QUEBEC LAUNCHES INSPECTION PROGRAM

Quebec is launching a program for the inspection and maintenance of automotive vehicles.

The program will be known by the French acronym PIEVA, said the province’s Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Pierre Arcand.

Legislative changes, covered in Bill 48, concern the environmental inspection of motor vehicles, and will confer new powers under the Environment Quality Act to implement the new program.

According to the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA), 25% out of 600 recent light vehicle inspections in 2010 did not meet the minimum standards of operation of the vehicle-emission control system.

The Quebec government has a stated goal to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gas by 20% from 1990 to 2020.

“Québec is surrounded by the Atlantic provinces and Ontario, which already have vehicle inspection programs. Québec’s PIEVA program will ensure that people who buy used vehicles will know that they are purchasing automobiles that are of same environmental quality as those of neighbouring provinces,” said Marc Brazeau, president of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada).

The PIEVA program is intended to control and reduce fuel waste and to limit the emissions of contaminants that cause problems including smog, acid rain and global warming, for owners of vehicles eight years and older in Québec.

“Vehicles aged eight years and older still have a long life ahead of them. Consumers today are choosing to keep their vehicles longer, and they are right to do so, as car manufacturing has improved and vehicles are lasting longer,” Brazeau said. “With proper vehicle maintenance, vehicle owners can drive safely and in the long run save money. Preventive vehicle maintenance and the PIEVA program will contribute to the protection of the environment and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”