http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 3401.story

August 14, 2005
latimes.com : California


Smog Cops to Look for Emissions of Guilt
# Sensors scattered along Southland roadways will monitor exhaust. The state will help pay to replace or repair fume-belching clunkers.

By Miguel Bustillo, Times Staff Writer

For anyone who has ever been stuck behind a car belching thick black plumes of pollution, Southern California's smog cops have a message that some will find reassuring: They will soon be scanning the streets for smoky clunkers.

In the largest experiment of its kind in California, the South Coast Air Quality Management District plans to use remote sensors and video cameras to measure air pollution from 1 million vehicles as they enter freeways and navigate roads in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside.

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If caught, the owners of the most environmentally offensive cars and trucks would receive letters informing them that the government would pay to fix or scrap their vehicles. The South Coast district estimates that 10,000 to 20,000 of the dirtiest vehicles would be detected. Smog regulators lack the authority to order drivers to dump dirty cars, but they can offer incentives.

California officials estimate that the dirtiest 10% of all cars and trucks â€â€