Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408080039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SPRINGFIELD LENGTH: Short
Virginia hasn't budged in its stalemate with the EPA, which threatened to freeze work on major highway projects in the smog-plagued region unless Virginia agreed by Friday to a new system to test automobile emissions.
``We are concerned that there is a lack of flexibility on the EPA's part,'' said Tom Hopkins, Virginia's deputy secretary of natural resources. ``We are reviewing all our options.''
Options include adopting the kind of testing system the EPA demands, seeking a compromise system or filing a lawsuit, Hopkins said.
A lawsuit could claim the EPA overstepped its bounds. Virginia likely would claim its plan satisfies the federal clean-air mandates and the state should not be bound by the EPA procedure.
The EPA on Thursday rejected the state's latest version of a testing plan. Virginia wants to retain the current testing system, which allows northern Virginia drivers to have cars inspected for pollution-causing emissions at service stations that also do repairs.
Top officials and lawyers from several agencies met in Richmond to discuss the situation Friday, Hopkins said.
Under Virginia's plan, drivers don't have to bounce from a testing station to a service station and back again to get an inspection sticker, Hopkins said.
Federal officials say fuel stations do not do as thorough a job checking for polluters, and may defraud drivers who don't need repairs.
by CNB