Although one of two key bills aimed at reducing pollution from cars failed to pass on Utah’s Capitol Hill, environmentalists say the 2018 legislative session was largely a success for air quality.
HB171 — which would have doubled penalties for Utah drivers caught disabling a diesel vehicle’s emissions-control system — never made it to the Senate floor for a final vote before the session ended late Thursday.
Such illegal modifications cause vehicles to produce far more pollution than they would otherwise, allowing drivers to release plumes of black smoke from their tailpipes — a practice known as “rolling coal.