Senator Bill Ketron says, this is a big step forward in relieving this burdensome regulation on Rutherford County citizens, and that he’s pleased to lend it his full support.
Senator Jim tracy, who is Chairman of the Senate transportation, says that many citizens have spoken with him regarding this requirement, and that he looks forward to supporting it as it moves through the Transportation Committee and onto the floor of the Senate.
The emissions regulations were put into place to control pollution from mobile sources in counties that were not meeting the eight-hour ozone Federal Standards for air quality. The mandatory testing requirement does not apply to electric vehicles, motorcycles or antique vehicles with a model year of 1974 or older.
The bill is pending a scheduled hearing in the Transportation and Safety Committee in the Senate and the Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee in the House of Representatives.
Although not related, this subject came-up in the WGNS Action Line Wednesday morning when a listener called to ask Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess why vehicle owners were still required to have the tests.
Mayor Burgess divulged that the quality of the air in Rutherford and other area counties was now in compliance with the federal standards. He said the lower emissions from newer vehicles was apparantly lowering the pollutants in the air. Burgess did not say that there were rumors the feds are considering making the levels more stringent.
