For more than 30 years, motorists in Northeast Ohio have been required to put their cars through emissions testing every two years. The program is place in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit Counties. But that requirement may be ending soon, at the order of Gov. Mike DeWine.
“I am so happy, so proud, so pleased that this hopefully will happen finally," said Rep. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) in an interview. "I started working on this eight years ago."
DeWine has asked the Ohio EPA to begin the process to end what’s known as E-Check. That comes after the U.S. EPA redesignated Northeast Ohio as meeting federal air quality standards. Roemer said he's thankful that the Canadian wildfires that caused smoky conditions throughout much of Ohio were not considered when measuring the area's federal air quality standards.
“It was also instrumental that the Ohio EPA was able to utilize the Canadian fire data and remove. The negative impacts of that from the air quality studies, that's what put Northeast Ohio in attainment for air quality that allows everything that we're doing to happen right now," Roemer said.
But it’s not a done deal yet. The Ohio EPA will hold a 30-day comment period, and then file a formal request to end E-check by June 30 next year. Roemer said that would free up the $25 million the state has allocated for the program in the past and allow it to be used for other important public purposes.
Roemer, who is term limited, has been trying for years to eliminate E-Check, including sponsoring three bills, calling for a comprehensive examination of E-Check in 2019, writing to Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel in 2023 and proposing a provision in the the state transportation budget last year.
