
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 9, 1994                   TAG: 9408090108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VA., EPA STALEMATE CONTINUES

SPRINGFIELD - The Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia continued their stalemate Monday over federal clean air rules that threaten the future of some highway projects.

Federal rules took effect Monday that block new federal road funding because Virginia refused to adopt a new system to test automobile emissions in smog-plagued Northern Virginia.

Last week, the EPA rejected the state's latest version of a testing plan. Virginia wants to retain the current testing system, which allows drivers to have cars inspected for pollution at service stations that also do repairs.

``We are concerned that there is a lack of flexibility on the EPA's part,'' Tom Hopkins, Virginia's deputy secretary of natural resources, said Friday. That was the deadline the EPA set for a new Virginia plan.

The state is reviewing options that include adopting the kind of testing system the EPA demands, seeking a compromise system, or filing suit, Hopkins said.

by CNB