KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette State Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, talks about the governor's proposed budget during a meeting with the Sun-Gazette's Editorial board in Williamsport.

A state legislator has introduced a bill that would exempt Lycoming County and six others from the state’s Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program.

“I hear people loud and clear and I get to work,” said Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township, who serves the 84th House District, covering Lycoming County and some of Sullivan County.

House Bill 761 is legislation that would immediately eliminate emissions testing in Blair, Cambria, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer and Westmoreland, he said.

A companion bill in the Senate S.B. 35 was introduced by Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., a Republican whose district includes all of Cambria and Clearfield counties.

That legislation passed in the Senate and is sitting in the House Transportation Committee, said Hamm, who serves on the committee.

Democrat Rep. Ed Neilson, who represents a part of Philadelphia County, is committee chairman.

“So far, point blank, he’s told me he has no interest in running the bills,” Hamm said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) led a study assessing air quality and pollution levels across various counties.

It identified counties meeting federal air quality standards for exemption. The DEP used data from air monitoring stations for accurate assessments.

Hamm said the study was based on population.

For example, Lycoming County has a higher population than neighboring Northumberland County, where emissions are not required, but it is larger in size and has a lower density.

“Our county, itself, is larger than the state of Rhode Island,” he said. “It makes no sense at all,” he added. “That is why I am so passionate for getting Lycoming County exempted because every county around it is exempted.”

The inspection process consists of a “gas cap check,” the legislator said. Most newer vehicles do not have gas caps, he said.

“We are spending $40- to-$50 on an emissions inspection every year and we are not getting anything out of it,” he said. “We are literally just throwing money away.”

It is hooked up to a machine, the machine indicates no leak, and it is done, he said.

If the vehicle does not have a gas cap the inspector does a visual check and if it looks like everything is operating properly, the customer is good to go, Hamm noted.

Another state legislator in the region, Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport, introduced a resolution asking for Congress to eliminate emission testing.