Dannemeyer (R-CA) amendment to a fiscal 1982 appropriation bill to forbid the Environmental Protection Agency from spending money to enforce Clean Air Act requirements for vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance programs. The air in many American cities is getting cleaner because of technological improvements in auto emission control devices which the Clean Air Act requires. It is vital that these control devices function properly if we are to keep these gains and further control smog and other pollutants. Unfortunately, the new technology is not foolproof. Auto emissions can increase dramatically through tampering or mechanical failure of emission control devices, by using leaded fuels in cars designed for unleaded, or simply through a failure to keep a care properly tuned.

Thus the Clean Air Act requires urban areas which will violate smog and carbon monoxide health standards after 1982 to conduct vehicle inspection and maintenance programs. Such programs have been successful in New Jersey, Portland, Oregon and elsewhere, and were found to substantially reduce air pollution. The Dannemeyer amendment would have made it impossible for EPA to enforce state implementation of this requirement. Automobile exhaust produces carbon monoxide and ozone, which aggravate heart disease, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other lung diseases. Rejected 177-184; July 17, 1981. NO is the pro-environmental vote.