The emissions testing for Karen Waters' Ford Probe is due this month, but because emissions testing is not readily available in Centre County, Waters (senior-history) is waiting until she goes home to have her car tested.

If she waits long enough, Waters might see further changes to the emissions testing system in Pennsylvania.

The state House Transportation Committee announced earlier this month a bipartisan plan that would replace the present emissions testing in 11 Pennsylvania counties with a less expensive system.

The plan is gaining support in both the Pennsylvania House and Senate and Rep. Lynn Herman, R-Centre, said he agrees with the measure.

"It phases out the state's emissions system and replaces it with a new and more fair one for motorists," he said.

However, the proposed legislation would still not bring emissions testing to Centre County and other rural areas, said House Transportation Committee Executive Director Eric Bugaile.

While there have been talks about implementing emissions testing across the state, current Pennsylvania law does not allow emissions standards that are higher than the federal standards.

In other words, because Centre County and other areas of the state are still predominantly rural, they are not subjected to the test, Bugaile said.

"We're not even discussing emissions testing in this bill (in Centre County)," he said. "But that doesn't leave central Pennsylvania off the hook. It doesn't take those discussions off course."

Currently, 3.5 million Pennsylvania motorists are required to have the annual emissions test, including those in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas and in Allegheny, Beaver, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

For Penn State students who have cars here but are registered in counties with emissions testing standards, the new system could save them money.

New emissions tests will be done through an onboard diagnostic system that is in all cars built since 1996.

Testing units, called OBD II, would cost garages as little as $3,000, compared to the current system that can cost garages $80,000, according to a House Transportation Committee press release.

However, it would continue to inconvenience students such as Waters who would still have to travel home to have their cars tested. Furthermore, the new system would only save money for those with newer cars.Cars older than 1996 would be tested under the old system.

Eventually, however, every car would be tested with the new system or be exempted from emissions testing under a 25-year rule. This means right now cars older than 1976 would be immediately exempted. Older cars would also be exempted when less than 20 percent of cars in a region are without onboard diagnostics. At one point, testing was available in central Pennsylvania.

One of the facilities that offered emissions testing was the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology in Pleasant Gap, where the school even ran two or three classes to teach garages how to run the emissions test, said CPI spokeswoman Sandy Snare. "We did two classes, but then they cancelled it," she said. "They said we weren't doing it anymore."

CPI did its last emissions test in April 1995, when Centre County became exempted from emissions testing.Although CPI had already purchased the equipment, they were able to still use it for classroom instruction, Snare said.

For Shawn Hoffman (senior-industrial engineering), his 1997 Honda Prelude would be able to use the new system,but his car is registered in a county that is not required to have testing. "I think in high congestion areas (emissions testing) is probably a better idea," Hoffman said, adding that if at some point Jefferson County, where he is registered, is required to have the test, "cheaper is always better. I'm always happier to pay less money."