System for smog check relocates to internet Published Jan. 21, 2014 By Xuyen Lieu 60th Civil Engineering Squadron TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Federal Clean Air Act of 1990 requires states to establish and implement vehicle inspection and maintenance to reduce motor vehicle emissions in areas with poor air quality. Inspection and maintenance, also known as a smog check, has been adopted by more than 25 states to address air quality concerns. Smog check programs require mandatory periodic motor vehicle emissions inspections to ensure that vehicles subject to a smog check are properly maintained and not contributing to the air quality problem. Under the CAA, federal employees, both military and civilian, who operate privately owned vehicles on a federal installation, such as Travis, must furnish proof of compliance with the local smog check program. While Travis has complied with the CAA since 1996, new Air Force directives are changing the way that compliance is managed. The biggest change is the implementation of a new Air Force web-based system, known as the Employee Certification and Reporting System, a tool that guides employees through a short, self-certifying process. ECARS requires all Travis Golden Bears to self-certify regardless of where their vehicle is registered. This is significant because the law requires federal employees driving POVs on Travis to meet the local, enhanced smog check program standards. For each vehicle driven on Travis that does not qualify for an exemption, a current smog check emissions test must be obtained to be in compliance with the law. Common exemptions include motorcycles, vehicles that were manufactured in 1975 or earlier, diesel vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, natural gas powered vehicles and gasoline vehicles with six model years or newer. This means in 2014, the six exemption model years are 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009. In 2015, the 2009 model year will no longer be exempt and so on. A complete list of exemptions can be found on the ECARS website. For those employees with vehicles that qualify for exemption from obtaining an emissions test, the self-certification in ECARS will still need to be completed. 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 Air Force Form 4434 to serve as record of their self-certification. Beginning Feb. 5, ECARS will send email notifications to the work addresses of Travis personnel. Employees will receive email notifications from no-reply@apims.af.mil, instructing them on what to do to complete the initial certification process. They will have 30 days from receipt of the email notification to log onto the ECARS website and complete the self-certification. Employees who fail to comply with the requirement may be subject to administrative action, including loss of base driving privileges. Recertification will occur annually on the anniversary of initial certification or upon expiration of an employee's emission certificate. For more information concerning a smog check or assistance using ECARS, call Xuyen Lieu, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron, at 424-5103.