Many Car Smog Checks Faulty, Official Charges

The chief of the state’s Smog Check vehicle inspection program said Friday that an “extraordinary” percentage of emission tests and repairs were incomplete or improper, and he called for new laws to revoke the licenses of mechanics who fail to make proper emission inspections and repairs.

Another source told The Times that a state study yet to be made public has concluded that 75% of all Smog Check emissions inspections were incomplete or improper. An estimated 5.5 million cars are inspected each year at 8,200 Smog Check stations. The law requires most cars to be inspected every other year.

In an unusually critical assessment of the 3-year-old program, Martin Dyer, chief of the Bureau of Automotive Repair, said that some Smog Check stations are more concerned with keeping customers happy than with carrying out the letter of the law.

“There’s no incentive to fail a car and every incentive to pass a car,” Dyer told the South Coast Air Quality Management District board, meeting in El Monte.

Many Not Repaired

Dyer also said that three out of 10 vehicles that fail the test are not repaired because the cost would exceed the $50 maximum. Only repairs costing less than $50 must be made unless the emission control devices have been tampered with. He said the cost ceiling will have to be raised.

But, Dyer directed most of his criticism at individual mechanics, signaling a new drive to hold them as accountable as Smog Check stations for performing accurate tests and needed repairs. Currently, a Smog Check station can lose its license to participate in the program, but mechanics generally have not been held personally accountable.

“The majority of mechanics are good. But, there are too many who are not and we need to correct that,” Dyer said. “An extraordinarily high percentage of Smog Checks are incomplete or improper.”

There are 28,237 mechanics licensed to do Smog Checks in California. In Sacramento, the bureau said that up to 1,400 mechanics found to make improper or incomplete emissions inspections or repairs would receive remedial training each year in addition to the usual training programs.

Emissions Reduced

Even with the problems, Dyer said, emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide have been cut by an average of 11% to 17% immediately after the repairs.

But, those reductions could be doubled in 12 to 18 months with more rigorous training of mechanics and a stepped-up enforcement program, Dyer said. There is no information as to how long a vehicle will produce lower emissions after repairs.

In another action, the AQMD board directed the staff to take the first steps to begin field testing of a promising new technology developed by government scientists at Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., to reduce emissions of pollutants from diesel engines.

First disclosed last month, the process uses cyanuric acid--a white granular material that has been used for almost 30 years to prevent chlorine in swimming pools from escaping into the air too quickly--to combine with diesel pollutants to form harmless nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor.

Urges Speedy Testing

AQMD board member Thomas F. Heinsheimer proposed that the AQMD begin field testing the process by July, with a report back to the board next December. He said new rules requiring a reduction in diesel emissions could be on the books by February, 1988, with full compliance by 1992.

Chemist Robert A. Perry of Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility, told reporters earlier this week that the proposed schedule was “ambitious” but that he would attempt to meet it.

Meanwhile, the state Air Resources Board released a letter Friday welcoming Perry’s discovery but cautioning that there may be several problems to solve. ARB Chairwoman Jananne Sharpless, in a letter to Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), wondered whether there could be emissions of toxic compounds associated with the use of cyanuric acid.

In another matter, the AQMD board elected Riverside County Supervisor Norton Younglove as its new chairman, and Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude as vice chairman of the 14-member board. The AQMD enforces clean air laws in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.