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Motorists will get replacement lids if their vehicles fail emissions test for missing, leaking or faulty seal
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008
Ohio's E-Check vehicle testing has something new: free replacement gas caps.
Motorists in Summit, Portage, Medina, Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain and Geauga counties who fail the tests because of missing, leaking or faulty gas caps can get new replacement caps at the testing facilities.
Since Sept. 15, the caps have been provided by Connecticut-based Envirotest Systems Corp., the company that has a contract with Ohio to conduct the emissions tests in the seven counties through June 30.
That means that motorists who fail the gas-cap test don't have to drive off, buy a new cap and return to have the vehicle retested, company spokeswoman Tia Trivison said.
The new caps are being provided as a motorist convenience, she said, and the caps were not part of the most recent contract extension with Ohio.
The company operates a similar program in two Indiana counties, she said.
The new gas-cap program, started by Envirotest with the approval of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, is drawing favorable reactions from motorists, she said.
''By providing free gas caps at E-Check stations, we can remedy most gas-cap issues on the spot, saving motorists a return trip and immediately improving air quality,'' said Bob Hodanbosi, chief of the Ohio EPA's Division of Air Pollution Control.
In 2007, 3 percent of all vehicles tested in Northeast Ohio — 25,349 — failed E-Check because of gas caps, Trivison said.
E-Check affects 1.4 million motorists in the seven Northeast Ohio counties. Every two years, their vehicles must pass the test before motorists can get license-plate stickers.
Older cars are run on high-tech treadmills; newer cars are gauged by data stored in the vehicles' on-board computers. The test is free to motorists; the state pays the cost. The replacement caps Envirotest provides will fit 90 percent of all vehicles, Trivison said.
If a vehicle has a unique cap with a lock or a special tether, the company will alternately provide a $5 gas gift card, and the motorist will be on his or her own to cover the cost of a replacement cap.
A missing gas cap or one that does not seal properly allows hydrocarbons to escape into the air. A vehicle with a faulty gas cap can lose up to 22 gallons of gasoline per year through evaporation, she said.
Those evaporating fumes contribute to Northeast Ohio's continuing ozone problem.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Ohio's E-Check vehicle testing has something new: free replacement gas caps.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:16 AM, 09/24/2008
In the mid 70s regular gas became history and unleaded was the order of the day. Cars were coming out with catalytic converters to make the air cleaner. In all the years since then, cars have gotten better with more and more stuff under the hood. Gas has been reformulated for summer and winter too. More hy-brids are on the road each year and more so now. People are parking their SUVs and opting for small four cylinder cars then ever before as gas has set price records. And now people are just plain sitting home and not going anywhere unless the plan or combine trips to save on gas. People like my son have lost their jobs and their cars are sitting except for going to interviews. With all of that, how can we still have pollution in 2008? Are our scores better? What are our scores today. E-check was just renewed for another year for some reason. We have had people run for office stating they would end E-check. How much pollution do we cause driving every car in each county to and from the stations to have them checked? My in-laws in the Dayton area said theirs ended because their air is now ok. Will ours ever end?
Akron, OH
Posted 11:36 AM, 09/24/2008
Karen, you ignoring that people are going cheaper and buying much older cars that do not offer everything you list. They are also not maintaining their vehicles as they should.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 12:26 PM, 09/24/2008
It's still around because of politics. What else would the EPA have to do if not for this farce. I'm sure some remember the days that Akron smelled of rancid rubber from the mills. You mean to tell me our air is worse now then it was back then?...I think not. Everyone just has to have their fingers in the pie. Friggin dump trucks and rigs can spew out thick black smoke and that's ok...it makes no sense to me at all
akron, oh
Posted 01:56 PM, 09/24/2008
Quit complaining - its, what, $30 every two years.
Posted 03:03 PM, 09/24/2008
Its free.
Posted 05:24 PM, 09/24/2008
Its a pain in the but. Commercial vehicles polute a lot and are are not included. The program is in place because some politicians are in bed with Envirotest. They renew the contracts, then can't get out of it or the state would owe them for the number of tests that would have been done. Plus it probably earns them some brownie points with the Ohio EPA. At least we're not paying for it anymore.
