READY TO ROLL INSPECTORS BRACE FOR MEXICAN TRUCKS.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

CASTAIC - As an endless stream of tractor-trailers made a beeline for the California Highway Patrol's inspection station along Interstate 5, one of the busiest in the state, Sgt. Tim Kappen peered at the rigs with an eye toward road-worthiness and current inspection tags.

``If the floodgate opens up, they (inspectors) probably won't be able to get it all,'' said Kappen, reflecting on last week's Supreme Court ruling that could open U.S. roads to commercial trucking from Mexico.

``When they do make it up here, the same standards apply,'' said Kappen, who learned Spanish years ago in anticipation of intracontinental truck traffic.

In the unanimous ruling clearing the way for the Bush administration to open all domestic highways to international trucking, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from labor and environmental groups arguing that Mexican trucks pollute and are unsafe.

While opponents such as state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the South Coast Air Quality Management District pushed for further environmental and safety review, the California Highway Patrol and the California Air Resources Board prepared to deal with the inspections of Mexican rigs.

``We have the same concerns for these vehicles as we have in the rest of the vehicles,'' CHP spokesman Steve Kohler said. ``We have more personnel in California working in our facilities than any other state by far, and we're confident of our capability to do this - to maintain safety on the roadways for all Californian motorists.''

But officials in the AQMD, which monitors air quality in most of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, were less optimistic. The agency last year filed a court brief in support of the environmental groups.

``(State and federal agencies) already have a truly daunting task cleaning up cars even more, cleaning U.S. trucks. ... This just makes it all the more difficult,'' spokesman Sam Atwood said.

Since 1982, Mexican trucks have been banned from U.S. roads outside a 20-mile border commercial zone. The 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico called for the ban to be lifted by 2000 to allow direct international shipping.

Still, while Mexico challenged the traffic moratorium, it remained in place under pressure from U.S. labor and environmental groups. President George W. Bush said in 2001 he would finally lift the ban, but he has been stumped by court challenges.

At the CHP's Otai Mesa inspection facility in San Diego, technicians examine more than 13,000 trucks per week. About two-thirds of the traffic comes from south of the border, said Sgt. Steve Vail, the facility's supervisor.

The station and its counterpart at Calexico were established more than six years ago in anticipation of meeting NAFTA's traffic provision. Since then, most Mexican trucking firms operating inside the 20-mile border zone have moved to meet California safety standards, mostly out of necessity, Vail said.

``They have to meet the same standards,'' he said. ``They don't want to be tied up, so the out-of-service rates and violation rates are on par with trucks from a U.S. company.''

CHP Commissioner Dwight ``Spike'' Helmick agreed.

``We've spent the last four years making sure those folks see our rules,'' he said. ``We have not seen much of a difference in the safety of the trucks coming in. From the safety perspective, I think we have the ability to get a good handle on it. ... It may deteriorate at some point, but we haven't seen it.''

In 2002, the CHP weighed 13.5 million tractor-trailers, of which about 500,000 were inspected - one in 27. About 234,000 tickets, citing some 485,000 violations, were issued.

But air pollution may be more difficult to regulate than vehicle safety, AQMD's Atwood said. In the Supreme Court brief, the agency argued that incoming Mexican trucks could add 50 tons of the pollutant nitrogen oxide, a smog ingredient, to the region's air.

``That's a huge number,'' he said. ``The amount of nitrogen oxide emission from every business that the South Coast AQMD regulates is 89 tons per day. That 89 tons covers 27,000 businesses.''

Also, Atwood said most Mexican trucking fleets are older than their U.S. counterparts and more likely to pollute.

``The older a vehicle is, the less stringent the emission standard that was applied when the engine was manufactured,'' he said. ``The trucks will be dirtier just by virtue that they were made earlier than the average U.S. truck.''

Without further environmental review, Atwood said, the AQMD opposes the major increase in truck pollution emissions.

Still, state air-resources board officials believe their inspection program and simple economics could contain the emissions problem.

``We have been inspecting trucks across the border for several years, and our inspection team really concentrates on looking at vehicles across the border - not just the Mexican border but also across states' (borders,'' state Air Resources Board spokesman Jerry Martin said. ``In all likelihood, we would step up inspection initially.''

Pollution inspectors under the state Environmental Protection Agency roam California's truck scales with monthly surprise inspections, and they began visiting the border stations when they were established. Fines for violations range from $800 to $1,800, of which the state board keeps $300 even if the repairs are made.

``That's why you see compliance rates increase with trucks that operate frequently in the (United States),'' Martin said. ``As they come across the border, they learn about the program and the consequences of violation.''

The inspections have shrunk the number of domestic trucks violating emission standards from 12 percent to about 6 percent, he estimated. Mexican trucks have so far retained the 12 percent failure rate.

``That actually forecasts a somewhat bright future. If Mexican truck companies follow the same pattern, they too would violate less as time goes on,'' Martin said.

Meanwhile, Kappen and his crew of inspectors - including yellow Labrador Mikey, their explosives-detection dog - stayed busy with the endless lines of tractor-trailers.

About 2 million trucks pass through the Castaic scales every year, or about 7,000 a day. About 120 trucks are inspected per day. Two-thirds of them have some problem, and 50 percent of those are put out of service until repairs are made.

``You can tell just by looking at their equipment,'' Kappen said. ``Some companies are known to take good care of their trucks. ... It doesn't matter where they're from. The same rules will apply.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A big rig rolls in at Castaic. In a recent year, the California Highway Patrol inspected one in 27 of the rigs it weighed.

(2 -- color) An inspector checks tires at Castaic. Inspectors can keep big rigs off the road if they fail safety checks.

(3) An inspector can get to the bottom of things at the California Highway Patrol truck facility at Castaic.

(4) CHP Sgt. Tim Kappen says Mexican big rigs will be inspected just like U.S. trucks at state facilities.

David Crane/Staff Photographer