Alaska Politics Blog : Sullivan proposes killing I/M program six months early

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Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

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Sullivan proposes killing I/M program six months early

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: January 11, 2012 - 11:44 am

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

The I/M program that requires Anchorage drivers to pay for an emissions test that the Environmental Protection Agency says is no longer necessary may end even sooner than you think.

Mayor Dan Sullivan will announce a proposal today to kill the program six months earlier than expected, a spokeswoman said.

The EPA on Tuesday agreed to allow the city to end the program. But while the EPA approval is effective Feb. 9, current city law calls for the emissions testing program to linger for an additional six months.

That’s because when the Assembly agreed to kill the program in May 2010, Assembly members added a “grace period” under which the testing program would continue for half a year. The idea: Give businesses that sell the tests -- which cost up to $68 -- time to prepare for the change.

“(Sullivan) is going to ask the Assembly to rescind that six-month grace period,” Sullivan spokeswoman Sarah Erkmann said today.

The mayor will announce his plans today at a press briefing, she said.

“Basically, we’ve been talking about I/M going away for so long, he’s confident that the places that provide I/M tests have had ample time to prepare their business model,” Erkmann said.

The anti-pollution program requires that drivers get their vehicles tested every two years.

The program -- "I/M" is short for vehicle inspection and maintenance -- began in 1985 in an effort to help Anchorage meet federal clean-air standards for carbon monoxide. Anchorage has not violated the standard since 1997.