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

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2001

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. (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 (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.