Low-income motorists can receive help with emission-control repairs

Art Nadler

Thursday, May 20, 1999 | 10:02 a.m.

Low-income people faced with costly vehicle emission repairs could qualify for some financial relief under a new Clark County program.

The Clark County Comprehensive Planning Department, the Clark County Health District and the state Department of Motor Vehicles have teamed up to offer qualified drivers up to $600 in free repairs after they pay a $100 co-payment.

The program -- the Voluntary Vehicle Repair Program -- has been a big boost for some people who are financially strapped. It quietly began in August.

"I would have had to park my vehicle and not drive," said Debra Butler, a single mother with two children. She recently was hit with a $560 bill on her 1988 Nissan minivan. Under the new program, she had to pay only $100 up front to pass an emissions test.

Last year Butler said she paid $650 to pass inspection. This year she said there was no way she could have taken $560 out of her pocket.

The need is clear not only for those who need the repairs done. The repairs also help clean up the air.

The county Department of Comprehensive Planning estimates that by 2001 there will be 298 tons of carbon monoxide produced a day throughout the Las Vegas Valley. By 2010 there will be 339 tons and 469 tons by 2020, by county estimates.

Ninety percent of carbon monoxide in Southern Nevada comes from vehicle emissions, Clete Kus, principal planner with county Comprehensive Planning Department, said, and 50 percent of that pollution is produced by older vehicles. Older vehicles represent only 10 percent of the vehicles on the road, he added.

"Our goal is to repair in excess of 1,200 vehicles," Kus said. "Since the program started 50 people have used it so far."

But that number is minuscule, Kus said, compared with the number of vehicles registered in Clark County. There are 750,000 vehicles in the county, about 10 percent of them heavy polluters, he said.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines are used to qualify people for the program, Kus said. A single person who has less than $27,700 a year in income qualifies, as does a family of two with $31,700 or less in annual income, a family of four with $39,600 or less, up to a family of eight with $52,250 or less.

The program is funded by a $900,000 grant from the Emission Control Program of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. More repair shops are still needed in the program.

If a vehicle fails an emission inspection, the only other option a driver has is to apply for a waiver from the Department of Motor Vehicles, Kus said. After the driver spends a minimum of $450, if the vehicle still doesn't pass inspection, it will be issued a registration sticker anyway, he said.

"I think the emission inspections are unfair to people who can't afford to repair their cars," said Jose Meyer of Meyer's Service, 3552 Boulder Highway. "People on fixed incomes need help. The older cars are the ones that need repairs, and these are the drivers who can't afford it."

"The older cars are the ones that need repairs, and these are the drivers who can't afford it."Jose MeyerMEYERS SERVICE