Method arises for smog check

  • Published
  • By Xuyen Lieu
  • 60th Civil Engineer Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif --  The Federal Clean Air Act of 1990 requires states to establish and implement Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Programs to reduce motor vehicle emissions in areas with poor air quality. I/M, also known as smog check, has been adopted in more than 25 states to address both air quality and environmental concerns.

Smog check programs, by design, require mandatory periodic motor vehicle emissions inspections to ensure vehicles subject to smog check are properly maintained. CAA Section 118(d) mandates federal facilities ensure all employees who operate motor vehicles on a federal installation, such as Travis Air Force Base, furnish proof of compliance with the local smog check program. While Travis has ensured compliance with CAA 118(d) since 1995, Travis must change its method of ensuring compliance in accordance with new Air Force directives. Thus, Travis is implementing the new Air Force web-based system, Employee-Certification and Reporting System. ECARS is a "wizard-like" tool that will guide employees through a short self-certifying process of their privately owned vehicles.

The CAA and state law require employees to comply with the local smog check program in effect where the federal installation is located. Therefore, the new method of compliance will require all Travis employees, both military and civilian, to self-certify in ECARS regardless of where their vehicle is registered. This is significant because the law requires all employee POVs operated on Travis meet the local enhanced smog check program requirements. Travis employees who do not have a current emissions test or meet the local program for each vehicle driven on Travis are required to obtain one in order to be in compliance with the law.

ECARS asks a short series of vehicle information questions to record each participant's self-certification with the local smog check program. The entire self-certification process takes less than five minutes. At the end of the process, employees will digitally sign AF Form 4434 to serve as record of their self-certification.
ECARS will send email notifications to the work email addresses of Travis personnel subject to the requirement beginning MMM DD, 2013. Employees will receive email notifications from no-reply@apims.com instructing them on what to do to complete the initial certification process. To self-certify compliantly, employees must follow instructions contained in both the initial and all subsequent ECARS email notifications received. Re-certification will occur annually on the anniversary of initial certification or upon expiration of an employee's emission certificate. Employees who fail to self-certify compliantly may be subject to administrative action, including loss of base driving privileges.

If you have any questions, please call Mr. Xuyen Lieu from 60th Civil Engineer Squadron at 424-5103.