darkestfenix
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http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/national/archives/2011/12/20111207-044257.html
Québec s'attaque aux «minounes»
Les «minounes» sont dans la mire du gouvernement : Québec veut obliger les propriétaires de véhicules de huit ans et plus à passer au garage.
Le ministre de l'Environnement, Pierre Arcand, doit déposer ce mercredi un projet de loi à l'Assemblée nationale qui lui donnera tous les pouvoirs en matière de réglementation de la pollution de l'air. Cette modification lui permettra de rendre obligatoire l'inspection environnementale des véhicules automobiles.
Le gouvernement Charest espère réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) et les contaminants atmosphériques dans l'air.
Le ministre Arcand veut introduire un programme d'inspection obligatoire qui vise les véhicules de 4500 kg et moins, soit les camionnettes, les automobiles et les motocyclettes de huit ans d'usure et plus.
La première étape de ce programme concernerait environ 375 000 véhicules à passer par une inspection de leur système antipollution au moment de la revente afin que soient respectées des normes environnementales calquées sur celles de l'Ontario ou la Colombie-Britannique. Les coûts d'une telle inspection, entre 85 $ et 100 $, seront à la charge du revendeur.
Formation
Mais le gouvernement veut aller encore plus loin, en soumettant tous les véhicules légers de huit ans et plus à une inspection annuelle obligatoire. L'idée de former les mécaniciens en ce sens est aussi en gestation.
Le programme d'inspection que s'apprête à instaurer le gouvernement Charest s'inscrit dans le plan de réduction des GES du Québec, qui s'est fixé comme objectif de réduire de 20 % - par rapport au niveau de 1990 - ses émissions d'ici à 2020.
Le transport routier génère 43 % des émissions de GES au Québec. On estime entre 10 % et 15 % la réduction des émissions si ce programme voit le jour.
Chaque année au Québec, l'Institut national de santé publique estime que près de 2000 décès prématurés et d'innombrables malaises cardiorespiratoires sont attribuables à la piètre qualité de l'air.
Toujours selon l'Institut, les contaminants atmosphériques ont un impact sur la santé publique, notamment sur les maladies cardiovasculaires et respiratoires. Lors des épisodes de smog ou de mauvaise qualité de l'air, les visites à l'urgence sont plus fréquentes.
http://www.canada.com/health/Quebec+emission+inspections/5830159/story.html
Quebec had 425,000 vehicles 10 years and older in 1995 and now there are over a million vehicles a decade old and more in the province.
Following the example of six other Canadian provinces, Quebec will phase in mandatory environmental vehicle inspections starting in 2013 once Bill 48, presented Wednesday, is adopted.
Quebec motorists will be required to get a $60 inspection as a condition for registering their vehicle, although the timing and details about how this will be done remain to be worked out.
The government intends to issue public tenders, seeking a partner such as the Canadian Automobile Association, to operate the program, Environment Minister Pierre Arcand told reporters.
In the first phase, Arcand said, all vehicles eight years and older will require an inspection certificate before they may be sold.
In the second phase, inspections will be extended to all vehicles eight years and older, whether or not they're being sold.
In the third phase, inspections will be standardized to all vehicles, including new cars, "as quickly as possible," with 450,000 inspections annually.
Arcand would not give a date, except to say that by 2015, under Western Climate Initiative rules, Quebec will be bound by its commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, most of which are generated by vehicles.
Dennis DesRosiers of Toronto's DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, applauded Quebec's decision, saying vehicle inspections are "the right thing to do" but are controversial because they force consumers to act.
"Finally, the government has shown some backbone and I give them three stars."
DesRosiers said vehicle inspections in other provinces and other countries have proven their success in reducing pollution and cutting vehicle operating costs.
He noted that Japan has "a very rigorous" inspection program, giving Japan "the cleanest auto fleet in the world."
Some consumers fear paying high repair costs, but Des-Rosiers said fuel economy and overall vehicle costs are lower if a vehicle is properly maintained.
"Pay me now or pay me more later," is the message garage operators could give, DesRosiers said.
Investing in a new car is another option, he added, pointing out that new cars eliminate 99.6 per cent of pollution. And buying them gives a boost to the economy.
Mechanic Kevin Douglas, with Brittanicar garage in Lachine, noted that most cars on Quebec roads are better made than in the past.
"You should have nothing to worry about if your car is in good running order," Douglas said. "But I see a lot of cars that shouldn't be on the road."
Pierre Beaudoin, senior service manager at the CAA, who was consulted by Arcand in drawing up Bill 48, noted Quebec had 425,000 vehicles 10 years and older in 1995 and now there are over a million vehicles 10 years and older in the province.
"The cars are more durable," he said. "We can drive them more easily and keep them on the road over 15 years. If we neglect service, especially over 100,000 kilometres, that's when cars start to give off pollution.
"The problem of pollution is caused by an aging vehicle fleet that is growing in size."
André Bélisle of the Association Québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique recalled that Paul Bégin, when he was Parti Québécois environment minister in 2002, announced vehicle inspections. But Bégin was replaced in environment by André Boisclair.
Bélisle recalled that Boisclair cancelled plans for vehicle inspections in 2003, as the PQ headed into an election, fearing inspections could lead garage operators to overcharge consumers for repairs.
"You can't replace a catalytic converter with a cucumber," Bélisle said.
There are about 4 million cars and light trucks on Quebec's highways, each year emitting 41,000 tonnes of nitrogen dioxide, 43,000 tonnes of volatile organics, 795,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, 310 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 338 tonnes of suspended particles and 28 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, Bélisle said.
He said smog kills 2,000 people a year in the Montreal region.
The inspections should eliminate 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and save motorists $6.1 million a year in fuel costs, reducing hydrocarbons burned by 10 per cent, carbon dioxide by eight per cent and nitrogen dioxide by four per cent.
Cardiologist François Reeves, also present for a news conference on Bill 48, said the medical profession can only applaud the commitment to vehicle inspections, explaining that, since 1993, the link between cardiovascular disease and atmospheric pollution has been proven.
"In fact, over 500 studies confirm that the higher the rate of pollution in a city, the higher the rate of strokes and heart attacks," Reeves said.
The fine particles and gases given off by fossil fuels "are toxic for our arteries when we breathe them in," Reeves said, adding: "Cardiovascular disease was relatively rare before the industrial era." Anne Sutherland of The Gazette contributed to this report.
http://argent.canoe.ca/lca/affaires/quebec/archives/2011/12/20111207-140055.html
Québec risque de donner un solide coup de pouce à l’industrie automobile au cours des prochaines années. Le gouvernement va obliger les automobilistes à faire inspecter leurs véhicules âgés de huit ans et plus pour vérifier s’il respecte les normes environnementales.
Le ministre de l’Environnement, Pierre Arcand, a déposé son projet de loi, modifiant la loi sur la qualité de l’environnement, mercredi à l’Assemblée Nationale et on s’attend à ce que la mesure soit lucrative pour les garagistes et les vendeurs de pièces.
C’est que le parc automobile du Québec vieillit. L’Association des industries de l’automobile évalue que 2,2 millions de véhicules ont plus de huit ans dans la province. Il s’agit de 54% des voitures qui circulent sur nos routes. Des données de la Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) suggère plutôt que 1,7 millions de voitures ont plus de huit ans au Québec. C'est-à-dire 37% du total des véhicules québécois.
Le ministre Arcand veut donner à la SAAQ le pouvoir de refuser d’immatriculer un véhicule non conforme. Québec prévoit que 454 000 voitures seront inspectées annuellement dans la première phase du projet. Au terme de l’initiative, une inspection mécanique sera ajoutée à l’évaluation environnementale.
LKQ Pintendre Autos, une firme de la Rive-Sud de Québec, spécialisée en recyclage de voitures, s’attend à des retombées positives. «Les propriétaires des voitures qui devront être réparées vont se tourner vers nous parce qu’on vend des pièces moins dispendieuses, usagées ou reconditionnées», a exprimé Pierre Brouard, directeur des ventes de l’entreprise.
Ceux qui préfèreront ne pas investir d’argent dans la mise aux normes de leur véhicule pourront décider de le revendre à des recycleurs. Ces derniers pourront commercialiser les composants de bonne qualité. Mentionnons que l'Association des recycleurs d'automobiles du Québec s’est inscrite au registre des lobbyistes pour faire des représentations auprès du gouvernement afin d’encourager le dépôt du projet de loi.
Le projet de loi du gouvernement a pour objectif d’introduire un programme d’inspection obligatoire des véhicules dans le but de diminuer les émissions de gaz à effet de serre dans l’air.
Une initiative décriée par l’Association pour la protection des automobilistes (APA). «C’est de la poudre aux yeux! La Colombie-Britannique et l’Ontario ont adopté des programmes semblables dans les années 1990 et elles ont échoué sur toute la ligne», a dénoncé George Iny, président de l’organisation.
Chiffres à l’appui, M. Iny affirme que seulement 5% des véhicules inspectés échouent l’évaluation en sol ontarien. Ça signifie que les inspecteurs mandatés par l’État doivent prélever 100$ à 100 automobilistes, soit un total de 10 000$, pour en piéger cinq délinquants.
«On pourrait financer des projets environnementaux beaucoup plus efficaces avec des sommes pareilles», a poursuivi George Iny.
L’Association québécoise de la lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA) est favorable au programme du ministre Arcand qui veut réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 20% sous le niveau de 1990 d’ici 2020.
L’organisme a indiqué en marge de l’annonce du ministère de l’Environnement que 25% des 600 derniers véhicules qu’elle a inspecté l’an dernier ne respectaient pas les normes minimales de fonctionnement du système antipollution.
QUEBEC — The introduction of environmental inspections for Quebec automobiles has been generally well-received, but has left many questions unanswered.
The declaration by Environment Minister Pierre Arcand that the inspections would be “standardized” left the impression all cars on Quebec roads would be subject to inspection.
In fact, explained, Marilou Gosselin, coordinator of the automotive division in Quebec’s environment department, the inspections will only apply to light trucks and cars aged between eight years and 25 years.
Gosselin said that other provinces at first set inspections for vehicles with as little as two years on the road. But now Ontario has raised its starting point to five years and inspections in British Columbia begin with seven-year-old vehicles.
Quebec decided on starting inspections on vehicles over eight years because earlier than that, “it’s hardly worth it.”
As a rule, vehicles are guaranteed by the manufacturer for the first five years, Gosselin said, But after that, some motorists “let maintenance go.”
“If people have taken good care of the car, there shouldn’t be any problem,” she added, explaining the environment department expects 85 per cent of vehicles will pass the inspection.
People with older cars and collection cars are worried about the impact of the inspections.
Gosselin said that owners of older cars, built when environmental standards were not so strict, don’t have to worry because their vehicles will be judged by the standards in force when they were built.
And the 25-year cutoff means antique cars will not face inspections at all.
Trucks and heavy vehicles in Quebec are already subject to environmental inspections.
Gosselin said many details such as precise dates for each phase of the program, called in French PIEVA, for Programme d’inspection et d’entretien des véhicules automobile, will not be finalized until after Bill 48 is adopted next spring and regulations implementing PIEVA are published.
But Arcand did suggest the government wants it fully operational by 2015.
In the first phase, by the end of 2013, any vehicle built in 2005 or before, must has an inspection certicate when it is sold.
In the second phase, all vehicles between eight and 25 years old will be subject to an environmental inspection every two years, at a cost of $60, when the owner renews the vehicle registration.
The third phase calls for adding a mechanical inspection, including brakes and tires, to the environmental verification. But the cost of this full inspection has not yet been established, Gosselin said.
The government will seek a private-sector partner, through public tenders, to run the program.
Gosselin said an organization such as the Canadian Automobile Association or companies with garages throughout the province might be interested in bidding on the PIEVA contract.
An aide to Arcand noted that a 1993 car generates 12-times the pollution of a 2006 car.
But Gosselin said Quebec did not consider a “cash for clunkers” plan to get polluting cars off the road, because the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphèrique already has its Clear the air! program, offering in exchange for a clunker 12 months free public transit, a discount on a bicycle or an electric scouter, or an credit with Communauto, the car-sharing service.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news...+inspections/5831970/story.html#ixzz1g42cCIAy
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