The Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky, Inspection/Maintenance Program: Its Successes and Failures

The Louisville/Jefferson County Vehicle Exhaust Testing Program (VET) began in 1984 and annually performs approximately 465,000 hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide tests on 395,000 vehicles. The centralized and automated program is initiated by a vehicle's registration month. Testing and data processing are performed by a private contractor. Administration and enforcement are performed by the Air Pollution Control District of Jefferson County through the District Court system. All data are centrally stored and available for the generation of various reports and analysis for program support, justification and modifications. The VET Program effectively identifies vehicles needing repairs and handles the attendant data. The primary difficulty associated with the VET program has been in obtaining effective vehicle repairs.