Posted by jba/fl on 8/15/07 10:30pm
Msg #205859

OT: Reason to live in Texas?? from Freecycle.org post



http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5040779.html

Own an old car? State may help you replace it

AUSTIN — Many drivers in 16 Texas counties will soon be eligible for
financial aid to replace old vehicles.

By the end of the year, the state will begin offering up to $3,500 in
vouchers to replace pre-1996 vehicles, some of the heaviest polluters
on the roads.

The program will be available in 14 Texas counties surrounding the
Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston areas, as well as Travis and Williamson
counties.

Owners who agree to "retire" their vehicles will get $3,000 vouchers
that can be used toward buying a new car or truck or a late-model used
vehicle. If they opt to buy a hybrid, they can get $3,500. The program
is voluntary.

"By cleaning up some of the old cars and getting them off the road, you
could put a real dent in the pollution numbers," said state Sen. Kip
Averitt, R-Waco, who led the bill through the Legislature.

Starting in 1996, automakers equipped U.S. vehicles with more
sophisticated and precise fuel-injection systems, better sensors and
improved computers to meet increasingly stringent clean-air standards.
In the years since, most vehicles have gotten significantly cleaner.

Averitt estimates old cars and trucks emit 20 to 30 times as much
pollution as a new vehicle. Jim Marston, regional director of
Environmental Defense, estimates that number is closer to 10 times as
much pollution.

Vehicles must have passed a state inspection within the last 15 months
to be eligible, and an owner's annual income cannot exceed $61,000. For
cars that qualify, a $3,000 voucher will be issued that can be used as
a down payment on a new vehicle that cannot cost more than $25,000. The
voucher can also be applied to used vehicles that are no more than
three model years old.

Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com