THOUSAND OAKS : Meeting to Discuss Smog-Reducing Plan

County-run auto emissions testing centers may be the most cost-effective way to clear smog from the region’s air, a county official said.

Richard Baldwin, the county’s pollution control officer, will discuss the plan at a public meeting today organized by county Supervisor Frank Schillo.

The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the board room of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

County officials will inform residents and business leaders about plans to cut local air pollution, more than half of which comes from the approximately 500,000 cars registered in the county. Although past smog-reduction efforts have focused on pollution-generating businesses, Baldwin said, auto emissions are far less expensive to cut.

“Inspection and maintenance of vehicles is one of the cheapest methods available to us,” he said.

County-run inspection stations make sense, Baldwin said, because under the current system only 24% of auto inspections are properly done. The rest, he said, are botched either through sloppy work, incompetence or fraud, allowing pollution-generating cars onto the road.

The meeting will also cover other pollution-control proposals, including one to track mileage and pollution rates for cars in the county and one to install roadside infrared sensors to check the pollution created by passing cars.