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This paper describes the certification of the automotive repair industry with respect to the British Columbia Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program, more commonly referred to as the AirCare Program. A training program has been developed to ensure that technicians have the knowledge, and can develop the necessary expertise, to repair emissions systems on vehicles that have failed inspection. A performance monitoring system allows detailed review of individual technicians performance.

The British Columbia emissions inspection and maintenance program is briefly described. An analysis of repairs and inspection reports has shown a very high proportion of repairs to be effective in reducing emissions. The imposition of a NOx standard has meant that HC and CO reductions have been achieved without increasing NOx emissions. The NOx emissions of vehicles that fail the inspection because of the NOx standard have usually been reduced by appropriate repairs. Emission repairs have also resulted in fuel ecomony gains typically around 7%.

Basing its conclusions on over one million gasoline vehicle inspections and over 30,000 alternative fuelled vehicle inspections, this paper examines the pass/fail records for each fuel; the problems most common to failing vehicles; and repair strategies used to correct those problems. The paper specifically describes the relationship between the level of technology used in alternative fuel systems and their emissions performance. It is shown that alternative fuelled vehicles are not inherently clean, and that to meet the same emissions standards as gasoline vehicles the alternative fuel system should employ the same level of technology as used in the original gasoline vehicle.

Demonstration inspection and maintenance programs in major cities across Canada have indicated that the full effectiveness of emission control equipment installed on new cars is not being achieved as a result of improper vehicle maintenance or tampering with the control devices. Environment Canada has recognized this phenomema as being both a technical and a social problem. In order to implement an effective solution while avoiding negative public response, a different type of program is proposed in which the mandatory annual inspection will apply initially to new vehicles only such that the fleet subject to inspection and maintenance will be “phased-in” gradually. The methodology of such an approach is explained in this paper.