Information availability seems to be coming up everywhere lately. It is the thing to talk about if you are a member of Congress, associated with a federal government agency or even at the state level. Of course, these institutions are not alone. Many organizations are pushing these governing bodies to increase availability of information on everything that you can imagine. Besides, it would not be the information age without availability to information. However, our focus is on emission and non-emission information availability and safety issues.

Let us begin our focus at the bureaucratic level, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has been working on information availability for some time now, in the form of on-board diagnostic (OBD) computers. In fact, a proposed rule that was suggested to be forthcoming by regulators in 1996 has yet to be published. The EPA continues to change and upgrade its thoughts, study and data concerning OBD.

It was during the 1996 ASA annual meeting that the EPA committed to a second OBD II rule that would tighten much of what has proved to be loopholes for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Specifically, that repairers have to purchase multiple scan tools, the unavailability of some tools or information, and the accessibility of information being problematic. The new rule, when finalized and adopted, should resolve these problems.

On the state side, the western states appear to be taking the lead on information availability. If you want to know what is on the cutting edge regarding anything, one must look to California. This is true of emissions information availability as well. California Senate bill 1146 is a prime example of good information availability legislation that ASA supports. This bill would authorize the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement emission standards for new motor vehicles to control emissions from those vehicles.

The bill would require a motor vehicle manufacturer to provide specified information and tools to persons engaged in the business of service, repair, manufacture or remanufacture of emissions-related motor vehicle parts. It also requires the State Air Resources Board to assemble a panel of arbitrators to resolve individual disputes regarding the availability and cost of the information and tools.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D) introduced Senate bill 1146. The bill passed the California Senate. It has been sent to the State Assembly Committee on Transportation, where it awaits further action. As of press time, there have been no indications on whether this bill will pass the assembly and be signed by Gov. Gray Davis.

There is a similar bill in Arizona, House bill 2401 introduced by Rep. Wesley Marsh (R), chairman of the House Rules Committee.

This bill affects motor vehicle repairs and information requirements for Arizona. The bill would require a manufacturer to provide all information and tools that are necessary to repair a motor vehicle, including any information relating to hardware, tools, equipment and software, and related licensing agreements. The information would be provided to a nationwide repository of information, such as the Equipment Tool Institute or another similarly nationally recognized organization, and to any maker of tools and equipment that supports the automotive aftermarket industry. The information has to be provided within a year after the introduction of the motor vehicle model.

This information will allow the automotive aftermarket industry to do several things. First, it will allow access to all motor vehicle systems, including antilock brakes, transmissions, air bags, climate controls and instrument panels. Second, it will allow for access to a vehicle control module and all systems that are controlled by the vehicle control module, including diagnostic trouble codes, data streams and bidirectional communications. Third, it will allow the aftermarket industry to perform programming and reprogramming services on purchases of new components at the parts counter without having to hook up the vehicle. Fourth, it will allow access to all safety device systems to prevent potential public safety problems. Lastly, it will allow access to all failure rates and defects.

The bill calls for the state attorney general to provide enforcement of the law. The attorney general would bring suit against anyone who does not comply with the law.

Another significant and interesting element of the bill is a provision that calls on the program it establishes to end July 1, 2009.

The bill passed the Arizona House and was sent to the Senate. The Senate failed to pass the measure. From the bill's strong showing, and considering its sponsor, there is no doubt that this bill will be reintroduced next year. Repairers are optimistic as to the bill's chances next session.

Safety issues
Safety is another topic of great concern. The U.S. Congress, and more specifically the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has been busy on transportation safety as of late. Recently, the committee approved by voice vote H.R. 2679, the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1999, introduced by the committee chairman, Bud Shuster, R-Pa.

This is a comprehensive bill designed to improve truck and bus safety. The bill has three main objectives. First, it would create a new National Motor Carrier Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation to administer federal motor carrier safety programs. Second, the bill would increase funding from the Highway Trust Fund for federal and state safety oversight and enforcement efforts. Third, the bill would make reforms and close loopholes in federal motor carrier safety programs and in the Commercial Driver's License (CDL) program.

Shuster said of the bill: "Let me be clear that there is not a major safety crisis - but there is room for improvement. In fact since 1980, while miles traveled by trucks increased by 77 percent, fatalities actually decreased and the fatality rate actually fell by almost 50 percent. I believe that this bill will jump safety improvements and will allow us to recapture the momentum we had in the 1980s and the early 1990s when truck-related fatalities declined dramatically."

The chairman cited three reasons as to why the country needs a separate motor carrier safety program:

• Currently the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is responsible for administering the Federal Motor Carrier Safety program. It is also responsible for overseeing more than $30 billion in federal-aid highway funds. Under this current organizational arrangement, motor carrier safety must compete for attention and resources within the massive highway infrastructure program. This would create an agency with a clear, pre-eminent safety mission, free of the need to compete with other missions of the Department of Transportation.
• At a time of enormous growth in the trucking industry, the department has actually reduced the number of employees within the FHWA assigned to motor carrier functions and conducted fewer compliance reviews of carriers. A separate agency would ensure that motor carrier safety is a top priority and reverse this trend of diminishing staffing and enforcement.
• Trucking is the biggest sector of the transportation industry, moving more than 80 percent of all freight in the United States, yet there is no agency within the Department of Transportation dedicated solely to truck safety.

Rounding out our automotive safety update, let us turn our attention to the status of safety inspection programs. ASA sends out an annual state inspection survey to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This survey asks some basic questions about each state's safety inspection program. We recently completed our data collection and found that no states have added a new state safety inspection program within the past year. In fact, North Dakota is the only state to significantly change its program by dropping it completely. Many bills were introduced in states that do not currently have an inspection program, which would have initiated such a program.

ASA has been working with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators to move the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to a new national study of safety PMVI. We need to have a study that ties safety inspection and maintenance with the prevention of accidents. The focus of such a study should ask if safety inspection and maintenance programs deter accidents.

Information availability and safety have proven to be issues that will not necessarily remain in the public eye, but will always be important. ASA supports a continued emphasis on emissions inspection and maintenance to ensure cleaner air. To repair emissions systems, as well as other systems on the vehicle, an adequate, cost-effective supply of information must be made available. ASA would also like to see the federal government take the initiative in reversing a trend of declining state safety inspection and maintenance programs. These programs are essential to the prevention of automobile accidents. As long as states, federal agencies and Congress carry these issues forward in a positive manner, we can rest assured that these governing bodies are actually helping small business owners and the automotive industry.

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