Agbar Technologies, Inc. Awarded 10 Year Contract to Implement and Operate Washington State Motor Vehicle Inspection Program

    CHICAGO, Aug. 22 The State of Washington announced today
it has awarded a ten-year contract to Agbar Technologies, Inc. of Chicago to
construct, implement and operate the State's motor vehicle inspection and
maintenance stations in Puget Sound, Spokane and Vancouver areas.  Under the
contract, Agbar will inspect over 900,000 vehicles annually in Clark, King,
Pierce, Snohomish, and Vancouver counties beginning July 1, 2002.
    Agbar Technologies will operate 16 centralized vehicle inspection stations
with over 70 high-tech lanes in the five counties.  In addition, Agbar
Technologies will provide a host of new and innovative technologies designed
to increase customer convenience and testing effectiveness, including On-Board
Diagnostic (OBD) testing for 1996 and newer vehicles. The Company will
increase customer convenience with the addition of hand-held scanners to
improve vehicle throughput, acceptance of credit cards for fees, and improved
oversight and training of inspectors.
    "We are gratified to have the opportunity to serve the State of Washington
in this important endeavor," said Ron Lancaster, President of Agbar
Technologies, Inc.  "We have a highly experienced team of vehicle inspection
managers, engineers and technicians, all of whom will work very hard to
develop a program for the State that will be a model nationwide.  We are
excited to have this opportunity and commit to provide the highest level of
customer convenience and technology to the State's motorists."
    The Washington motor vehicle inspection program was originally implemented
in 1982.  In awarding the new vehicle inspection contract to Agbar
Technologies, Inc. the State of Washington is converting from a basic test
protocol to an enhanced protocol using Acceleration Simulation Mode (ASM)
testing and On-Board Diagnostics (OBD).
    These new test procedures will better detect gross polluting vehicles and
OBD will detect potential emissions system problems in order to prevent
vehicles from becoming gross polluters.  The planned changes to the vehicle
inspection program should mean more effective identification of polluting
vehicles, greater convenience for Washington motorists and cleaner air for the
State.
    Agbar Technologies, Inc. ( http://www.agbartech.com ) is a highly experienced
provider of vehicle testing management, services and technology to state,
local governments, and industry in North America.  The Company provides
program management, hardware and software development, facilities development
and construction, telecommunications systems, data processing and inspection
services.  These services assist State government to meet their commitments to
the Federal EPA under the Clean Air Act.  Agbar Technologies, Inc. currently
provides testing services and operates vehicle inspection programs in Georgia,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Utah.  Under these contracts the company
manages over 2100 inspection stations that conduct 6.8 million vehicle
inspections annually.
    Agbar Technologies is a subsidiary of Agbar Automotive
( http://www.agbarautomotive.com ), a leading provider of vehicle testing and
certification services worldwide.  With over 1,700 employees, Agbar Automotive
subsidiaries operate 120 centralized inspection centers and oversee 2100
decentralized inspection centers that test over 10.6 million vehicles annually
in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Portugal and Spain and the United States.
Agbar Automotive also provides vehicle testing and certification services for
institutional clients like Damlier-Chrysler and Fiat and provides vehicle
design, certification and testing services for companies like Volkswagen.

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