New year, new diesel rule in Weber County
SPS Tire Pro manager Rusty Clifford checks the oil after an oil change on a Toyota Camry on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at SPS Tire Pro in Harrisville.
SPS Tire Pro manager Rusty Clifford changes the oil and checks the emissions on a Toyota Camry on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 at SPS Tire Pro in Harrisville.
SPS Tire Pro manager Rusty Clifford looks for anything that may "trick" a car's emissions computer on a Toyota Camry on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at SPS Tire Pro in Harrisville.
A Weber County inspection permit is displayed on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 at SPS Tire Pro in Harrisville.
SPS Tire Pro manager Rusty Clifford poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 at SPS Tire Pro in Harrisville.
As Weber County residents rang in the New Year, emissions stations braced for new diesel testing regulations.
The Weber-Morgan Board of Health approved a rule in late September requiring diesel vehicles to undergo an emissions test, similar to gas-powered vehicles, before registering. The law went into effect Jan. 1 and applies to diesel trucks and cars weighing 14,000 pounds or less, models years 1998 and newer. Emissions tests cost $30.
“If a diesel vehicle fails the initial test, they can come to health department for one-time waiver which allow them 12 months to make any costly repairs (required to pass),” said Scott Braeden, the department’s Air Quality Program manager. “We feel that’s a soft implementation and a service to the public.”
RELATED: Weber County diesel emissions testing program approved by health board
Around 9 percent of the registered cars and trucks in Weber County are diesel-powered, but it’s tough to pin down how many vehicles the new rule will affect. The Department of Motor Vehicles lists 794 diesel passenger cars and 11,343 light diesel trucks registered in Weber County. But medium-duty trucks are lumped into the “heavy truck” category, which also includes those 14,001-plus-pound trucks exempt from the law. There are 4,158 of these “heavy trucks” diesels registered in the county.
Leia Larsen, Utah Department of Motor Vehicles
Source: Utah Department of Motor Vehicles
While health regulators debated the new emissions standards for over a year, environment and health advocates praised the decision as a small step toward improved air quality.
Still, not all are convinced the extra regulatory hoop will make a meaningful impact.
“I don’t think it’ll make that much of a difference for the amount of enforcement we’ll have to do to make it work,” said Craig Butters, owner of SPS Tire Pros.
Butters’ shop performs safety and emissions tests. All of Weber County’s 115 certified emissions stations had mandatory technician training session ahead of the new diesel-testing rule.
“All we’re doing is making sure the check-engine light is not on and emissions components have not been removed. We’re not measuring anything out of the tailpipe,” Butters said. “I think it’s meant only to make the tree-huggers happy.”
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To make a dent in air quality, Butters said, requirements similar to those in Davis County would make better sense. There, all diesel vehicles must be tested. A county-owned facility measures emissions directly from the tailpipe of most diesels.
In Weber County, emissions technicians are only required to do a visual inspection for tampering and take a reading from the vehicle’s on-board diagnostic system. The amount of training for these tests has been onerous, some shop managers say.
“To get my people to be able to do an emissions test, it’s very hard on them,” Butters said, who employs five certified emissions technicians. “All they’re doing is plugging a machine into a car and pushing buttons, but the county wants our guys to know how emissions work and why they work.”
The visual inspection requirements concern Ken Good. He manages DEKRA Safety & Emissions in Ogden and five other DEKRA stations in Salt Lake County.
“My technician in Ogden is not a diesel mechanic, but she has to be able to look and identify all these components properly,” Good said. “If we’re ever caught passing a vehicle without a component that’s supposed to be there, then there’s hellfire to pay.”
If a Weber County emissions technician unknowingly passes a tampered vehicle, the technician is slapped with a one-month suspension and mandatory retraining. A second violation means a two-month suspension and retraining. A third occurrence in two years means the technician loses her permit.
“They’re not playing softball,” Good said.
He called the health department’s diesel training session for technicians “good,” but said it was “probably not adequate for people who are not familiar with diesel engines and all the variety among manufacturers and models.”
None of the emissions technicians at his other shops have run into trouble in Salt Lake County, where diesel emissions testing has been in place for several years, Good said.
But his Ogden technician feels “fear and trepidation that she might miss something,” he said. “That’s the truth.”
Braeden, with the health department, said fears of a revoked permit for accidentally passing a tampered vehicle are unfounded. No technician’s permit has ever been revoked in the county for that particular violation, knowingly or otherwise.* Instead, health department officials work with them during retraining to ensure they understand tampering inspection requirements.
The county has similar testing, training and enforcement rules for gasoline vehicles, too, which have long required emissions tests. Shops are provided with comprehensive guidebooks on emissions control components for all makes and models of vehicles.
“If a tester doesn’t feel they know a vehicle well, they can refer to that guide. For diesel engines, there are even visual diagrams,” Braeden said. “It would be the same as a gasoline test. We don’t expect everyone out there to know every vehicle that comes through the shop door.”
* Clarification: A previous version of this story was not specific about if and when technician permits could be revoked. The story was updated to clarify that detail
Contact Reporter Leia Larsen at 801-625-4289 or llarsen@standard.net. Follow her on Facebook.com/leiaoutside or on Twitter @LeiaLarsen.
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