standards by 2006
Bill would bring tighter vehicle emissions
standards by 2006
BY ALISON GRANITO
Staff Writer
New Jersey has more cars per square mile than any other state in the country.
According to some environmental and public advocacy groups, the state’s vast number of vehicles leads to more than traffic jams. Emissions from motor vehicles are considered to be among the largest contributors to air pollution and poor air quality in the state.
In response to the problem, the state Legislature is considering adopting what has become known as the Clean Cars Act — which would bring California’s Low Emission Vehicle standards here. That program would require car dealers to put more fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles on their lots and set stricter emission standards for new cars sold in New Jersey beginning in 2006.
In addition to California, similar laws are already on the books in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine.
Currently, the state Assembly and the Senate have both introduced bills which would make the California Low Emission Vehicle standards program law in New Jersey. Versions of the bills are currently under review by the budget and appropriations committees in both houses.
According to Senate co-President John O. Bennett (R-12), a primary sponsor of the Senate bill, he has asked the committee chairman to post his bill for a vote on Dec. 4. If the bill passes the committee, it could be put before the full Senate for a vote before this legislative term wraps up at the end of the year.
"It’s been blocked twice [in the Budget and Appropriations Committee]. I’ve asked the chairman to put it back up again and we hope to get the votes this time," Bennett said Monday.
"We’ve got more cars per square mile than any other state in the union," Bennett said recently.
Bennett also noted that New Jersey has some of the highest rates of asthma and breathing disorders than any other state in the union.
"This particularly affects our children and our seniors. It would be better for our people and better for the state," he said.
"As for air quality in New Jersey, we’re limited in what we can do as an individual state. One area where we can really have an impact is cars," he said.
Bennett, who lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Ellen Karcher on Nov. 4, said it is particularly significant to him to see this legislation passed by the end of the term.
"It is very important to me to see this get done," he said, noting that he would consider it part of his legislative legacy.
To try to push the Clean Cars Act out of committee, Bennett said legislators are working to add language that would create incentives for car dealers.
"We don’t want dealers to have [low emission vehicles] on their lots and then not be able to sell them. That’s not what we’re looking for," he said.
Environmental and public advocacy groups have lined up behind legislators who want to bring the California Low Emission Vehicle standards to New Jersey.
The New Jersey Public Interest Research Groups (NJPIRG), the Sierra Club, and the New Jersey Environmental Fed-eration have all been vocal supporters of the program.
According to NJPIRG, the California Low Emission Vehicle standards would reduce ozone smog pollution by 19 percent and the presence of air toxins — such as benzene, a known carcinogen — by 23 percent by 2020.
"What this program is primarily intended to do is clean up two of the biggest health threats in our air — ozone and air toxins," Dena Mottola, the executive director of NJPIRG, said.
According to NJPIRG, cars and trucks account for 40 percent of New Jersey’s smog problem, which the group ranks as the worst in the nation, according to its figures.
"We’re used to people thinking California is the smoggiest state. Well. it’s not, but New Jersey is," Mottola said.
Although many environmental groups have expressed strong support for the measure, lobbies for some industrial groups — including the oil, gas, and automobile industries — have lined up against the bills currently under review in the Legislature.
The Center for Policy Research of New Jersey sponsored a conference on the Clean Cars Act on Nov. 12 in New Brunswick.
According to Joseph L. Bast, an economist who is president of the Heartland Institute, based in Chicago, the Clean Cars Act is not necessary.
Bast, who spoke at the conference, said that federal standards — starting with 2004 model year cars and trucks — will be strong enough to provide many of the same benefits as the California Low Emission Vehicle standards would provide, and that air quality has improved dramatically over the past decade.
Bast also contends that the program would be detrimental to New Jersey’s economy and increase costs of other cars and trucks for consumers.
"What we know is that [low-emission vehicles] cost more than normal cars. Somebody is going to have to pay that price," he said.
"There is no free lunch," he added.