Committee advances plan to study removing Lake, Porter counties from emissions-testing region

The House Environmental Affairs Committee voted unanimously to advance Senate Bill 103 as amended, directing the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to perform a comprehensive evaluation of ambient air quality and to identify pollution-reduction strategies that could allow Lake and Porter counties to exit the Region 5 vehicle-emissions testing program.

Senate Bill 103 was described by its sponsor as a multi-step process intended to give northwest Indiana residents relief from a vehicle-emissions testing requirement that has applied to portions of Lake and Porter counties since about 1993. Chairman Niemeyer said the region’s inclusion in a larger, multi-state nonattainment area has required local emissions testing and that the amendment establishes procedures for working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies to seek removal from the region if data show the counties meet applicable standards.

Niemeyer noted the existing contract for testing operations runs about every four years and costs approximately $24 million; he said the change could take a year or more to implement but described it as a multi-step pathway to remove the testing obligation.

Jake Tory, legislative director for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, told the committee IDEM supports the amended bill and expects to complete the evaluation and identify strategies by the end of the calendar year. “We appreciate Senator Niemeyer working on this bill and working with us and Commissioner Woods. I’m glad to support this. We believe that we will be able to carry this out, by December 31 of this year, to study these things,” Tory said.

Rick Cockrum, representing Lake County (client of TAM Capital Group), told the committee preliminary data indicate a high proportion of through traffic on the I-80/I-94 corridor contributes to localized emissions and that lower-income residents and seniors frequently bear the cost of frequent retesting. Representative Carolyn Jackson recounted constituent experiences in which test failures required costly repairs or repeated visits to testing facilities; she said one constituent’s issue was resolved only after intervention with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and a vehicle dealer.

The committee approved the amended bill and recorded a 13-0 vote. The measure instructs IDEM to evaluate ambient air quality, identify corrective strategies, and engage with federal partners to pursue removal from the testing region where justified by the data.

The committee’s action advances the bill to the full House for further consideration.