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VET Questions?

By George Baumler

  When a taxpayer pays a tax-preparation company to figure his/her taxes, the taxpayer has a reasonable expectation that any overpayment is due the taxpayer in the form of a tax refund.  Almost no one would believe the tax-preparer or the IRS should be entitled to the refund, since it is an overpayment of tax in the first place.  Let's examine the VET program and what it does to clean the air in a similar frame of mind. 

*Does the VET program claim emission reductions for vehicles that do not exceed emission standards set by the EPA (Ones that pass the tests.)? 

*Is the air pollution reduction tonnage claimed by the VET reflective of a more accurate computer model in light of the National Academy of Sciences report that stated that VET program benefits are overstated by at least 50 to 100%? 

*Are these gains in air pollution reduction added to the tonnage in the Jefferson County Air Pollution Control Board's inventory? 

*Are Title V permits issued on the basis of VET program pollution reduction tonnage? 

*Is the emission reduction tonnage from autos used to allow additional industrial pollution? 

*How can anyone assert the VET cleans the air, if pollution that once came from a tail pipe is exchanged for pollution that now comes from a smokestack?

 Come back to the tax-preparer again.  He/she isn't entitled to a taxpayer’s refund, so why should the JCAPCD be entitled to claim the benefits of pollution reduction tonnage from a vehicle that passes the VET?  The owner of the vehicle paid for the pollution control equipment, and, if it performs at or above standards, the refund or tonnage credit should belong to the vehicle owner.  If the vehicle expels less pollution than EPA standards and thereby generates a pollution reduction tonnage, is that not equivalent to the overpayment of taxes?  When taxes are overpaid, a refund is due the taxpayer, not the tax-preparer.  Similarly, the Jefferson County Air Pollution Control District should not own the credit for pollution reduction that is earned by the owners of vehicles that pass the VET.

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