Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Program Is Behind Schedule

Gao ID: RCED-85-22 January 16, 1985

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) implementation of vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs to ensure attainment of national ambient air quality standards by 1987.

GAO found that the implementation of I/M programs continues to run behind the EPA schedule, largely because states have strongly opposed the programs and because EPA, desiring to work with the states, has given them more time to submit approvable programs. Further, many programs that have been implemented have experienced operational problems in the areas of quality control or enforcement. The scheduled program audits, if conducted, could help identify the overall operational problems and develop a strategy for dealing with them. However, EPA has not budgeted adequate resources to complete the scheduled audits of the remaining programs. GAO believes that these audits must be completed according to schedule to meet the 1987 deadline.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Hugh J. Wessinger Team: General Accounting Office: Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division Phone: (202) 275-5489


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