Automobile Pollution Is a Disease

Brief article printed on a grocery bag in Benicia, CA

EPA Overestimates the Benefit of Biennial Inspection and Maintenance

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) computer model of mobile source emissions is used to estimate the benefits of future emissions control programs. Four input assumptions are discussed, each of which tends to overestimate the benefits of biennial testing programs. The assumptions are: each model year drives the same number of miles; high/superemitters, absent initially, increase linearly with mileage; inspection and maintenance (I/M) readings are invariant, and I/M repairs last forever. States opting for these programs should be aware that the predicted benefits may not materialize