Are new smog pumps available anywhere? I looked on Rockauto earlier and found the valve and piping, but not the pump. My truck doesn't have one because it's Federal emissions. My Saturn doesn't either, but they often do, and they're electric, and also seem to be unavailable.
I don't see what the big fuss is about with removing a smog pump that doesn't do much even when it is working. People on boards take off cats or gut them, without a second thought, and they actually do something the whole time the engine is running. I wouldn't remove cats or EGR just because, but the smog pump and all it's piping, I would have no problem removing, especially if it was worn out or broken.
You say that GM wouln't include it, if it weren't needed..... it's needed alright, it was needed to satisfy some govt. regualtion. The govt. doesn't care if it doesn't do much. That teeny tiny little bit it's supposed to help with something is enough for them, if it became law somehow. The solution doesn't have to make sense, or be effective, it has to satisfy a regulation that the manufacturer has to follow.