The Nation - News from March 10, 1985

Inspection programs to control car exhaust fumes are being weakened because too many states have fought the system and too many inspection centers have ignored strict anti-pollution standards, the General Accounting Office said in a report to Congress. It accused the Environmental Protection Agency of being too lenient in forcing states to adopt the emission control program. The states were required under a 1977 law to reduce pollution by carbon monoxide and ozone --two elements of automobile exhaust--by 1983. But 30 states and the District of Columbia received an extension until Dec. 31, 1987, on the condition they adopt a vehicle emissions inspection program to help control pollution.