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Smelly exhaust gets an airing.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

Lowell Thomas, his wife and two dogs, Bonnie Blue and Baxter Black, like to walk 40 blocks from their house near the Lane County fairgrounds, on past downtown Eugene and back.

The stroll is a family affair. A way to fill their lungs with wholesome air - except for frequent encounters with oily, black-smoke-spewing cars, trucks and other vehicles.

"A lot of times, it's the old Volkswagen vans that have all the environmental stickers on them," Thomas said. "They're the worst. We see them coming and we think `Oh, my God.' ''

Thomas' irritation with polluting cars inspired him to complain to the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency. That has spurred the agency to consider regulating visible car exhaust, a potentially broad expansion of the agency's reach.

In June, the LRAPA board will talk it over. Board member ideas range from requiring vehicle inspections, to levying a fine that could be forgiven when owners fix their cars, to forwarding complaints of smoking cars to police agencies, to sending vehicle owners a warning letter and - finally - to doing nothing at all. The issue may never advance beyond the conceptual stage.

But vehicle exhaust is a major concern for the board that's charged with protecting Lane County's air.

Cars and trucks are the top...

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