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ELECTRIC VEHICLES
since members of the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution were
present at its first public unveiling-a possible ignificant advance
in nitrogen oxide control was announced by Atlantic Richfield last
month. This is now undergoing further evaluation in Detroit.
Our purpose in citing these new advances is to point out that further
control of air pollution from today's car is possible-and, indeed, is
already well underway. At the same time, it must be understood that
each new proposal must be subjected to considerable testing by the
automobile manufacturers before it can be incorporated in production
model cars. Some of the factors that must be evaluated are ease of
maintenance, reliability, relative cost, efficiency, and compatibility with
other engine components. An automotive engineer, I'm sure, could cite
many other equally important considerations.
In addition to the research on emission controls being conducted by
individual automotive and petroleum companies, the American Petroleum Institute's Committee for Air and Water Conservation administers a broad program of sponsored research on pollution matters,
including automotive emissions.
The API program alone is funded at $2 million annually. It includes
a number of projects on various aspects of the problem-including the
effects of fuel variables on automotive emissions. One such project,
being conducted over a 3-year period at a cost of $480,000, is underway
at the Bartlesville, Okla., laboratories of the Bureau of Mines.
Incidentally, Mr. Chairman, this is the project to which the Secretary and Dr. Hibbard referred during the course of their testimony.
Some 25 passenger cars are being tested. All sources of vehicle emissions are being measured in terms of total quantity, composition, and
smog-forming potential, using the very best available scientific
methods and equipment.
In addition to such technical research, API also sponsors a number
of medical projects aimed at determining whether-and at what
levels-there are any detectable health effects associated with longterm, low-dosage exposure to air pollutants.
One of these projects, the most ambitious study of its type yet undertaken, is a 3-year, $1.5 million investigation of the effects of pollutants
in combination, including various automobile exhaust components. In
this project, being conducted for us by Hazleton Laboratories, Inc.,
animals are being exposed to pollutants, in different combinations, for
20 to 22 hours per day, every day, for up to 2 years. The U.S. Public
Health Service has expressed its approval of the design of this study,
and we plan to be in touch with Public Health Service on this work
as it progresses.
We believe that this work is a demonstration of our full support
for the efforts of Congress to achieve cleaner air.
In moving ahead to reduce air pollution from all sources, including
automotive emissions, we urge that Government adhere to two
principles:
First, that interested Government agencies maintain a continuing
dialog with qualified technicians from the general public and from
industry to assure that our goals, including those for automotive
emissions, are established at realistic levels and are technologically attainable, and
Second, that sufficient leadtime be provided to comply with any
targets that are set in the effort to achieve desirable air quality levels.