests) only, you should be right in, right out."
Owners of vehicles with diesel engines are likely to benefit most from the new equipment because it will make their testing more convenient. Under the old contract, only about 40 of the 342 testing stations were equipped to test diesel engines. Under the new contract, all the testing stations will be able to handle diesel vehicles weighing less than 14,000 pounds.
That's a big advantage, Northrup said. "Oh, it's huge. I have people all the time say 'Can you do my diesel?' Now they can come to us. That's going to be a nice change for us."
The inspection program is now 26 years old. In that time, Anderson said, it's saved a million tons of pollutants from going into the air.
Email: hollenhorst@ksl.com
