(The Center Square) – Drivers in Beaver County are among those in Pennsylvania required to pay for annual emissions testing, but lawmakers there say that should change.
Located northwest of Pittsburgh, it’s one of four in the region that fall under the federal provision, due to heightened concerns about air pollution. State Reps. Roman Kozak and Josh Kail, Republicans with districts that encompass the county, said costly waivers that range as high as $450 annually, and relatively low population, create an unfair burden for residents there.
“It greatly affects low and fixed-income individuals, as well as small business owners,” Kozak said in the memo. “These individuals, and many others, are forced to face costs associated with inspection fees, potential repairs, and time off work as a result of the current antiquated policy.”
A 2018 Joint State Government Commission report said about 126,000 vehicles were tested under federal law. PennDOT estimates that maintenance shops charge between $38 and $45 for the service, costing drivers roughly $4.8 million to $5.7 million annually.
More than half of the commonwealth’s 67 counties are exempt from the test. In Pittsburgh’s region four – also home to Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties – Beaver is the smallest and most rural.
It also borders East Palestine, Ohio, site of a 2023 chemical spill that triggered multi-million-dollar lawsuits, a $10 million federal government study, and impacts on local farmland, waterways and air quality.
No one was injured or killed when a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride jumped the track just miles from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border during the early morning hours of Feb. 3, 2023. It was the railroad’s clandestine decision – just two days later – to set five derailed cars on fire that’s drawn the most criticism.
The controlled burn sent a plume of toxic chemicals into the air and, as repeated tests have indicated, contaminated the surrounding communities.
At the time, Norfolk Southern officials said doing so prevented a more catastrophic explosion. The head of the National Transportation Safety Board contradicted that claim during a congressional hearing in March, noting that the necessary conditions for a volatile reaction were never met.
In Pennsylvania, much of the discussion has centered around the railroad’s caginess and elected officials’ silence as residents fight for more medical and environmental support.
