If either of these programs retires as many vehicles as projected, they may encounter controversy from interests that oppose scrapping vehicles. The future of AVR programs will depend on whether private industry will seek to sponsor such programs to earn pollution credits and whether less controversial or more cost-effective options are available to states to achieve or maintain federal air quality standards. State Implementation Plans for National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards. A private corporation may earn a pollution credit by reducing emissions from sources other than its own and apply the credit to ease emissions requirements on its stationary sources such as smokestacks. For example, contributing funding to an AVR program may be more economically attractive than modifying a stationary source to pollute less.
States have the flexibility to develop a variety of measures to improve air quality.
A state may suffer penalties, such as a reduction in federal highway funding, if it does not alter its plan according to EPA's revisions. The Union Oil Company of California . A Clean Air Initiative from Unocal. Los Angeles, California. The Office of Technology Assessment analyzed the costs and benefits of a vehicle retirement program using data from this pilot project.