A group of Wisconsin congressmen has introduced a bill that would allow Wisconsin to petition to have its air quality designation change and remove the requirement for vehicle emissions testing in Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington, and Waukesha counties.

A group of Wisconsin state representatives sent a letter to Wisconsin’s congressional delegation in December, and Congressman Tom Tiffany stood with state leaders in late March, stating he would push the Environmental Protection Agency to change Clean Air Act rules to remove the emissions testing requirements.

The seven counties are part of a nonattainment area that the lawmakers said shows pollution from Chicago and outside the state with no more than 10% of the pollution measured coming from Wisconsin.

Tiffany, R-7th Congressional, along with Reps. Bryan Steil, R-1st Congressional, Scott Fitzgerald R-5th Congressional and Glenn Grothman, R-6th Congressional, introduced the Fair Air Standards Act to allow states to petition to remove themselves from the status based upon where the pollution originates.

“This is a topic we’ve been working on for 25 years, as the poorly drafted Clean Air Act has punished industries in Wisconsin, making them less competitive, especially compared to other states and factories around the world,” Grothman said in a statement.

The testing is funded through a 1-cent per gallon petroleum tax with an estimated $271.4 million spent by Wisconsin residents from 1984 to 2022-23 on testing.

Lawmakers have cited advanced technology and a low failure rate of 3.1% and 3% in 2021 and 2022.

“Because of outdated federal rules, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin drivers in seven counties are forced to complete emissions tests every two years just to renew their registration,” Tiffany said. “Wisconsin families should not be punished with costly and time-consuming mandates because of pollution drifting in from Illinois and Indiana.

“Four decades later and with cleaner vehicles on the road, it is time to end this non-attainment zone mandate and stop burdening drivers with a system that cannot prove it works.”