approve devices after its tests show that the devices meet the motor vehicle emission standards. Before certifying a device, the Board must take into account its cost, safety, reliability, ease of inspection, and other aspects that are in the public interest. The Board also has the authority to exempt classes of vehicles from the requirement that they have control devices.

All new vehicles are required to follow a schedule for installation of approved devices, but local boards of supervisors in each county decide if the devices

are to be installed on used vehicles in each county. This provides for rapid implementation of the control program in counties where serious air pollution exists, and a modified program in other counties.

The program that has been described is not the only possible approach, and those planned by other areas may not be similar to that in California. They will have their own characteristics, reflecting their own needs. But all of them will have to take into account most of the factors that had to be considered in California.

1. California Health and Safety Code, 1962; Sections 426.1 and 426.5.

2. Technical Report of California Standards for Ambient Air Quality and Motor Vehicle Exhaust; California Department of Public Health, Berkeley, Calif., 1960.

3. Technical Report of California Standards for Ambient Air Quality and Motor Vehicle Exhaust-Supplement Number 1, Crankcase Emission Standard; California Department of Public Health, 1961.

4. California Health and Safety Code, 1962; Sections

24378-40004.

ADMINISTRATION

TOM BRIGHT Director

California Department of Motor Vehicles Sacramento, Calif.

Few automotive developments in recent years have received the attention that has been directed to California's efforts to eliminate motor-vehiclecreated smog. Every step of this pioneering undertaking has made news and has been recorded in detail in the public prints. No doubt this expanding interest in an unusually complicated problem stems in part at least from the realization that air pollution is not confined to California alone. A recent report of the U.S. Public Health Service reveals that air pollution arising from automobiles is spreading throughout the country and holds a potential threat to life and property. Small wonder then that California developments are being watched so closely!

Many of the writings so far have been directed to the actions of the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board created by the California Legislature in 1960. The Board, dedicated to returning the quality of California air to 1940 levels, has proceeded with care and discretion in setting the requirements and criteria to be followed by manufacturers of control devices.

For both crankcase and exhaust devices, the Board has established requirements for longevity, cost, effect on engine operation, safety, heat, and ability to operate in the wide variety of driving conditions found in California. But perhaps the most troublesome problem of all, that of enforcement and compliance, is still to be solved. It is in this field that the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Motor Vehicles will exercise their legally constituted responsibilities.

The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol and the Director of Motor Vehicles are ex officio members of the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board and both are members of the Board's Committee on Enforcement and Compliance. The Highway Patrol Commissioner serves as chairman of the committee.

At this writing the Committee on Enforcement and Compliance is developing a workable program to control both the installation and the effectiveness of continued operation of both crankcase and exhaust devices after certification by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Enforcement and Compliance Committee is leaning toward a statewide complex of licensed, privately owned and operated inspection stations, but a final decision by the Board has not been reached.

The Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Act provides that enforcement shall begin 1 year after the date of certification for two or more motor vehicle pollution control devices. The certification date for crankcase devices, for new cars only, has been established as April 26, 1962. Enforcement at this stage of the operation of the law has not been difficult, for

two reasons:

1. Crankcase devices are installed by the manufacturers of all American-manufactured vehicles.

2. It has been the Board's belief that periodical service of these units need not be made mandatory.

Crankcase devices for use on used vehicles, as of this date, have not been certified by the Board. I

personally believe that the Board will certify crankcase devices for used cars some time in December

of this year.

A certification date for exhaust control devices is yet to be established, since testing is still underway. Because of the time involved in testing, it is unlikely that a certification date will be established before the summer of 1963.

The present Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Act is concerned only with the initial installation of an air pollution control device. The law itself does not specify the type of device nor does it say anything about an inspection, annual or otherwise. It seems evident, however, that the purpose of the law would be defeated if an inspection of some type is not required. Catalytic exhaust devices have a life limited by the operative term of the catalytic agent and afterburner exhaust devices require inspection and adjustment periodically to operate at peak efficiency.

The law provides that no new motor vehicle shall be registered in California after 1 year from the certification date unless and until it is equipped with a certified device. It further states that no used motor vehicle upon transfer of registered owner shall be registered after 1 year from the certification date when the principal location for the motor vehicle is a county or a portion of a county where the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Act are operative, unless and until the motor vehicle is equipped with a certified device. Furthermore, no used commercial motor vehicle shall be registered after the second December 31 next following certification date when the principal vehicle location is a county or a portion of a county wherein the provisions of the act apply, unless and until it is equipped with a certified device. Finally, no motor vehicle is to be registered after the third December 31 next following the certification date when the principal vehicle location is a county or a portion of a county where the act applies, unless and until it is equipped with a certified device.

It can easily be seen from the above that there are multiple factors to be taken into consideration by the motor vehicle administrators in addition to the normal requirements in registering a vehicle in California after devices are certified. In the case of new automobiles, the procedure will be fairly simple. Since all new vehicles, whether or not they are sold in a smog area, will be required to have the device installed one year after the certification date, all that will be required will be a certification of in

stallation on the dealer's report of sale. A windshield sticker or other suitable indicia would be affixed to indicate the presence of the device and the date for inspection.

When used cars are considered, however, the problem becomes more complex. The requirement that they be equipped with devices will depend upon whether or not their principal location is in a county which has been exempted by action of its governing board from the provisions of the act. In this instance, a further administrative problem has been created for the Department of Motor Vehicles in that it must make a determination as to whether a particular used motor vehicle is entitled to the exemption. Once the determination is made and the records of the department are established, they will always be subject to change according to the mobility of the registered owner. His change of residence from an exempt county to one included in an air pollution control district will require installation of the device.

The thinking of the Enforcement and Compliance Committee in regard to installation of devices on used vehicles leans toward a staggered installation schedule in order that inspection dates would not all occur at the same time. It has been suggested that the time of year for installation of a device on a specific vehicle shall be determined by the last digit of its license plate. Upon installation of the device, a windshield sticker or other indicia would be affixed to the vehicle, indicating that servicing of the device would be required 1 year later. Details of the sticker have not been presented to the Board but it is contemplated that it would have a distinctive color for the year of issue and would bear the month and year of expiration in order that enforcement officers might readily determine if the vehicle is equipped with an effective device.

It is also contemplated that in addition to the windshield sticker, there should be a distinctive code entry on the registration card indicating the presence of the device, and a certificate, to be kept with the registration card, attesting to the installation or inspection of the device. The latter upon presentation would serve to eliminate the need for physical inspection of the vehicle by Department of Motor Vehicles' clerks if the vehicle is transferred to a new owner.

For purposes of law enforcement and compliance to standards set forth by the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, it is necessary that one State

agency exercise full control over the operation of installation and inspection stations for pollution control devices. Theoretically, that agency should be the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board but inasmuch as it lacks staff to undertake such an ambitious program, statewide agencies such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol seem indicated. The chairman of the Committee on Enforcement and Compliance has indicated his willingness to have the Department of Motor Vehicles conduct the program.

If the Department of Motor Vehicles ultimately is selected to administer the installation and inspection program, it will propose the following:

1. The form of authorization for an establishment to engage in installation and inspection of air pollution control devices will be a license granted by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The detailed content of the license will be determined when the control program is more advanced.

2. An adequate number of installation inspection stations to fulfill the needs of the initial year of control will be licensed prior to the enforcement date or shortly thereafter. The best possible dispersal over a wide area will be sought.

Studies conducted by the Department of Motor Vehicles show that a minimum of 124 inspection

stations must be licensed in California the first year following the date of enforcement. Although this number is statistically correct, based upon an inspection rate of five vehicles per hour, it does not take into account the need for greater geographical distribution as a convenience to the motoring public. The actual figure, therefore, would be considerably greater.

From the statements thus far recited it can be deduced that the problems of motor vehicle administration in the smog control problem are multiple and some still remain to be solved. Actually, only a few of the problems have received the consideration of the full board membership and no definite program of enforcement and compliance has been adopted.

Many hours have been spent on discussion and planning of this phase of California's program and it is anticipated that the board ultimately will adopt the committee's program for enforcement and compliance. The committee members hopefully anticipate early action, since some of their suggestions, notably those establishing official testing stations, permitting issuance of certificates by these stations, and prohibiting operation of a motor vehicle required to have a device without an appropriate windshield sticker, will require legislation. In order to meet schedules which now appear likely, it will be necessary for appropriate legislation to be adopted in 1963.

BURTON W. MARSH

Director, Traffic Engineering and Safety Department American Automobile Association Washington, D.C.

Everybody wants clean, fresh air to breathe and to live in. Consequently, no one wants air pollu tion. But of course the problem isn't that simple. Evidence from several serious air pollution episodes, from certain cities, and from other sources shows that air pollution is a matter which warrants the most serious attention of the American public, and calls for positive rather than negative viewpoints and approaches. This conference is a commendable project.

It is encouraging to note the great emphasis which is placed on getting the facts as a basis for dealing with this important and growing problem. Surely the greatest need, from the point of view of making substantial and continuing progress, is for greatly increased study and research. In this connection, I would assume that there is continuing validity and importance to the report of the distinguished task group set up by the Surgeon General. I refer to its report, submitted in 1960, entitled "National Goals in Air Pollution Research." One could not help being impressed with these recommendations, including one which called for multiplying by three the annual expenditures devoted to air pollution research by 1968. Let's hope that the 10 principal research goals listed in that report are receiving due attention and appropriate financial support.

Research, particularly in Los Angeles, has established that, when in operation, motor vehicles produce considerable amounts of gases, fumes, etc., which then become part of the air pollution picture. But this is not to say that motor vehicles in your city or mine are important factors in producing a serious degree of air pollution. Indeed, in most places, the

conditions essential to development of serious air pollution have not been shown to exist simultaneously in dangerous degree. From a practical viewpoint, the extent of air pollution present from time to time is the matter to be faced-along, of course, with any trends which show changes in the degree of air pollution.

It is generally agreed that troublesome urban air pollution requires two factors: (1) substantial amounts of pollutants in the urban air; and (2) insufficient air movement to dissipate the pollutants fairly promptly. In the Los Angeles type of smog, two other factors are necessary; (3) a temperature inversion whereby a warmer layer acts as a cap or lid over the basin in which the city lies; and (4) sunlight, which produces a photochemical reaction that alters some of the pollutants unfavorably.

In connection with No. 4, a very important further factor, often overlooked, must also be present, and that is time-there must be sufficient time during which these conditions exist, because the photochemical reactions require a fairly substantial amount of time.

These points are presented to emphasize that air pollution is a complicated matter, and unless the subject is viewed objectively and comprehensively, there is a very real danger that some people will give undue emphasis to individual factors in the picture.

Turning now to the motoring public, it should be pointed out at the outset that the motoring public is a very large proportion of the American public-with three out of four families each owning at least one motor vehicle. It should also be borne in mind from the outset that Americans like