meerschm
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2009
- Location
- Fairfax county VA
- TDI
- 2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
Just so you know, my wife works for the EPA, helping folks understand alternatives that are cleaner and effective.
I spoke with one of her friends who is a lawyer for the agency. social occasion, casual questions.
there is an enforcement office, several actually, and they have more to do than there are hours in a day, so it is a matter of priorities. they do rely mostly upon state enforcement for the emissions checks which are required based on the air quality in the area. (costs too much to run a vehicle testing program where the people are few and the air is semi-ok to breathe) some places have roaming side of the road checks to see which vehicles are emitting, and send high emission vehicles a letter based on lic plate to get inspected, in addition to the pre-registration checks.
the truth is that stuff we put in the air makes people sick. (and some who are a little sick, much sicker) this is the driver for the original clean air act which Richard Nixon signed, and is what motivates most of the folks who work for the EPA.
for a shop which specializes in part in performing modification of emissions systems, it would seem to me that internet discussion exposure is a two edged sword. more customers, more risk of awareness of folks who could bring legal action against the shop.
the EPA does focus the limited budget and enforcement staff resources they do have on the biggest emitters, so you might expect that shops that focus only on individual 40mpg plus cars would come well down the list, after folks who make and sell pipe kits, delete tunes, and modification for pickups and larger trucks and equipment. (and after fixed industrial sources)
this does not mean they will not get there, just a matter of resources. they may never get around to it, or it may be next week.
you will probably not see the shops include large bumper stickers with "I had my emissions controls deleted at ......."
I spoke with one of her friends who is a lawyer for the agency. social occasion, casual questions.
there is an enforcement office, several actually, and they have more to do than there are hours in a day, so it is a matter of priorities. they do rely mostly upon state enforcement for the emissions checks which are required based on the air quality in the area. (costs too much to run a vehicle testing program where the people are few and the air is semi-ok to breathe) some places have roaming side of the road checks to see which vehicles are emitting, and send high emission vehicles a letter based on lic plate to get inspected, in addition to the pre-registration checks.
the truth is that stuff we put in the air makes people sick. (and some who are a little sick, much sicker) this is the driver for the original clean air act which Richard Nixon signed, and is what motivates most of the folks who work for the EPA.
for a shop which specializes in part in performing modification of emissions systems, it would seem to me that internet discussion exposure is a two edged sword. more customers, more risk of awareness of folks who could bring legal action against the shop.
the EPA does focus the limited budget and enforcement staff resources they do have on the biggest emitters, so you might expect that shops that focus only on individual 40mpg plus cars would come well down the list, after folks who make and sell pipe kits, delete tunes, and modification for pickups and larger trucks and equipment. (and after fixed industrial sources)
this does not mean they will not get there, just a matter of resources. they may never get around to it, or it may be next week.
you will probably not see the shops include large bumper stickers with "I had my emissions controls deleted at ......."
Last edited:
