House OKs Measure to Clean Up Valley’s Air
Canyon County soon could have to find a way to reduce its air pollution or subject its drivers to vehicle emissions tests — over the dissenting votes of the county’s entire delegation in the Idaho House.
A bill designed to reduce air pollution in the Treasure Valley now moves to the Idaho Senate, where some of its most ardent supporters await.
With the support of companies like Micron and Amalgamated Sugar — and a federal decision expected Wednesday that could make air standards even tougher — the House passed the bill Friday by a comfortable 42-26 margin.
Ada County leaders have been pushing for years to require Canyon drivers to pass emissions tests in hopes of improving air quality throughout the Treasure Valley.
This bill would allow the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to test emissions in any state region where pollution levels are close to exceeding the federal health standards and where cars are one of the top two sources.
If it becomes law, Treasure Valley counties would have a short chance to form their own plans to reduce emissions or be subject to a state vehicle-testing program.
Gov. Butch Otter, who opposed the concept until lawmakers gave the counties that chance, is expected to sign the measure if it gets to his desk.
The Treasure Valley could be in violation of air quality standards when they are lowered next week, and if that happens, the federal government could mandate its own plans to improve the air.
Rep. Mark Snodgrass, R-Meridian, and Sen. David Langhorst, D-Boise, have tried for four years to require Canyon County cars to meet the same air quality tests that Ada cars do.
They hope by forcing polluting cars to be fixed, the state can remove more than a thousand tons of pollutants from the air annually and help avoid federal intervention.
"That would cripple some existing industries," Snodgrass said during floor debate.
Canyon officials, though, have fought the concept just as hard.
In the early 1990s, the Canyon County Commission reversed a decision supporting emissions testing after residents expressed loud opposition.
Friday, all nine Canyon representatives voted against the bill.
Many criticized the nine-year-old study on which part of the bill is based, which showed auto exhaust was the largest contributor to pollution in the Valley. Other states, including Indiana, Minnesota, Florida and Maine, are backing away from emissions testing, said Rep. Curtis Bowers, R-Caldwell.
"Cars are getting cleaner every year," he said.
Snodgrass countered that Ada’s testing program showed that the 10 percent of cars that fail the test produce more than 50 percent of the pollution. Plus, if the federal government mandated a pollution plan, it could include a tougher emissions testing program.
A federal plan could also limit road-building, require tougher pollution limits on large industries, and force regulation of smaller businesses like dry cleaners and painters.
"If you can smell it, then that business would probably be regulated," Snodgrass said.
The bill would allow DEQ to set up emissions testing anywhere in the state where there is high pollution and traffic. That brought opposition from some rural conservatives.
"Make no mistake about this," said Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett, R-Challis. "This is a big brother bill."
But Rep. Del Raybould, chairman of the Environment Committee, which rewrote the bill over the past two weeks, said it would protect the rest of the state from "outlandish rules."
The new bill stipulates that testing could not be required more than once in two years or cost more than $20 per car. Cars less than five years old, electric and hybrid cars and vehicles solely used for farming would be exempt.
"I’m in favor of this now, but I wasn’t for it a week to 10 days ago," Raybould said.
The measure now goes to the Senate, where leaders are expected to send the bill to the Environment and Natural Resources Committee — not to Health and Welfare, which is chaired by Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, who, like most Canyon County legislators, opposes the concept.
The federal decision on whether to toughen standards for ozone, the main component of smog, could come as the Senate is debating the issue.
Currently, the limit for ozone is 85 parts per billion over an 8-hour period, averaged over three years.
The new standards could range from 70 to 80 ppb. The Treasure Valley’s three-year-average is 78.
But even if the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision thrusts Idaho above the new standard, having a state emissions program already in place may help head off a tougher federally mandated testing program, said Langhorst, who will lead the effort to get the bill through the Senate.
Had the Legislature acted more quickly, the two counties could have lowered pollution already, he said.
"We will realize we should have done this four years ago," Langhorst said.
Rocky Barker: 377-6484
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