TORONTO - Diesel-powered buses and trucks operating in Ontario will face the toughest emission testing standards in North America beginning April 1.
The new standards put into place by the provincial government will apply to all heavy-duty vehicles registered in Ontario, as well as buses and trucks registered elsewhere but operated in the province.
Government spokesman Charles Ross said the "Drive Clean" testing standards are stricter than those in the United States for existing diesel-powered vehicles, including those on vehicles registered in California.
"There has been some confusion coming from the U.S., but we believe our testing standards to be the toughest in North America," he said.
The new standards take effect in two steps - the first next month and the second April 1, 2005 - and limit the particulate matter in exhaust emissions. Acceleration snap tests will be performed to determine opacity readings, or the amount of light blocked by the particulates.
Current Ontario standards allow 55 percent of the light to be blocked by the exhaust of buses and trucks built before 1991, and 40 percent for those built later. Those are the same standards in effect for California.
Under the new Ontario standards, the percentage falls next month to 45 percent for older models and 35 percent for newer ones. In April 2005, the acceptable percentage will drop to 40 percent for older models and 30 percent for the newer models.
School buses must meet the same standard as the newer model buses and trucks, regardless of their age.
Operators will get an incentive to keep emissions low.
Beginning next year, vehicles that meet a 20 percent opacity reading or lower will receive an exemption that will require testing every two years rather than annually.
The new testing program won the support of most industry organizations, including the Ontario Motor Coach Association.
"We're not afraid of the tests because we are good," said Brian Crow, president and chief executive of the motorcoach association. "We have been testing and we have looked extremely good."
He said the percentage of coaches that have been passing the test has been in the high 90s.
Crow said the association initially wanted the testing to be conducted every two years, rather than annually, but agreed to a compromise of going for two years without a test if the initial test results met the 20 percent opacity reading. "We wanted more but we accepted the compromise."
The Ontario School Bus Association supported the measure as well, according to Richard Donaldson, executive director. "Reducing vehicle emissions is very important to us and I know that our vehicles are going to have results that are even better than the Drive Clean standards," he said. "The opportunity for biennial testing when we exceed those standards is a strong, additional incentive to make sure our vehicles are clean."
Ross said testing would be done when vehicles go through the annual registration process, or when they have been sold and are being registered by a new owner.
Additionally, he said the government's "smog patrol" will be on the road conducting random tests of heavy-duty vehicles driving in the province that are registered elsewhere.
Drivers that fail the test at registration will not be able to register their vehicles until they pass, while out-of-province vehicles that are tested on the road and fail will be fined $425 and then released.
Crow said he does not expect very many random tests of buses from other areas unless a vehicle is belching large amounts of black smoke. "If a bus goes by and you can't see it because of the black smoke, it probably will be stopped and taken off the road. But for random tests, I don't expect to see too many," he said.
Ontario is the only province in Canada with an emissions testing program for heavy-duty vehicles.
In the U.S., 15 states have some type of testing program for heavy-duty vehicles -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Utah and Washington.