Kentucky can take the regional lead in snuffing out bogus "tailpipe" testing programs.

A bill sponsored by Northern Kentucky lawmakers would end the vehicle emissions tests in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties by Nov. 1. It already passed the Kentucky Senate. If it passes the Democrat-controlled House, it will ratchet up public pressure on Ohio to dump E-check tests mandatory in Hamilton, Clermont, Warren and Butler counties.

Kentucky lawmakers should end this testing sham and pass the bill. The worthy goal of clean air doesn't justify an ill-conceived program that taxes the many to snag a few.

Air pollution doesn't observe borders and remains a serious concern for our region. The federal Environmental Protection Agency requires states and regions to put a plan in place to reduce emissions that contribute to smog, which here mostly occurs in the heat of summer. Kentucky went with a strategy of reformulated gasoline and vehicle testing. If Kentucky and Ohio dump their current plans, they either can call EPA's bluff and hope it will not cost them federal highway dollars, or they can develop new strategies to control emissions. The responsible and smart thing to do is to submit new anti-smog plans.

There may be more to fear from the courts than from federal agencies. In January, a federal judge in Louisville ruled Kentucky lawmakers violated the federal Clean Air Act when they killed the testing program in Jefferson County.

Sen. Dick Roeding, R-Lakeside Park, lead sponsor of Kentucky's bill to end tailpipe testing, calls Northern Kentucky's program "unconstitutional, illegal and unenforceable." In Kentucky, only about 1 percent of vehicles built after 1993 fail the tests. In Ohio, only about 2 percent built after 1997 fail. Ohio does exempt cars 2 years old and newer. Officials admit they can't accurately quantify the amount of pollutants such programs keep out of the air.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft ran for his first term on a pledge to kill E-check, but after taking office, he backed off in the face of stiff penalties to be paid if the state voided its contract with Envirotest Systems Corp. of Sunnyvale, Calif. That contract expires in 2005, and should be filed away with other misbegotten ideas.

Tristate officials should open up their clean-air reviews to scrutinize all sources of air pollution. Technology exists for roadside detectors that can flag oil-burning smogmobiles in actual traffic conditions. Some business leaders fear an end to E-check will shift even more regulatory attention to smokestack industries, which have been losing jobs for years and don't want more pollution-control costs to add to their woes. Loss of manufacturing jobs is a hot issue in the presidential campaign.

Any new smog-reduction plan will need to be balanced to cause the least hardship and disruption, while safeguarding public health and the environment. But it does no one any good to waste millions on sham programs that mostly put up a show for federal regulators as "proof" the states have acted against smog.