Exhaustive Test for Detroit

Although all U.S. manufacturers are now worried about pollution controls, no industry is more concerned--or has better reason to be--than the automakers. Under the Clean Air Act of 1970, Detroit's 1975 models must be built to emit 90% less of both carbon monoxide and gaseous hydrocarbons than is given off by 1970 cars; by the 1976 model year, emissions of nitrogen oxides must be reduced by a similar amount. If Detroit fails to meet these deadlines, the Federal Government can close the industry down. As a result, the automakers have launched a crash program, investing both manpower and money ($250 million in 1970) to solve the problems.

Will Detroit succeed in time? Last week in a report prepared for Congress, William Ruckelshaus, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, gave his official view. "Although it is very early for any predictions, it appears that progress is being made in controlling the emissions," he said. "EPA is moderately optimistic."

The Challenge. Ruckelshaus also issued final regulations on exhaust-testing procedures, making them a bit more lenient than before. The old tests simulated a 71-mile urban auto trip, starting with a cold engine (which throws off more pollutants than a warm one). To approximate more closely the way a typical car is used during a day (the engine is often already warm from a previous trip), the new rules call for tests from warm and cold starts; this procedure should reduce the average emissions during tests, helping Detroit to meet the standards.

Moreover, the test fuel will be unleaded gasoline, which unlike the leaded variety widely used today does not foul antipollution equipment; thus the engineering problems of the automakers will be eased. Said Ruckelshaus: The new regulations, together with the deadlines, represent "a challenge to the ingenuity of American industry."

Detroit just sighed. "The test procedures have been made easier," said a Chrysler official, "but we still don't know whether we can accomplish the goals." Herbert L. Misch, Ford's vice president for engineering and manufacturing, was more explicit. Between the 1962 and the 1970 models, he said, Detroit cut carbon-monoxide emissions by 70% and hydrocarbons by 80%. "Thus," he complained, "the task presented to us of an additional 90% reduction is formidable. We are most pessimistic about our ability to comply with the 1976 requirements on nitrogen oxides."

There are good grounds for Detroit's gloom. By raising exhaust temperatures, a device called a catalytic converter can burn away carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Trouble is, this step may also increase the output of nitrogen oxides, which no one yet knows how to curb economically. Unless the automakers can develop radical, new technological solutions, they fear that the expense of meeting the federal requirements may add as much as $600 to the cost of each new car.

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