CLEANER AIR CALIFORNIA’S ANTI SMOG FIGHT REACHES NEW STAGE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30825, 10 August 1965, Page 14

CLEANER AIR CALIFORNIA’S ANTI SMOG FIGHT REACHES NEW STAGE

(By the California Correspondent of the “Financial Times.”) (Reprinted by Arrangement. >

In its perennial, relentless, but so far inconclusive war on the form of air pollution known as smog, the State of California has just launched a new and vigorous campaign, with the signing by Governor Edmund Brown of a measure requiring that all domestic new 1966 cars offered for sale will have to incorporate devices to control the emission of pollutants from their exhausts. Other vehicles operating in the State will also have to conform to the same standards, but not right away; British and other foreign car manufacturers exporting to the United States West Coast seemingly will have until the 1967 model year to make the adjustment

Research by the California Motor Vehicle Pollution' Control Board indicates that of all the harmful emissions generated by the combustion of petrol in a car engine, 10 per cent apparently are uncontrollable; another 30 per cent leak out through the crankcase vent; and the remaining 60 per cent escape via the exhaust. A few years ago. California moved to combat crankcase pollution by requiring the installation of devices to return such emissions to the engine to be burned up. But that still left the outlet for the greater part of all smog-causing ingredients unplugged. This the new legislation aims to remedy. Five Systems So far, five exhaust control systems have been approved for installation on new cars offered for sale in California, developed respectively by General Motors, Ford Motor, American Motors, International Harvester, KaiserJeep; a version designed earlier by Chrysler Corporation already had won approval. So. when the 1966 models of the major United States motor-car manufacturers begin to roll off the assembly lines this autumn, all those destined for the California market will be required to carry the additional equipment. The General Motors. Ford Motor and other recently approved systems will seek to eliminate exhaust pollution by an air-injection process that will be an integral part of the car engine. Its key feature will be an air pump (the prototype of which was developed by the Saginaw division of G.M.) which forces air into the engine exhaust manifold so as to cause combustion of hot unburned gases, technically known as hydrocarbons, not consumed in the cylinder chamber.

The system developed by Chrysler, and already approved last year, and marketed by the company as its Clean Air Package, is considerably less elaborate. It is described as a tune-up modification of the engine, designed to promote more efficient burning of the fuel, It is expected to cost only about

. half as much as the other five. I or from 15-25 dollars, comI pared with 50 dollars or so—j by law no device may cost more than 65 dollars. On the other hand, the Chrysler exhaust system will involve a regular outlay for maintenance. while the other manufacturers are expected to guarantee their systems indefinitely. Finally, coming to grips with the pollution blamed for 60 per cent of the smarting eyes, aching heads, queasy stomachs and other symptoms of polluted air in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other metropolitan areas of California. should cause much satisfaction locally, and it would be pleasant to be able to report that smog is on the verge of being routed from the area. Unfortunately, any victory celebrations would be highly premature at this stag . In fact. If the past is any guide, setbacks and disappoinments may well lie

(ahead. However effective the new device prove—and there j seems no reason why they {should not prove effective (technically—they will only be installed in future on new cars as they leave the factory. Additional Charges The millions of used cars already operating on the California roads will not be affected at once. They will eventually have to carry exhaust control devices, but not before December 1, 1967. Tins is when problems may begin to arise. While an additional charge of 25-50 dollars for such equipment may not trouble the purchaser of a new car, amid all the ‘‘extra’’ equipment for which he will be charged, many used car owners in California may rebel when called upon to layout such sums from their own pockets for devices from which they personally will derive no benefit. The proof of this lies in the public outcry against spend ing the 10-15 dollars involved in the fitting of a device to control pollution from the crankcase when this became mandatory in California. So vocal was the opposition, that the State backed down from its original compulsory installation programme for all used cars up to the year 1960, after which such equipment was installed by the manufacturers on all cars for sale in California. A compromise was reached by which the crankcase installation was mandatory for the buyer when a used car changed hands. Aside from the cost, the motorists’ revolt was touched off by the requirement that on applying to renew a car registration, the owner had to sign an affidavit that his vehicle was equipped with a crankcase device. An identical problem also seems certain to arise over the more expensive exhaust device. Then there is the matter of enforcement. The latest antismog legislation provides for a doubling of the California State Highway Patrol, to provide manpower for random roadside inspection.