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News Release 234
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AWARDS CONTRACT FOR COMBINED VEHICLE EMISSIONS, SAFETY INSPECTION PROGRAM FOR ST. LOUIS
Volume 35-234 |
Contact: Renee Bungart |
(For immediate release) |
573-751-4465 |
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAY 30, 2007 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has signed a contract with SysTech International LLC to provide equipment and data management services for the Gateway Vehicle Inspection Program. The program will combine motor vehicle emissions testing and safety inspections in the St. Louis area.
The contractor will provide the state with inspection and maintenance management services, a real-time vehicle inspection database and state-of-the-art vehicle inspection equipment and software necessary to combine emissions and safety inspections into one program.
"SysTech has offered an innovative and comprehensive plan, and they will be a key partner in our continuing efforts to improve air quality for the citizens of the St. Louis area," said Department of Natural Resources' Division of Environmental Quality Deputy Director Leanne Tippett Mosby. "They will provide the infrastructure for a cost-effective, convenient, and fraud-resistant vehicle inspection program."
A privately owned company based in Murray, Utah, SysTech International is solely in business to provide vehicle inspection and maintenance services to jurisdictions implementing emissions and safety inspection and maintenance programs. Inspection and maintenance contracts in the states of Connecticut, New York (City Taxi and Limousine Commission), Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee (cities of Nashville and Memphis), Utah (Salt Lake County) and Washington are currently being operated by SysTech International.
The state's contract with SysTech International is effective from May 29 until Sept. 1, 2011. The contract contains options for one two-year and one one-year extension. The current centralized emissions only testing program, the Gateway Clean Air Program, will end Sept. 1.
The Gateway Vehicle Inspection Program will cover an area that includes the city of St. Louis, and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin counties. All 1996 and newer gasoline-powered vehicles and 1997 and newer diesel-powered vehicles under 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight rating registered within the St. Louis ozone nonattainment area will be subject to an emissions inspection, in addition to the required safety inspection.
The implementation and maintenance of the combined emissions and safety program is designed to achieve the state's goals of reducing ground-level ozone in the St. Louis nonattainment area while providing maximum convenience to area motorists whose vehicles fall under the testing requirements. Ozone is a respiratory irritant that can cause health problems, especially for children, the elderly and people with lung and heart diseases.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri State Highway Patrol will jointly administer the Gateway Vehicle Inspection Program. For more information about the Gateway Vehicle Inspection Program, please contact the department's Air Pollution Control Program at 800-361-4827 or 573-751-4817.
For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.
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