Sierra Research | Motor Vehicle I/M Summary Report

Sierra Research publishes an annual report that summarizes the current status of all United States and Canadian I/M programs. In addition to including detailed program design information related to network type, test frequency, model year coverage, number of vehicles subject to the program, test procedures, emissions standards, repair cost limits, etc., information is also provided on expected developments over the next 6-12 months in each individual program. Every U.S. and Canadian I/M program is contacted and asked to review the information for their program as part of preparing the report, which assures that the information is accurate and fully up-to-date. Specific report sections include:

Section 1 – Introduction and summary of program changes over last year.
Sections 2-3 – Series of summary tables that list the features of all the programs.
Section 4 – Detailed program descriptions.
Section 5 – Detailed emissions standards for all the programs.
Section 6-8 – US EPA recommended ASM standards (which are referenced in some of the individual program listings in Section 5) and US EPA IM240 standards.

In 2005, the report was significantly revised from previous versions. The report utilizes a standardized format for the detailed program descriptions contained in Section 4 in order to enhance the utility of the information and to make program comparisons easier. Beginning with the 2006 version, the report was expanded to include Canadian testing programs. A partial sample of the 2008 I/M Summary Report (Adobe Acrobat PDF file) is provided to illustrate the report’s format and content.