BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Legislation that lays the groundwork for ending all requirements for vehicle emission testing in the Treasure Valley on July 1, 2023, passed the Idaho Senate on Wednesday and now heads to the House.
“This is not a fly-by-night effort to remove the program, but it really is a thoughtful piece of legislation to reduce regulation, and recognizes the strides that we’ve made here in Ada County to maintain the air quality that we all expect and enjoy,” Senate Transportation Chair Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, told the Senate.
She said by that date in 2023, Idaho’s state Department of Environmental Quality will have completed a demonstration project to show the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that “we have met the air quality standards.”
That’s largely because newer vehicles are far less polluting than older ones, and more of those newer ones are now on the Treasure Valley’s roads. “A very small percentage of vehicles that are required to get tested even need repairs,” Den Hartog said.
The bill, SB 1254a, passed on a 29-6 vote. To become law, it still would need to clear a House committee, pass the full House, and receive the governor’s signature.
It would repeal the 2008 laws that passed after northern Ada County was declared a federal non-attainment area for its then-high levels of carbon monoxide pollution, setting up vehicle emission testing programs that followed for Canyon County and Kuna. The end of the Ada County program, which started in 1984, would be contingent on the showing that the area’s air has met certain requirements over time, and repeal of local ordinances in Ada County, Boise, Meridian, Star, Eagle and Garden City authorizing the testing program, which those localities would have the option to continue.
The state DEQ anticipates the requirements will be met.
Dissenters called the move premature and said the region’s air quality issues haven’t all been solved.
“Instead of repeal, we should be looking at a better way forward,” said Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise. “If we think that our airshed problems are behind us because we’ve gotten under some thresholds, I think we’re mistaken.”
Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said, “We continue to exceed the threshold of 85% of the ozone standard. … We’re not counting in the wildfires, we’re not counting the inversions.”
She said, “Folks say, ‘Hey, our fleet is changing and we have to find other ways to decrease the pollution.’ If that’s the case, then … I challenge us as a group, then, to invest in electric vehicles. Right now we have 1.8 million cars registered in our state. Only a little over 3,000 are electric vehicles, and we actually charge them a higher registration rate, so we’re actually disincentivizing electric vehicles.”
Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, disclosed a potential conflict of interest because his law firm represents the Ada County Air Quality Board. “Essentially today, you’re hearing me argue to eliminate a client and some revenue from our firm,” he said, “but I’m doing that because it’s the right thing to do. My constituents in Canyon County have been asking for this for a very long time.”
“This is no longer necessary in the Treasure Valley,” he said.
Sen. Jeff Agenbroad, R-Nampa, said, “This is a day that I’ve been waiting for six years. … After I won my primary election, I think the first phone call I got was from a constituent that had been angry about this for several years before he called me.”
Den Hartog said, “I don’t believe passage of this bill indicates that our air quality issues are behind us. It really is a recognition that this particular program is no longer effective, and it’s no longer effective because we’ve had modernization of our vehicles. … Our Department of Environmental Quality recognizes that, that there’s going to be other methods and things we’re going to have to do … in the future.”
During the bill’s Senate committee hearing, backers of the bill said future air quality efforts in the Treasure Valley could focus on other measures, from public transit to investing in infrastructure to serve electric vehicles.
Here’s how Treasure Valley senators voted on SB 1254a, to end vehicle emission testing in 2023:
Voting in favor: Sens. Jeff Agenbroad, R-Nampa; Regina Bayer, R-Meridian; Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian; C. Scott Grow, R-Eagle; Todd Lakey, R-Nampa; Abby Lee, R-Fruitland; Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston; Fred Martin, R-Boise; Jim Rice, R-Caldwell; Chuck Winder, R-Boise;
Voting against: Sens. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise; Carrie Semmelroth, D-Boise; Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise; and Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise.
The bill passed, 29-6. To become law, it still would need to clear a House committee, pass the full House, and receive the governor’s signature.
This story has been updated to correct the year of enactment of the state law being repealed.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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