Grudgingly, BEP OKs old-car plan > Members say there’s no funding to support state’s proposed buyback

AUGUSTA – Although there is no money to fund it and the state’s automobile recyclers say they don’t want to participate, the Board of Environmental Protection Thursday approved a program giving vouchers to people who trade in old, high-pollution cars for newer, more environmentally friendly vehicles.

Decrying the “bake sale” approach to funding, board members voted 5-2 to start the program on a trial basis Nov. 1.

Two members voted against the plan, saying the Legislature had dropped it in their laps without the necessary financial support.

“The Legislature has the responsibility to determine if programs are good or bad, and to then fund them appropriately,” said Virginia Plummer of Turner.

Kathy Littlefield of Belfast said she fully supported the program but could not vote for it because people will show up at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on Nov. 1 to sign up to receive their money. When they find out there is no money to hand out, it will “damage the public trust,” she said.

There may be $115,000 available to get the program going, but that is uncertain at this point, said Ron Severance of the DEP’s Air Bureau.

The department has written a letter to the chairs of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee asking if money from the state’s Clean Fuel Vehicle Fund can be used, and is awaiting a response. The fund was set up as a loan program to help communities develop ways to encourage cleaner burning cars.

The department also has asked foundations to support the program. They have declined saying the state should take care of it.

Two companies that have recently been fined for violating state air quality laws were asked if they wanted their fine money to be used to support the junk car program. They both declined.

“At this point, I’m uncomfortable saying we have money,” Severance told the board.

He said 350 people have expressed an interest in participating in the program. In answer to a question about how much will be needed each year, Severance said there are 200,000 pre-1987 cars registered in Maine. So, $2 million would get them all off the road, although this isn’t likely to happen.

Severance said Rep. Elizabeth Watson, D-Farmingdale, the sponsor of the bill creating the program asked for $500,000 to get it started, but the money was not approved by fellow lawmakers.

Despite the lack of money, the department will begin keeping a list of people who visit, call, fax or e-mail the office, beginning at 7 a.m. Nov. 1, to say they believe they qualify for the program.

The High Pollution Vehicle Retirement Pilot Program was meant as a way to encourage people driving pre-1987 cars, which pollute more than their modern counterparts, to give them up in exchange for money toward the purchase of post-1996 models that are certified as having low emissions.

Voucher amounts range from $2,000 for pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles with 8-cylinder engines to $1,500 for pickups or SUVs with 6-cylinder engines to $1,000 for any other pre-1987 vehicle.

The vehicle that is traded in must go to an automobile recycler and be scrapped, and the person seeking a voucher must show documentation to that effect.

To date, only one of the state’s 20 licensed car recyclers has said it may participate in the program.

Recyclers don’t want to participate because they will be losing money by doing so, said Leslie Cosgrove, director of the Maine Auto Recylers Association, which has 50 members.

“It’s admirable that the state wants to take [older] vehicles off the road, but they don’t go to car heaven,” Cosgrove said in an interview.

She said it costs an average of $500 to drain and dispose of all the fluids in a car. Licensed recyclers must dispose of these chemicals properly while junkyard owners can just let cars sit on the ground spilling fluids.

In addition, Cosgrove said, 80 percent of the auto recycling business deals with collision repairs. Because most people drive newer cars, recyclers make money by keeping newer parts on hand. Although someone may occasionally look for a door from a 1987 car, a recycler wouldn’t keep lots of them on hand. So, with an influx of older cars, the recycler would remove any useful parts and then crush the car. The price of scrap metal is only between $15 and $30 a ton.

Since the state is offering up to $2,000 to people to get rid of these cars, some money should be offered to the recyclers to help cover their costs, Cosgrove said.

In addition, she said the Legislature didn’t properly consider its audience when it crafted the law. Most people who are now driving a pre-1987 car can’t afford to buy one built after 1996 even with the voucher.