The company that made vehicle emissions testing equipment for New Hampshire has withdrawn its lawsuit over the state’s repeal of mandatory car inspections — but it is laying the groundwork to sue again.
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston handed a win to state officials last week, pausing a federal judge’s order to resume the inspection program because the Kentucky-based company had sued prematurely, filing its case before the inspection repeal went into effect.
Gordon-Darby Inc. now plans to send another 60-day notice of a lawsuit to New Hampshire “remedying this technicality,” it said in a press release. It threatened to file the suit again in July if the state does not resume emissions testing.
“The First Circuit’s procedural concerns can be easily remedied … because it is now undisputed that New Hampshire is currently in violation of an emission standard or limitation under the Clean Air Act,” the company wrote in its withdrawal notice.
State officials have repeatedly told New Hampshire residents that they don’t need to get an inspection sticker while the matter is sorted out in court.
New Hampshire violated the Clean Air Act by ending its federal emissions testing program before receiving a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Executive Council rejected an extension of the state’s contract with Gordon-Darby in February. Attorney General John Formella told councilors that New Hampshire’s air quality standards meet federal requirements, but for each day that the state is out of compliance with the Clean Air Act, it can incur a $55,000 penalty.
Obtaining the waiver is a slow process, though officials expect it to be issued before the end of the year.
Gordon-Darby had been providing New Hampshire with vehicle emissions testing equipment since 2004 and was paid roughly $4 million each year.
