•Borough officials heard late Friday that the EPA has approved plans to suspend the inspection/maintenance program for vehicles in Fairbanks.
The official announcement is expected to be published in the Federal Register shortly. What this means is that vehicle owners who have renewals coming up in early 2010 may soon have official approval to re-register their vehicles without getting an I/M sticker.
It's not clear how long it will take to get the formal changes needed in state regulations.
The borough assembly had decided to stop the program at the end of this year, but it requires federal approval to do so.
The borough and state asked the EPA to suspend the program because the vehicle inspection program was designed to monitor and control the carbon monoxide emissions from cars. CO is an odorless and tasteless poison and had long been the main air pollution problem in Fairbanks.
The EPA agreed that the I/M program is no longer needed for carbon monoxide control. Newer cars create less pollution than older models and that has been a key in improving air quality, in terms of CO.
Particulate pollution is another matter. Car exhaust is part of the PM 2.5 problem in Fairbanks, but the borough program we've had for many years was not targeting the tiny particles in the air.
The EPA had said earlier that the I/M program has to remain on the books as an option in case it is needed.
It is possible that part of whatever plan the borough and state develop for dealing with the tiny pieces of dirt in the air known as PM 2.5 because they are 2.5 microns or smaller, will include a new type of vehicle exhaust inspection.
The largest particles in this category are one-thirtieth the width of a human hair.
There has been a growing body of research in recent years linking PM 2.5 pollution to a variety of health problems. The particles are so small that when inhaled they lodge deep in the lungs.
Recent estimates from the borough show that about 40 percent of the PM 2.5 problem, which is worst when there is an inversion that traps cold air close to the ground, comes from wood smoke.
The rest comes from a variety of sources, including cars and trucks.
Make up your minds DMV. Eiother you're eliminating the IM program or not. Which is it?
Enforce our already exsisting laws befoe writing more,
of course the borough will have to take my gun, my woodstove and my supply of Lance's Medicine , all at he same time..they will need to bring in help.
????
ive seen quite a few cars run fine and even better with out it
http://alaskamotorsports.com/forums/index.php
go to a car forum and ask that
This program did clean up the air. It was very very dirty back then. Cars today will not run if emissions do not work.
Everyone should be proud of how well this program cleaned up our air.
Guess we can blame DNR, BLM, the Weatherman, and the wildfires for all the air pollution. Let's get out the whipping stick and spank those rascals.
Put the Healy plant on line now and help starve a Muslim fanatic.
Back to the article and comments.
AlaskaFirst-
Do you remember the Tsunami that hit on Christmas a couple years back? Do you know that it uncovered shore line in India that used to be much lower? Would that not suggest that these things change all by themselves? Humm, you need another example. How about the location that Columbus's Boats where made at? That would have been in England in what is now a field about 300 miles from a river or the ocean. There was a river there back in the 1490's but NATURE changed its course. Funny how no one claimed that was due to Global Warming, they actually did scientific work and came to a whole other conclusion.
My favorite line from the movie JFK that stared Kevin Costner was "a physicist can hang an elephant off a cliff with its tail tied to a dandelion in a laboratory but common sense tells us that is not going to happen".
Use your brain folks, dont let some one else regurgitate information to fit their model. It is all about how to fund things. Nothing is free, every one wants to get paid.
what ever they come up with will cost you more because it will come down as your fault. it's all your fault for trying to live in fairbanks.
When will you fools learn the only green these people are interested in is the green in your wallet.
There is no global warming, anymore then the wood stoves are worse then the coal burners in town. Based on math models and early findings indeed.
Oh, Alaskafirst,
wake up buddy, mother nature is the one you need to blame. Your arrogance that man is so powerful is so funny I laugh. When she finally gets tired of us, the lands will all turn to molten lava, and it will be funny watching the ilk burn up yelling, al gore, where are you?
Mark my words, we in the wilderness will be restricted worse then most of the heartland.
Wonder what happend to the Alaska I used to live in....