ROQUE, BENJAMIN C.

Environmental Laws Application of the Clean Air Act to Second Hand and Rebuilt Motor Vehicles Recently, LTFRB Resolution 2013-1, which limits the useful life of Public Utility Buses to 15 years, has received much attention and criticism. The basis of the 15-year useful life limit is the vehicle registration number, without any regard to the age of the engine. (It must be noted that the vehicle number is different from the engine number.) By installing second-hand engines in brand new chassis (vehicle body), bus operators are able to register buses with used and rebuilt engines as brand new, thereby circumventing the Resolution. This concern is relevant not only in the protection of the environment, but also in the safety of commuters and pedestrians. What is overlooked in the discussion of this problem is a relevant provision of the Clean Air Act. Section 22 thereof mandates the prescription of the useful life limitation to BOTH vehicles and engines. Therefore, by applying this provision, when a second-hand engine (which bears the engine number) is installed to a brand new chassis (which bears the vehicle number from which the 15 year useful life is based), BOTH may be subjected to compliance with the useful life limitation requirement. Amendment of Section 22 of the Clean Air Act There seems to be a crisis in jurisdiction in Section 22 of the Clean Air Act; it states that the DTI shall promulgate the necessary regulations prescribing the useful life of vehicles and engines including devices in order to ensure that such vehicles will conform to the emissions which they were certified to meet. Probably, what the legislators had in mind in drafting this portion of the law is the sale of brand new motor vehicles and engines, which explains why the responsibility to prescribe the useful life of vehicles and engines was delegated to the DTI. Most of the problem, however, comes from second-hand vehicles and engines, which usually generates more air pollution. Furthermore, most private users of second-hand automobiles keep their vehicles wellmaintained; especially collectors of vintage and classic cars. The problem, therefore, is more prevalent in second-hand vehicles used in public transportation. It is thus more logical to delegate the responsibility of setting the useful life limitation of second hand and rebuilt vehicles and engines to the DOTC, more particularly, the LTO and the LTFRB, instead of the DTI because the said agencies are tasked with the registration of vehicles for road use. This way, the State is hitting two birds with one stone; it would be able to eliminate the risk of non-roadworthy vehicles roaming the streets, and at the same time, save the environment from the dangers of carbon emissions. Another loophole which stifles the application of the Clean Air Act to second-hand engines is the fact that the engine number, which represents the identity of the entire engine, is found only in the engine block and nowhere else. When an engine is disassembled, all the major parts other than the engine block may be separately sold without any identification, since the engine number is attached only to the block. This means that there is no way of telling when other major parts of the engine are replaced. Therefore, there should be a way to mark and identify other major parts of the engine aside from the engine block, such as the crankshaft and the cylinder head, so that when an engine is rebuilt, the integrity of the entire engine is maintained. This way, the common practice of re-using the other parts of an engine (other than the engine block, which is sold as scrap) which originally belonged to a vehicle which already reached its allowable useful life would no longer be possible.