CROWD PROTESTS `SMOG CHECK II' RULES.

Byline: Burt Herman Associated Press 

Rhetoric was heated on the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday, where radio talk show hosts rallied thousands of protesters against the state's new ``Smog Check II'' program.

A California Highway Patrol sergeant on the scene estimated the crowd at about 3,000, patrol spokesman Steve Kohler said.

Some in the enthusiastic crowd held aloft signs comparing the government-imposed smog check to the Soviet and Nazi regimes, and expressed fears their cars would be confiscated - a claim which lawmakers, merchants and environmentalists dispute.

Passions are so inflamed that Sen. Mike Thompson, D-Santa Rosa, has reported receiving death threats from the programs' listeners.

The smog program was enacted by the Legislature in 1994 to meet tougher federal clean air standards. Specifically targeted are so-called ``gross polluters,'' the worst 10 percent of cars, which are blamed for half of California's vehicular pollution.

The tests also will check for the first time for emissions of oxides of nitrogen, a leading cause of pollution.

The crowds started arriving before 5 a.m., even before producers began setting up for the KSFO-AM broadcast. Their numbers swelled by the time the show ended at noon. Included in the assembly were representatives from the John Birch Society and a group recruiting for militia membership.

Throughout the more than six-hour protest, sympathizing motorists honked their horns and the crowd repeated a chorus of ``Can you hear us now?'' directed at the walls of the Capitol. Many brought lawn chairs and coolers with food and made a day of the event.

Richard Kuehn woke up at 2:30 a.m. and drove about 120 miles from San Jose to register his discontent. Like other protesters, Kuehn's anger was directed at part of the new law he said would allow authorities to confiscate vehicles.

``If somebody's going to take my car, it's going to be over my dead body or over theirs,'' he said.

Woodland resident Joe Souza carried a sign that read, ``U.S.A. not U.S.S.R.'' He said he plans to put 50,000 more miles on his 10-year-old Dodge truck.

``It scares the hell out of me now that I may not be able to,'' he said. ``Right now, mine will pass (the test). I'm not sure it will in a year and a half.''

At a news conference held to counter the protest, merchants and health and environmental groups said they realized the program was not perfect, but said drastic steps must be taken to remedy the smog problem.

``The basic charge - that somehow there's a conspiracy to take your car and ride roughshod over your constitutional rights - just isn't true,'' said Gary Patton, general counsel for the Planning and Conservation League.

``There is no painless way to reduce smog. We can decide to live with it or we can decide to clean it up,'' he said.

During a prototype test of the program in Sacramento during the first six months of the year, about 28 percent of vehicles failed.

No more than 30 percent are expected to fail when the program starts next year, and car owners will be able to apply for one-time, 12-month economic hardship extensions.

If an owner makes up to $450 in repairs, he or she can get a two-year waiver on further repairs. The program also allows officials to offer to buy cars that cannot pass smog checks.

Janet Hathaway, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said repair costs related to the tests would be minimal.