NASHVILLE - Tennessee senators on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill exempting newer vehicles from auto emissions testing despite one lawmaker's concerns about the impact on pollution standards given the Volkswagen scandal.
Senators voted 29-3 for the measure with three Democrats voting no. The bill exempts vehicles less than three years old from the testing requirements. Changes, however, would have to be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
During debate, one Republican senator derided "so-called global warming" and attacked EPA as a "rogue" agency. Yet another GOP lawmaker defended sulphur spewing from vehicles, saying it benefits plants.
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, however, raised the question of VW, telling colleagues "I think we all have seen Volkswagen go through this very public dispute with EPA and that's the case of a new car that doesn't pass the emissions test."
The state "should be very very careful about doing anything to reduce the emissions standards," Yarbro added, then wondered aloud if "the EPA would be OK with this type of move in light of what's happened with Volkswagen."
The German manufacturer, which manufactures Passats at its Chattanooga plant, last year admitted that some 600,000 diesel cars had been sold with "defeat devices," that is, software designed to evade emissions tests.
FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2015, file photo, John Swanton, spokesman with the California Air Resources Board, explains how a 2013 Volkswagen Passat with a diesel engine is evaluated at the emissions test lab in El Monte, Calif. California air quality regulators, on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, rejected Volkswagen's recall plan to fix vehicles including the Beetle and Jetta that were programmed to trick government emissions tests. (AP Photo/Nick Ut,File) That included some 90,000 Chattanooga-built Passats.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, who voted for the bill, noted that the existing emissions testing programs in six Tennessee counties, including Hamilton County, didn't detect problems with Volkswagen vehicles.
"Even if Volkswagens were run in, they still passed the emissions tests, so that's really a moot issue," he said.
The counties implemented the emissions testing in order to bring themselves in compliance with EPA's ozone standards.
Both Gardenhire and Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said the majority of complaints they receive about the testing programs come from lower-income residents.
"This punishes people by having to take this test," said Gardenhire, who once served on the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau. He blamed pollution from North Georgia and Northeast Alabama for problems.
Offered Watson: "Think about the low-income individual who has to pay $500 to $600 to bring their vehicle into compliance for a test that costs $10. I wish we could go further, Mr. Speaker. This is a great step."
Some states have move to push for more accurate testing with roadside-sensing systems.
"It is a pain in the you-know-what to have to go through this," said Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin. "To go to the emissions testing center, wait in line sometimes for an hour or more, to take time out of your day."
Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, declared open season on the EPA, denouncing it as a "rogue agency." She cited a book called "The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism" which she said exposes problems in the theory of "so-called global warming" and reveals "global warming is natural and cars are innocent."
Bowling also ridiculed those who think that "by changing our lightbulbs we can save polar bears."
Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, told the GOP-led chamber that "some of these emissions are good." People noticed decades ago that crops like alfalfa grew better near the tracks of coal-burning trains because of the sulphur from burning coal.
One version of the bill had been furiously fought some years back by local governments, including Hamilton, which feared it would harm their efforts to cut back ozone emissions and endanger economic development.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, pointed out the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation isn't objecting to the current iteration of the bill, which contains the EPA-approval provision.
"So that goes a long way," Beavers said.
The House version of the bill is scheduled to come up in committee next week.