Requirement to report vehicle information begins Monday Published Jan. 23, 2014 By Barbara Fisher 75th Air Base WIng Public Affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- On Monday an e-mail from no-reply@apims.af.mil will hit Hill AFB mailboxes as employees here are officially notified to begin reporting emissions information on personal vehicles driven on the base. The e-mail will contain a link to the Employee Certification and Reporting System, or ECARS, where employees will be prompted to enter information about their driving habits on the base. "All employees, military and civilian, even those who carpool, will have 30 days to go into ECARS and complete the self-certification process," said Glenn Palmer, Hill's air quality program manager with the 75th Civil Engineer Group. "The only exceptions are contractors and retirees who are not current federal employees." Hill is one of approximately 60 Air Force bases requiring employees to use ECARS. The requirement went into effect in July 2012 and has been phased in at the bases since then. "This applies in areas of the United States that struggle to meet air quality requirements," Palmer said. "Utah is one of the states dealing with poor air quality at times." When employees go into ECARS, they will be prompted to answer a series of questions, starting with "Do you drive/park a personal vehicle on Hill AFB 60 days or more per year?" Palmer said if the answer is "No," ECARS will direct the employee to sign Air Force Form 4434, which all employees will be directed to sign. If the answer is "Yes," the employee will be prompted to enter: Vehicle type (make, model and year); Primary fuel type used by the vehicle; How many days per week the employee drives the vehicle on the base; and Whether the vehicle has a current emissions certificate, is exempt from emissions testing, has failed, or NOT had air emissions testing done. If the vehicle has a current emissions certificate, ECARS will ask for the state where the emissions test was performed, certificate authority, and expiration date of the emissions test. Palmer said there are valid exemptions to the emissions certificate requirement and ECARS will provide a list for employees to choose from. Exemptions are: Diesel vehicles Electric vehicles Gasoline vehicles 2 model years old or newer Gasoline vehicles 1967 model year or older Hybrid vehicles Hydrogen vehicles Motorcycles Natural gas light-duty vehicles model year 2005 and newer Natural gas medium-duty vehicles model year 2008 and newer 1968 to 1980 model year vehicles with $250 repair waiver 1981 to 1995 model year vehicles with a $350 repair waiver 1996 and newer model year vehicles with a $450 repair waiver Vehicles registered as vintage, collectible, or classic "If you have do not have an emissions test or have failed testing, you will be required to obtain an emissions certificate within 30 days and ECARS will send you a follow-up e-mail," Palmer said. Palmer said employees have 30 days after they receive Monday's e-mail to enter information into ECARS and up to 90 days to obtain emissions testing. He recommends employees wait a few days before going into ECARS. "Hill is near the end of the 60 or so bases implementing ECARS," he said. "With 10,000-plus employees here, we don't want everyone to try and log onto the system on the first day." Employees will be required to periodically re-certify their information in ECARS. Those employees who do NOT drive at least 60 days per year, or who do drive at least 60 days per year but have a valid exemption, will be prompted to re-certify their information annually. Employees required to enter emission certificate information in ECARS will be prompted to re-certify upon expiration of those certificates. ECARS will send notifications to employees when it is time to update their information. For more information locally about ECARS contact: Glenn Palmer at (801) 775-6918, glenn.palmer.1@us.af.mil; Barbara Fisher at (801) 775-3652, barbara.fisher.1@us.af.mil; or Mark Kaschmitter at (801) 775-2359, mark.kaschmitter.ctr@us.af.mil.