It doesnt really matter if it helps pollution or not... they were getting $10 a car! Times just about every car on the road! I couldnt believe they stopped doing it for their sake. However I didnt mind! Hehehe. Like all my converter werent hollow anyway. The only thing that sucked was they started it like June or July 1st and my B-Day was the end of May so I still had to do it. Keep us updated. I wouldnt be surprised if all of a sudden they make road blocks and do manditory roadside sniffer tests out of the blue..