By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Northern Kentucky lawmakers are closely watching a federal court case in Louisville that could have implications for an effort to end vehicle emissions testing in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.

U.S. District Chief Judge John Heyburn II is expected to issue a preliminary ruling today on a lawsuit that could force Louisville to resurrect vehicle emissions testing the Kentucky General Assembly eliminated in 2002.

A group of Northern Kentucky Republican lawmakers is sponsoring legislation that would end Northern Kentucky's vehicle emissions testing. The bill - filed by Senate President Pro Tem Richard Roeding of Lakeside Park - has already cleared a Senate committee.

"We're waiting to see what the implications are of the Louisville ruling, but there is some concern and this could definitely be a setback," said Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Springs, a bill co-sponsor.

A lawsuit filed last year by an environmental group and a Louisville resident who suffers from asthma argued that the expiration of the testing program violated federal law. The suit asked that the emissions testing program be reinstated.

The tests started in the early 1980s in Louisville and Northern Kentucky after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that the two regions violated standards in the Clean Air Act.

Heyburn said Louisville didn't have the authority to alter its agreement with the federal government on how it manages air pollution.

Northern Kentucky halted its testing program a few years later but restarted them three years ago after pressure from the federal and state governments.

The federal government has threatened to withhold highway dollars and force industry to install costly pollution control equipment if action was not taken to improve the region's air quality.

But lawmakers say motorists complain about the $20 tests that all vehicles must go through every other year.

"I hear it all the time," said Rep. Paul Marcotte, R-Union, also a co-sponsor of the bill. "People want us to get rid of it. And that's what we are trying to do."

Marcotte said the Northern Kentucky bill might be amended "to plug any loopholes."

"My understanding is that Louisville didn't have any alternatives to vehicle testing," Westwood said. "The government doesn't say 'have a vehicle emissions test.' They say 'clean the air,' and we've taken other steps to do that."

For instance, Northern Kentucky service stations are required to sell a fuel known as reformulated gas, which is more expensive than regular gas but also burns cleaner in a car's engine, Westwood said.

"I think we can address any concerns, and I think the bill will move forward," he said.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the region's leading business group with nearly 2,000 members, has lobbied against disbanding the testing program over concerns that doing so may result in more costly regulations on business.

The Associated Press contributed. E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com