A Davis County program created to fix diesel vehicles with removed or tampered emissions controls is not being used. 

Health officials say the program started last June, and while they’ve been trying to promote it since, no one has completed the process and had their vehicle fixed. 

Davis County Health Department Environmental Health Division director Jay Clark said fixing the emissions control on diesel vehicles can help the air quality in northern Utah. He said it’s estimated that a vehicle with tampered emissions components emits 100 times the amount than a vehicle with working emissions controls. 

“To put this in perspective, if we have 200 diesel vehicles that have tampered emissions components they may be putting out as much air pollution equivalent to 20,000 other vehicles,” Clark said. 

The money used to repair trucks comes from two lawsuits, one against auto parts company TAP Worldwide, and the other against Diesel Power Gear, made famous from The Diesel Brothers out of Woods Cross and their reality show on Discovery Channel. 

The health department received a grant for $190,000 to start this program and help drivers get their vehicles fixed. 

“Bringing tampered vehicles back into emissions compliance is a benefit to the entire community,” Clark said. “Properly functioning emissions components are critical as we work to lower air pollution across the Wasatch Front.”

Fixing emissions controls can help reduce pollution, bring the car into emissions compliance, and in many cases, help the vehicle run better. Some drivers feel the emissions controls cut their vehicles power, so they modify it to stop working. This is connected with what’s known as “rolling coal.” Only six states have expressly banned tampering with emissions controls; and Utah is one of them.

According to Clark, as long as the altered vehicle is newer than 2005 and the owner is in Box Elder, Cache, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, and Utah Counties, the vehicle can qualify for up to $6,000 in repairs at authorized shops. The owner must be able to prove ownership of the vehicle prior to when the program started in June 2023. 

To find more information or apply to the Tampered Diesel Truck Restoration Program, you can visit the Davis County Health Department’s website.