Davis County staff back making mobile vehicle-emissions testing permanent, ask commission to OK variances

Davis County health department staff told the County Commission on Feb. 17 that a mobile vehicle-emissions pilot launched about 18 months ago has met technical and audit requirements and that a second mobile operator is seeking a variance to the county's location rules.

Brian Hatch of the Davis County Health Department said the "vehicle emission program is administered by the health department, but it is governed by a county ordinance," and therefore the commission must act on location variances and ordinance language. He described the pilot's rules: lane cameras must record every test, images must be uploaded immediately to the state database, and county inspectors must be able to perform audits, including tamper checks.

Staff reported the first operator (described in the presentation using the name provided) has operated since Aug. 24 without complaints and successfully implemented lane cameras, uploads and audit access. A second operator, presented as a mobile repair service retrofitting an ambulance with ramps and a permanently mounted camera, has requested the same variance so it can offer emissions testing as an auxiliary service.

Commissioners said they generally supported allowing mobile testing for convenience. One commissioner asked whether mobile testing would lower consumer prices; staff said market competition and business models would determine price, but convenience often entails an added fee. Staff also recommended that, if the mobile model becomes common, the commission consider an ordinance change rather than recurring case-by-case variances.

Staff also reviewed an owner's request for an emissions-test exemption under the cited state statute (described in the presentation as "41 6 a 16 42") that allows counties to exempt vehicles more than 30 years old that have been driven fewer than 1,500 miles in the prior 12 months and are used primarily for exhibition or club participation. The controller and health staff noted House Bill 22 would, if enacted as described during the meeting, exempt model-year 1995 and older vehicles statewide, likely taking effect in October; staff said that change would reduce the number of local exemptions needed.

Next steps: staff asked for direction and said they will draft any needed resolution or redline ordinance changes and bring formal items to a commission meeting for public action.