‘Just a burden': New Ohio bill looks to eliminate E-Checks
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) – State lawmakers are making a strong push to eliminate the federal requirement for E-Checks for cars four years old or older in seven northeast Ohio counties.
Steve Demetriou (R-Bainbridge Township) and Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) recently re-introduced House Bill 115.
It calls for drivers to be able to fill out a personal attestation form to confirm their vehicle is in good condition, rather than having to go to an E-check station.
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The two lawmakers will be continuing on with that standalone bill, which hasn't had a hearing yet, regardless of what happens with House Bill 54.
House Bill 54, recently signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine, has the state's transportation budget in it, and part of that budget includes language from HB 115.
Rep. Demetriou told Fox 8 that everything that he wanted to accomplish with the bill is also in HB 54, but HB 54 also requires approval from the federal government.
If the Environmental Protection Agency deems the personal attestation forms as still meeting its clean air mandate for northeast Ohio, then the E-checks would no longer be required.
Either way, Demetriou told Fox 8 they're going to continue to try and find a way to make the E-Check process easier or have it be eliminated it altogether.
'It's just a burden on [people]. It's really not making our air any cleaner or our lives any better, and people generally don't like it when the federal government tells them what to do, especially when it's not making a dent in their lives,' Demetriou said. 'I think between Sen. Bernie Moreno, Sen. Jon Husted, I think with the new administration, this is on people's radars in D.C., and that's really what it's going to take to end E-Check.'
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Demetriou added that they asked the Ohio EPA to conduct a study on the effectiveness of E-Checks, but he would argue that making people drive to and from E-Check stations isn't doing anything to help the environment.
He's not sure on the timing of when the federal EPA will look into the proposal to end E-Checks in Northeast Ohio.
Fox 8 did request comments from the Ohio EPA. In a statement, a spokesperson directed us to their website and said:
'The E-Check program was developed in 1996 to help improve air quality by identifying cars and trucks with high emissions that might need repairs. Ohio EPA will implement and enforce any final changes that are signed into law.'
In a statement sent to Fox 8, the director of Case Western Reserve University's School of Law's Environmental Law Clinic, Miranda Leppla, said eliminating E-Check would likely not have a major impact on the environment:
'Eliminating Ohio's E-Check program likely won't have a meaningful environmental impact, one way or the other. While vehicle emissions are a concern, the state's air quality issues are largely driven by coal-fired power plants and industrial pollution. E-check was a costly and inefficient program that placed the burden on individuals, particularly low-income residents, rather than addressing the major sources of pollution. Its removal is unlikely to change much.'
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