Vehicle Emissions

EVER SINCE the state changed to a new auto vehicle emissions inspection program in January 1995, it's been one headache after another. The main problem has been incompetence -- and worse -- by the company hired to run the program. State officials are fed up.After he took over 13 months ago as chief of the Motor Vehicle Administration, a concerned Ronald L. Freeland ordered his internal auditors to examine the books of MARTA Technologies Inc., the Tennessee company that runs the state VEIP program.

New Emissions Program Isn't Fair, Leopold SaysTruncated news stories, often constricted due to lack of space, sometimes convey a misleading or distorted picture. Such was the case with TaNoah V. Sterling's Jan. 5 article regarding the state's expanded, more stringent vehicle emissions inspection program ("District 31 legislators set sail separately").One of the reasons I voted against the vehicle emission program during my previous tenure in the House of Delegates was the arbitrary and inequitable delineation of counties to be included or excluded in the program.

The company hired by the state to administer a five-year $96.9 million contract for high-tech vehicle emissions tests is being sold amid charges of mismanagement and shoddy maintenance at testing centers in Maryland and Ohio.MARTA Technologies Inc., a Nashville, Tenn., subsidiary of The Allen Group, a communications company, agreed this week to sell the company to Envirotest Systems Corp. and transfer contracts in three states.Maryland officials said yesterday they were uncertain how the sale would affect operation of the state's Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program, often characterized by long lines and broken equipment.

A citizen group sued the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday, saying it violated the Clean Air Act in February by approving an air-quality plan for Greater Baltimore based on "fudged" data. The case, filed in 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., could set a precedent nationally over how the agency measures vehicle emissions. Emissions levels are significant to transportation planners because new road projects will not qualify for federal money if pollution is too high.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced yesterday that he would seek to delay controversial vehicle emissions tests that were supposed to begin in June.The governor said that after consulting with legislative leaders, he will support bills already introduced in the General Assembly to postpone for another year the requirement that Maryland motorists have their autos and light trucks tested on a treadmill-like device.Motorists will still have to bring their vehicles to one of 19 testing stations to check their tailpipe emissions, state officials stressed.

Attention coupon clippers: The state is offering $2 off a controversial vehicle emissions test.The coupon is one of several changes that officials hope will combat public apprehension about the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program.The coupon is valid only on the dynamometer, a treadmill-like device that provoked a public outcry when introduced last year. State transportation and environmental officials said yesterday they hope the savings will entice more Marylanders to volunteer their cars for testing on the dynamometer.

A Carroll senator gave a boost Thursday to a bill sponsored by two Carroll delegates to protect residents who live near quarries from potential damage caused by mining.Sen. Charles H. Smelser, D-Carroll, Frederick, Howard, testified in support of the bill before the Senate Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee. The bill has passed the House."I think it was really significant that he came in to support it," said Delegate Donald B. Elliott, R-Carroll, Howard, a co-sponsor along with Delegate Richard N. Dixon, D-Carroll.

The firm hired by the state to administer a five-year $96.9 million contract for high-tech vehicle emissions tests is being sold amid charges of mismanagement and shoddy maintenance testing centers in Maryland and Ohio.MARTA Technologies Inc., a Nashville, Tenn., subsidiary of the Allen Group, a communications company, agreed this week to sell the company to Envirotest Systems Corp. and transfer contracts in three states.Maryland officials said yesterday they were uncertain how the sale would affect operation of the state's Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program, often characterized by long lines and broken equipment.

Under a compromise reached by the governor and top legislators yesterday, Maryland would resume vehicle emissions inspections within months but without the most controversial new tests.Motorists would be given an 18-month reprieve from the most "intrusive" tests, which involved technicians disconnecting hoses as well as driving cars at high speeds on tread mill-like dynamometers, Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced.A technician would continue to test tailpipe emissions -- as has been done for a decade -- and would look under the hood for any tampering with anti-pollution equipment.

Dru Schmidt-Perkins, regional director of Clean Water Action, was misquoted in an article yesterday about Maryland's vehicle emissions inspection program. She said the governor was able to rise above the rhetoric of a "vocal minority."The Sun regrets the errors.Risking political retribution from angry Maryland motorists, Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced yesterday that he will allow the state's treadmill-style vehicle emissions test to become mandatory later this year.Ending weeks of discussion, Glendening vetoed a bill passed by the General Assembly that would have kept the controversial tests voluntary.