Wisconsin wants car repair shops to be able to test emissions: Consumer concerns

Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 22--MADISON -- Wisconsin officials want to allow emissions testing at car repair shops, but the state's longtime vendor for such services says the practice would be illegal and violate consumer-protection laws. State law says emissions testers cannot be in the business of car repairs, but the Department of Transportation awarded a contract recently to Applus+ Technologies that allows the company to subcontract with car repair shops to perform the tests. Envirotest Systems Corp., the Connecticut-based company that has tested vehicles for the state for 24 years, argues that the new program is illegal because it violates the consumer protection provision in the law. In this case, the contractor and subcontractor are inseparable, Envirotest argues. The car repair shops would become "prosecutor,... [read full story]