Contact:	Bob Redding (202) 543-1440
For Release:	Immediate News Bulletin 99.27 May 10, 1999

DOT Establishes Environmental Center

Washington, D.C., May 10, 1999 -- During remarks at the National Town Hall Meeting for a Sustainable America, in Detroit, Mich., Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater announced the establishment of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting.

Slater stated, "The new Center will allow us to develop win-win solutions for our transportation partners that will help to reduce greenhouse gases." Slater had described the transportation sector as accounting for more than 25 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. The new center will work closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Energy Department.

Automotive Service Association (ASA) board member Bill Filley, AAM, said, "We appreciate the Department's leadership on environmental issues but it does concern us that new areas are being undertaken by DOT when primary areas of jurisdiction such as vehicle safety inspection and maintenance programs are woefully lacking. The DOT has focused on drunk driving, large trucks and railroad crossings but has not taken a serious look at assuring American motorists that vehicles on our highways have been regularly inspected and maintained. Poorly maintained vehicles do cause accidents. Many of these are accidents that can be prevented."

Bob Redding, ASA's Washington, D.C., Representative said, "We met with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and have asked that they take more of a leadership role in the advocacy of state safety inspection and maintenance programs. Each year certain state safety programs come under review. NHTSA could play a larger role in protecting these programs and advancing the cause of new programs. Less than half the states have safety inspection programs." Redding went on to call for a new NHTSA study on the importance of safety inspection and maintenance in the prevention of vehicle accidents.

The last federal review of safety inspection and maintenance programs was conducted by the General Accounting Office in 1990. This report determined that accidents were 17 percent lower in states with safety inspection programs than those without.

The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-for-profit trade association of its kind, serving more than 13,000 businesses and approximately 70,000 professionals from all segments of the automotive service industry. ASA is headquartered in Bedford, Texas.

ASA advances professionalism and excellence in the automotive repair industry through education, representation and member services. Additional information about ASA, including past news releases, is available on the ASA Web Site on the Internet (http://www.asashop.org).