BCGEU welcomes Metro Vancouver recommendation to extend AirCare to 2020

VANCOUVER, Nov. 26 /CNW/ - The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) is welcoming Metro Vancouver's unanimous recommendation to extend AirCare until 2020, and to enhance the program's focus on emissions from heavy duty vehicles. 

"The mayors of greater Vancouver have spoken with a single voice in recommending AirCare's extension to 2020," says BCGEU President Darryl Walker.  "We urge the government of British Columbia to act swiftly on this unanimous recommendation, and to extend and expand AirCare to include a focus on heavy duty vehicles."  

Metro Vancouver's decision follows an independent review process that concluded that AirCare is the most cost-effective way of reducing harmful vehicle emissions. The program's environmental and health benefits outweigh its costs until 2020, even when using the most conservative estimates, the review concluded. The province of Ontario and the State of Washington have recently extended their emissions testing programs until 2019.

AirCare is the private vehicle emissions testing program for the Lower Mainland. Nearly 50,000 vehicles still fail the test every year - about 15% of the total. The AirCare program is funded entirely through the collection of test fees, and is required by legislation to collect no more than the revenue sufficient to cover the costs of the program. 

AirCare inspectors perform "green jobs" that drive economic growth, and limit our collective environmental footprint at the same time. One hundred and fourteen BCGEU members work at AirCare facilities across the Lower Mainland. 

In the low carbon economy of the future, all jobs will have to integrate environmental and energy efficiency, B.C.'s labour movement and leading environmental organisations believe. 

For further information:

Oliver Rohlfs BCGEU Communications [phone] - [email protected]