United States Air and Radiation EPA420-F-97-031
Environmental Protection December 1997
Agency
Office of Mobile Sources
SEPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
Accelerated Vehicle Retirement
Programs
Accelerated vehicle retirement programs offer incentives for voluntary
retirement of high-emitting vehicles, leading to the earlier reductions in
air pollution than would otherwise occur.
What is Accelerated Vehicle Retirement or
Scrappage?
In many cities across the country, the personal automobile is the single
greatest polluter, as emissions from all the vehicles on the road add up.
Old automobiles with no or few emission controls are typically a source
of high emissions. Newer vehicles possessing emission controls which
have been tampered with, maintained improperly, or have otherwise
been rendered ineffective are also significant contributors of emissions.
While normal attrition of the vehicle fleet helps, some high emitting
vehicles remain in operation and contribute to the problem for long
periods of time.
Accelerated vehicle retirement (scrappage) programs, through rebates
and other incentives, encourage vehicle owners to voluntarily retire their
vehicle sooner than they would have otherwise. These programs are
entirely voluntary, and vehicle owners decide whether or not the com-
pensation is sufficient to induce them to turn in their vehicles.
I Printed on Recycled Paper
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EPA's Role
Scrappage programs are not mandatory, and are not run by the EPA.
These programs are part of an overall U.S, Environmental Protection
Agency initiative to give state and local governments and industry
flexibility in meeting Clean Air Act emission reduction requirements in
the most efficient and effective manner possible. A program can be run
by a state or local government as part of their overall strategy to reduce
emissions in its air quality plan (state implementation plan or SIP) or by
a private company, with approval from the state to satisfy existing or
new stationary source-specific requirements for industry.
In February, 1993, EPA released a guidance document entitled Guidance
for the Implementation of Accelerated Retirement of Vehicles Programs.
The guidance document is intended to assist state, municipal or industry
program sponsors in the design and implementation of scrappage pro-
grams.
How Do Scrappage Programs Impact the Supply of
Older, Antique Vehicles, and the Availability of Parts
for These Vehicles?
EPA encourages the maintenance and upkeep of older vehicles. Scrap-
page programs are aimed at highly polluting cars, rather than indiscrimi-
nately targeting old cars in general. In addition, since vehicle owners are
always compensated for scrapping their vehicles, they would turn in
their vehicles only if the level of the compensation is greater than the
value of vehicle.
EPA has also taken several steps to ensure that scrappage programs do
not diminish the supply of parts for older vehicles. Programs are al-
lowed to strip vehicles for parts prior to scrappage, thus providing a
source of parts to keep other old clean cars running and used parts
suppliers and repair shops in business. Non-emission producing parts can
be recycled directly while emission producing parts must be dismantled
and rebuilt.
How Extensively Has Scrappage Been Used?
Several areas have implemented scrappage programs which range in size
and contain various design features. In addition, a few areas have devel-
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oped legislation setting up rules for the implementation of scrappage
programs.
For Further Information
For more information on accelerated vehicle retirement programs, please
contact John Hall at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
2565 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Phone: (734)741-7856
FAX: (734)668-4531
E-mail: hall.johnm@epamail.epa.gov
The 1993 EPA guidance on accelerated vehicle retirement programs can
be found on EPAs Internet World Wide Web (WWW) site at:
http://www.epa.gov/OMSWWW/market.htm.
EPAs Directory of Air Quality Economic Incentive Programs, also
located at this site, has additional information on state and local scrap-
page programs and legislation. The directory includes descriptions of a
number of programs, as well as contact names and phone numbers for
more information.
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