A new referee program, led by UC Riverside environmental engineers, will provide testing services that will ensure vehicles are properly tested and maintained. Under an agreement with the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Heavy-Duty Inspection and Maintenance (HD I/M) regulations, the program will enable the identification of vehicles with broken emissions control systems, which would allow those vehicles to be repaired promptly.
UCR’s College of Engineering Center of Environmental Research and Technology, or CE-CERT, will run the state referee program for heavy-duty trucks. This spring, two testing sites are expected to open and in the next few years, UCR will be working to expand the program throughout California in order to ensure statewide coverage. California State University Fresno is expected to partner with UCR, conducting tests in the San Joaquin Valley. UCR will be hiring three or four testers with engineering skills. They expect to be expanding the staff as the program continues to grow. This program also offers CE-CERT valuable hands-on experience.
The referee program is potentially a large step to controlling emissions from large vehicles and moving towards a more sustainable method of transportation. It will be tackling a major component of California’s fine particle pollution and compounds that have been affecting the environment. Vehicle emissions have been a large component to air pollution. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, as much as 95 percent of all carbon monoxide emissions in cities may come from motor vehicle exhausts. Communities living close to high traffic of air pollutants like freeways are more vulnerable to numerous health complications.
CARB’s Heavy Duty Inspection And Maintenance program is expected to significantly reduce air pollution emitted from large vehicles. The program is expected to improve the state’s air quality, address public health concerns, and help meet the state and federal health standards.
