The evaluation of the formaldehyde emission potential of individual products and materials under indoor-related conditions and over defined time scales requires the use of climate-controlled emission testing systems, so-called emission test chambers, and cells, the size of which can vary between a few cubic centimeters, and several cubic meters, depending on the application.
The decentralized configuration is just one of the many changes to the state's emissions testing system.
New Jersey began the new emissions testing system under pressure from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which Mrs. Whitman now heads.
Like a similar program in New Jersey, Connecticut's emissions testing system has proven a political embarrassment -- in this case, for the administration of Mr. Rowland, a Republican.
In a move to distance themselves from New Jersey's troubled auto emissions testing system, state senators voted today to suspend all of the complex new inspections until June 30.
The auto-emissions testing system that infuriated New Jersey drivers was described as a "mammoth boondoggle" in a report issued today that portrayed the contract as a study in patronage and incompetence.
The group will also look into the $488 million contract awarded for an auto emissions testing system that has been plagued by computer breakdowns and equipment failures, creating long lines of angry drivers.
And the problems have only added to the auto-related woes of Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, whose administration's efforts to install a tougher statewide emissions testing system have also been plagued by delays and breakdowns.
And, they said, they do not foresee the types of problems that caused the auto emissions testing system to be suspended last week after a little more than a month.
The Attorney General created the office of the inspector general in May amid controversies involving allegations of racial profiling by State Police and a malfunctioning auto emissions testing system.
