State won’t pay for Memphis emissions testing
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Memphis Mayor A C Wharton says Gov. Bill Haslam has decided the state won’t take over local vehicle emissions inspection.
The Commercial Appeal (http://bit.ly/18CtWrG ) reported Wharton wrote a memo to Memphis City Council members on Wednesday in which he said Haslam has also decided the state will not help pay for a local inspection program.
Wharton said he was told of the governor’s decision in a conference call that also included Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, Environment and Conservation Commissioner Robert Martineau and Mark Cate, who is Haslam’s chief of staff.
Memphis voted to stop paying for a vehicle inspection program as the city pushed for countywide or region-wide auto emissions testing.
On June 27, 2012, Memphis health officials issued the city’s first-ever “Code Purple” alert for unhealthful ozone levels.
