New Hotline to Report Excessive Exhaust

Iowa will revive a program in 2001 that has its roots in the gas crisis ofthe 1970s. The Department of Natural Resources will open a toll-free hotlinefor motorists to report other vehicles on the road that are blowing outexcessive exhaust. There will be -no- fines, it’s an educational effort.Sheri Walz is an air quality specialist at the D-N-R and is coordinator forthe “Smoking Tailpipe Program.” Walz says cars that are belching out bigplumes of black, blue or grey smoke are doing a lot of damage to theenvironment. Starting in the spring, Walz says Iowans will be able to call atoll-free phone number and report polluting vehicles along with a licensenumber. The vehicle owners will be sent a non-binding letter, asking them tohave the vehicle checked. Walz says getting the problem fixed is a smartmove as most of the black smoke is unburned fuel. A similar program waslaunched in Iowa during the mid-1970s and carried into the early ’80s untilit was eliminated due to a lack of staff and funding.