00:01 - The following program is sponsored in part by

00:04 - customer's bank.

00:13 - Senator Wayne langur holds republican from Cambria center and clear field counties

00:19 - the senate passed your bill

00:21 - that stops vehicle emissions testing in the twenty five

00:25 - Pennsylvania counties

00:26 - that require it

00:27 - why is this important to you.

00:31 - This is something that I've been working on.

00:33 - Every session that I have been in

00:36 - and something that I hear about consistently as I'm in the district

00:39 - talking to constituents.

00:41 - That

00:42 - the unneeded

00:43 - emissions testing

00:44 - that really serves no legitimate purpose.

00:48 - Well at this point send it how much

00:51 - influence as the federal government had

00:53 - on controlling vehicle emissions.

00:57 - They're involved

00:58 - from you know from a certain perspective and depending on you know ultimately

01:03 - with

01:03 - the e p a I mean that's where they have kind of a

01:05 - guidance.

01:07 - On that the the oversight but the the initial hurdle ears to get this

01:11 - through the state to get this passed to get us out of the.

01:15 - Emissions test them.

01:16 - I'd tell me more about some of the complaints you've heard from your constituents

01:20 - about this testing.

01:23 - Just that it's an unnecessary cost it's it's an average

01:25 - cost of about an additional forty dollars and it's.

01:30 - Just especially times

01:31 - being as as tough as they are now with affordability that's something that definitely

01:36 - doesn't sin and

01:37 - something that's an unneeded and unnecessary cost

01:41 - when there are counties

01:43 - in Cambria county.

01:45 - Right now

01:46 - and actually

01:47 - you're not too far down.

01:50 - From my district office where I'm at now is somerset county and they are not required

01:55 - to pay that so you have

01:57 - this disparity

01:58 - between the counties where

02:00 - depending on where you live

02:01 - you have to pay this extra forty dollars would go through all that extra.

02:06 - Bureaucracy versus if you're in a county that doesn't you don't have to.

02:10 - Selling your opinion

02:11 - sender why has vehicle emissions testing

02:13 - become unnecessary go into some detail please.

02:17 - Well the

02:19 - failure rates are

02:21 - are

02:22 - non existent

02:23 - I think there's something like ninety nine point five percent of vehicles pass that

02:27 - and just the the nonsensical onus of it.

02:30 - Is there are many cars out there that do not have a gas cap

02:35 - yet they're required to

02:36 - have a gap gas

02:37 - cap test

02:39 - so that means they

02:39 - put a

02:41 - whatever they have the the service stations another

02:43 - gas cap on there to to have a test which they pass

02:46 - in remarkably

02:47 - ninety nine point

02:48 - five it may be you may even be higher than that

02:51 - but the percent of the time that they pass so

02:54 - it's not doing anything

02:56 - to.

02:56 - Help

02:57 - the environment

02:58 - just quite frankly is not and it's something that has been

03:01 - in the assistance for some time

03:03 - and no one is willing to.

03:06 - You

03:06 - take a stand to to get us out of that it's easy I have

03:09 - you.

03:10 - Gone from.

03:12 - Introducing

03:13 - the very first year I was in

03:15 - in the senate I introduced

03:16 - a resolution that studied this that examined

03:19 - effects on it the costs on it the counties that were required

03:22 - to.

03:23 - To do this.

03:25 - We passed that and there was a recommendation that

03:27 - came out that these counties certain counties could

03:29 - be exempt

03:30 - could come out of the program I liken it to

03:34 - those places you pull in in a

03:36 - parking lot that had the spikes you can get into it

03:39 - you can't get out it's the same thing

03:41 - I've had heard every possible excuse

03:43 - from

03:44 - you know bureaucrats sitting oh we can't do that we can't do this

03:47 - or oh it's not that big of a deal it's only forty dollars

03:49 - that matter there's

03:51 - to.

03:52 - Pennsylvanians

03:53 - and more so than that

03:55 - is if you are working towards it at the time this was implemented.

03:59 - The counties were

04:01 - required to work towards having better air quality.

04:05 - They've done that Cambria county specifically has

04:07 - met those standards so if we why even have benchmarks

04:10 - if you meet the benchmarks and they should know you have the same program

04:13 - it makes absolutely no sense

04:15 - and gives government

04:16 - a bad name it's time to take this county

04:19 - out

04:20 - of the emissions program

04:21 - while earlier you said that most vehicles that take the emission and test pass it

04:26 - has that always been the case in other words

04:28 - what have car manufacturers done in recent years

04:32 - so these vehicles can ace their emissions testing anyway.

04:36 - Just overall efficiency.

04:38 - Just fuel efficiency as well as efficiency with

04:42 - with emissions just as.

04:44 - Technology has evolved

04:45 - it's gone with the vehicle to

04:48 - reduce the the

04:50 - the the emissions out of those vehicles

04:52 - now I pointed out at the beginning of our interview

04:55 - that the emissions testing currently is not required

04:58 - statewide it's only required in twenty five select

05:01 - counties

05:02 - and

05:03 - briefly Sandra how are those counties selected anyway.

05:07 - That goes back to

05:09 - the.

05:10 - Or simple mentation of this through the state implementation plan which is another

05:15 - area that we have to

05:16 - to ultimately address here but that was based on population was based on

05:21 - actual.

05:23 - Nationally it'd be air quality

05:26 - the different testings within the counties

05:28 - that's kind of what led to it and and just even

05:31 - with that over time

05:32 - Kimber county has decreased in population

05:35 - and.

05:37 - Also improve air quality so that's it's

05:39 - going back many many years

05:41 - to a time in a snap shot in time

05:44 - that quite frankly no longer exists.

05:46 - I talk more about the costs of the emissions testing and how Pennsylvania arrived at

05:51 - a rate and isn't uniform and the twenty five counties

05:55 - that require the emissions testing.

05:57 - It's it's generally

05:59 - give or take.

06:01 - Within

06:01 - the market kind of

06:03 - dictates that they may be a little bit higher and some of the the.

06:06 - City areas versus some of the rural areas but it's generally

06:09 - rule of thumb around around forty dollars

06:12 - which.

06:14 - Goes towards you know a portion of that

06:16 - would go to the service center but a portion that does

06:18 - go back to the state and that's something else that

06:21 - you know penndot is.

06:23 - Has been reluctant on or given me a figure

06:25 - exactly how much money they actually printed

06:28 - on this

06:29 - on this program but.

06:31 - It really will have

06:33 - and may have a small the effect on that but ultimately

06:36 - the

06:36 - goal here is

06:37 - about affordability

06:38 - and about simply common sense.

06:42 - I does emissions testing generate revenue for Pennsylvania and

06:46 - if so how much.

06:48 - That's that's what

06:50 - and all it's kind of been a little reluctant in

06:52 - giving those numbers as far as

06:54 - what what the actual

06:56 - appropriation is but it is

06:58 - not a not a large

07:00 - amount of money into the end of the budget.

07:03 - And I notice that a part of your bill.

07:07 - Maintains that you don't want a more counties

07:10 - to be added to emissions testing program

07:13 - and just how important was it to

07:15 - include that in the bell.

07:18 - We want to make it very clear that

07:20 - this

07:21 - is the time for this outdated practice

07:23 - to stop and we've come at this from

07:26 - every possible angle.

07:29 - And

07:30 - as I indicated beginning here yeah there's not a

07:33 - week that goes by that I don't see someone in a

07:36 - grocery store or or out and about that says hey where

07:39 - you come with an emissions testing and I tell you we've

07:42 - gotten this out of the senate

07:44 - multiple multiple sessions of introduces bill every session

07:48 - legislative session that I've been in

07:50 - and it has failed

07:51 - in the house

07:53 - and it's

07:53 - to the point where I'm putting this out there you know

07:55 - it's.

07:57 - Session after session.

07:59 - Fighting this fight

08:01 - to the point where people like what I thought you're going to get emissions done

08:04 - we have in the senate the house will not pick it up

08:06 - the house will not

08:07 - move the bill

08:08 - I've had conversations with

08:11 - the the house chair actually when I before I was

08:14 - in leadership is the majority whip I was the chairman of the transportation committee

08:18 - and I talked to my counterpart in the house you know.

08:21 - Democratic nilsen

08:23 - a majority chairman in the house and.

08:25 - Tried to get them to move it they just can't

08:27 - they can't carry it they can't

08:29 - for whatever reason

08:30 - their their caucus doesn't want to support this commonsense legislation and I don't

08:35 - get it

08:35 - so the chairman

08:36 - of the house transportation committee

08:38 - was not able to give you a solid reason as to why why there's resistance in the house

08:43 - to your

08:43 - think he understands I think he understands the the the common sense of this

08:48 - legislation it's some people that are just absolute.

08:52 - Ultra liberal that.

08:55 - Will not

08:56 - will not vote for this which

08:57 - again makes absolutely no sense to me

09:00 - why have other states done with their emissions

09:03 - testing and what can we learn from them.

09:07 - There are other states that have actually enacted.

09:10 - Legislation to get them out of

09:14 - out of.

09:15 - Emissions testing.

09:17 - The

09:17 - Tennessee north Carolina

09:20 - have actually

09:21 - gotten their states out of that and it's been approved by the pa so it's not like

09:25 - we're in uncharted territory here

09:27 - it has been done in the past and it can be done your.

09:30 - Last question senator now that the bill has passed in your chamber

09:34 - what's next.

09:37 - Keep fighting

09:38 - to keep advocating keep having this conversation trying to

09:41 - move the needle to get this

09:43 - out of the house

09:44 - and then

09:45 - to the governor.

09:46 - Again

09:47 - it's

09:47 - at.

09:48 - It at the very core of this

09:50 - you're taking all of the.

09:52 - Politics aside taking all of the

09:55 - arguments aside as to why this should be it's a

09:57 - bout

09:58 - affordability

09:59 - it's something that

10:00 - we could do.

10:02 - Tomorrow

10:03 - to.

10:03 - Greatly impact

10:05 - the wallets of

10:06 - average everyday

10:08 - pennsylvanians that have to pay this

10:10 - it shouldn't have to pay

10:12 - a senator Wayne longer holds republican from Cambria center

10:16 - and clear field.

10:18 - Thanks very much thank you.