Exhaust fumes emanate from the tailpipe of a city transit bus as it passes an American flag hung on the Los Angeles County Hall of Justice. Photo by David McNew | Getty Images
House Republicans passed a bill that critics say would worsen the state’s already substandard air quality regulations and run afoul of federal environmental protection laws.
The GOP-backed proposal, House Bill 2546, would change state law to exempt all vehicles made after 2018 from emissions testing.
“HB2546 might as well be dubbed the ‘Dirty Air Act’ or the ‘Asthma For All Act,’” Assistant Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos said as lawmakers voted on the measure on Feb. 28. “Now is not the time to exempt vehicles that pollute our air from one of the few tools we have to keep ozone pollution in check.”
Through the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set and enforced health-based standards for numerous pollutants to regulate emissions and reduce air pollution nationwide. The parts of the country that do not meet those standards are classified as nonattainment areas.
Nonattainment areas are then ranked on a six-level scale indicating severity, and that ranking determines how long the area has to meet those federal standards before it’s bumped up another level on the severity scale.
One of the pollutants that the Clean Air Act has set standards for is ozone. While the gas makes up the ozone layer of the Earth’s stratosphere and protects us from most of the sun’s UV rays, when it is at ground level, ozone is a harmful pollutant that makes the air around us hard to breathe. It can damage the airways and lungs even without the appearance of symptoms, and can lead to conditions like asthma and chronic bronchitis.
Though ground-level ozone is not emitted directly, it forms from sun-powered chemical reactions between other pollutants that are emitted from factories and motor vehicles, making high-population urban areas more susceptible to a higher concentration of ground-level ozone.
This, paired with the region’s abundance of sunny days, has made Maricopa County and surrounding areas a hotspot for high ozone pollution.
In 2015, Maricopa County was originally placed on the lowest “marginal” tier in regards to the EPA’s ozone nonattainment classifications, but was bumped up to “moderate” last October when the EPA found that the state had not submitted a required plan detailing how it planned on meeting attainment standards.
During debate on the House floor, De Los Santos quoted a study that estimates Maricopa County loses $100 million every year due to its nonattainment status — a figure that is expected to grow to $250 million if Arizona’s nonattainment classification is raised from “moderate” to “serious.”
If enacted, HB2546 would make it much harder for the state to meet attainment, since emissions testing ensures every car on the road is emitting somewhat manageable levels of pollution. Furthermore, as the years go on and newer cars take over the roads, it would effectively eliminate emissions testing as a tool for regulating the emissions of individual residents.
When lawmakers debated the bill in committee, Sierra Club Grand Canyon chapter head Sandy Bahr warned them that, even if HB2546 becomes state law, the measure will be thwarted at the federal level.
“The Clean Air Act is a really good law — it protects public health, and it includes ‘no backsliding’ provisions,” Bahr said. “Even if the EPA wanted to approve it, they wouldn’t be able to if it harms our air quality.”
Those “no backsliding” provisions prevent the nation taking steps backwards in the overall efforts to improve air quality. Bahr said the bill would serve as little more than a statement — one that may reflect the beliefs of the lawmakers who support the proposal more than the wishes of their constituents.
“I don’t think people want you making statements that we don’t want clean air,” Bahr said.
The bill to largely end emissions testing of Arizona vehicles passed the House on a 31-28 vote, with only Republicans supporting it. The bill moves next to the Senate for consideration.
HB2546 is not the only bill that takes a stab at initiatives aimed at correcting climate change.
Similar legislation has been circulating both chambers, such as Senate Bill 1195, which recently passed through the Senate, and would prohibit public money from going toward virtually anything that could better the environment — including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In a statement to the Arizona Mirror, De Los Santos said HB2546 was a part of a series of Republican-backed bills that threaten the economy and public health.
“It’s terrible legislation,” he said. “It’s completely baffling that they want to make pollution worse and our air dirtier. It’s almost like they want more Arizonans to suffer from asthma.”
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