Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Sierra Club and the American Lung Association's local office charged the EPA has illegally allowed Virginia officials to delay the new standards.
The suit filed in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a sideline skirmish in a months-long battle between the state and federal officials, who want Virginia to change the way it tests cars for pollution.
``What once was a standoff between the EPA and the commonwealth has become a high-stakes political game with the residents of Northern Virginia dealt the losing hand,'' said Kurt Erickson, acting executive director of the American Lung Association of Northern Virginia.
EPA officials had not seen the lawsuit Tuesday and had no immediate response, spokeswoman Carrie Dietzel said.
``It's highly unproductive grandstanding at best,'' Virginia Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources Tom Hopkins said. ``We're in serious negotiations with the EPA and working with our congressional delegation on a bipartisan level, and now this just is not helpful.''
Virginia already has missed several deadlines to file a plan to cut air pollution under the federal Clean Air Act. Virginia officials offered alternative plans that the EPA rejected because they don't set up totally free-standing emissions testing sites.
Virginia motorists now have their car emissions tested at a service station as part of regular car inspections.
The administration of Gov. George Allen and a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen want to keep some form of that system for Northern Virginia drivers. They claim it's too inconvenient to have a car tested at one place and fixed at another.
But the EPA insists the risk of fraud is too great when testing and repairs are performed under the same roof. Also, the corner mechanic may pass a polluting car to keep a regular customer happy, the agency has said.
By law, the state's failure to comply with the Clean Air Act already should have triggered federal sanctions. The sanctions could hold up or deny federal transportation dollars, including millions for the proposed Walt Disney Co. theme park in Prince William County. Ultimately the EPA has the power to freeze about $400 million in federal highway funds.
But last month EPA Regional Administrator Peter Kostmayer declared a ``cooling-off period'' during which the agency and Virginia officials would work on a compromise.
``I would suggest that politics has something to do with that,'' said Howard Fox, a lawyer with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. ``Certainly there have been some strong positions taken by Virginia politicians.''
Rep. Leslie Byrne, D-Fairfax, helped lead negotiations with the EPA over the summer, and denied that lawmakers strongarmed the agency.
``I always thought the reason for the Clean Air Act was clean air,'' Byrne said. ``While I understand the Sierra Club's displeasure with the EPA, being litigious isn't going to clean the air.''
Regional planners meet Sept. 21 to vote on road projects for the coming year, including improvements to Interstate 66 near the proposed Disney site.
by CNB