California's Department of Consumer Affairs Announces Relief for Smog Check II Beleaguered Motorists

07/25/96

DCA ANNOUNCES RELIEF FOR MOTORISTS

State Takes Immediate Action to Help Motorists Get Their
Vehicles Registered

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 24 -- The Department of
Consumer Affairs/Bureau of Automotive Repair (DCA/BAR) announced today
that the new Smog Check II program's database that electronically
transmits smog certificates and helps prevent fraud, has been highly
successful in identifying gross-polluting vehicles -- a key element to
reducing air pollution.  However, these identifications have brought
with them some unexpected delays for consumers, including backlogs at
Referee Centers and busy signals at the toll-free appointment line.

Vehicles that are identified as Gross Polluters must be repaired
before being retested and certified at a state-contracted Referee
Center.  Since the new system has been operating, phone calls to
schedule an appointment at the Referee Center have nearly doubled.
This increased demand has made it difficult for some motorists to
schedule appointment with the Referee.

"The good news is that Smog Check II is working -- it's identifying
the small percentage of vehicles that create more than half of the
vehicle emissions.  We did not anticipate this outstanding success
would overload our current Referee system," said K. Martin Keller,
Chief of the BAR.  "We're committed to improving our program to match
this new level of motorist need."

This week, DCA/BAR announced a number of measures designed to
relieve the Referee Centers of their backlogs and provide consumers
the convenience they have always experienced with the Referee system.


* The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will give a 30-day
extension to motorists whose vehicles have failed an inspection as a
Gross Polluter and have to be certified at a Referee Center.  This
extension will give those motorists the additional time needed to get
their vehicles retested and certified at a Referee Center.  Motorists
will receive a red-colored temporary operating permit to place in
their car's rear window once their registration fees have been paid.
Previously, DCA/BAR had to send a formal request on behalf of each
motorist to receive an extension.

* To ease motorist inconvenience, Referee Centers have expanded
phone line hours and hours of operation.  In addition, more testing
lanes have been opened and the centers have increased the number of
smog technicians on hand.

* Smog stations and technicians have been given the green light by
DCA/BAR to perform pre-inspection tests and repairs on vehicles, which
allows motorists to correct vehicle emissions failures before being
given an official Smog Check test.  The pre-inspection test and the
ability to make pre-inspection repairs will keep some vehicle from
being labeled as a Gross Polluter, and thus avoid referral to a
Referee station.


"We're working very hard to iron out the glitches that are
appearing early on in the program.  We want to ensure that motorists
are not unduly inconvenienced when trying to do their part to clean
the air," said Chief Keller.

Mounting scientific studies have demonstrated the lethal effects of
smog.  In the Greater Los Angeles area alone, nearly 6,000 people die
every year from exposure to particulates.  In highly polluted areas,
particulates are responsible for more deaths than automobile
accidents, AIDS and breast cancer combined.

The Smog Check II program is an enhanced version designed to meet
federal Clean Air Act requirements.  It targets gross-polluting
vehicles -- the 10 to 15 percent of vehicles that cause over half of
the vehicle pollution.  By repairing these Gross Polluters, we can
expect as much as a 25 percent vehicle emissions reduction.  Smog
Check II is being implemented in phases, with statewide rollout to be
completed by the end of 1997.