During the recently completed 2009-10 school year, the Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair (CCAR®) administered more than 1.4 million online exams to automotive students in its S/P2® Safety and Pollution Prevention e-learning program.

"I truly believe that the S/P2 courses are best-in-class offering both students and businesses the most accurate, reputable, and effective environmental and safety content," said CCAR's Chairman, Charles E. Ayers, Franchise Business Manager, Midas International Corporation, Itasca, Ill. "CCAR was a pioneer in delivering this training content via the Internet, and there is no reason to doubt that our overall usage will continue to grow into the foreseeable future."

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The Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair  announces 11 more auto repair facilities have received the organization's "GreenLink Shop" recognition. More than 30 shops have been announced since the program's introduction in January.

"CCAR is delighted to welcome to welcome these facilities to the GreenLink Shop family," said Daren Fristoe, CCAR President and Chief Operating Officer. "With their addition, the GreenLink Shop program has reached from coast to coast, and we commend all participating shops on their commitment to green and safe practices in their operations."

The new GreenLink Shops are:

Car-O-Van Collision Center, Orlando, Fla.
Classic Bodyworks, Ltd., Pearl City, Hawaii
Collision Care @ Northeast, Philadelphia, Pa.
Howard's Body & Paint Shop, Klamath Falls, Ore.
Hubler Express Collision, Fishers, Ind.
Hubler Express Collision, Indianapolis, Ind.
Kendrick Paint & Body, Augusta, Ga.
Kendrick Paint & Body, Martinez, Ga.
Kendrick Paint & Body, Aiken, S.C.
Robert's Auto Repair, Monterey, Calif.
Walt Sweeney Collision Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

Click here to learn more about the GreenLink Shop program.

The Automotive Maintenance and Repair Association (AMRA) has learned the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed an effective date of September 1, 2010, for the adoption of Section 95550 in Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.

This regulation will require automotive service providers to check and inflate the tires of each passenger car brought in for service to its recommended tire pressure rating. This will be required in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from underinflated tires.

Among the requirements automotive service providers will be expected to meet are checking and inflating each vehicle's tires to the recommended tire pressure rating at the time of performing any automotive maintenance or repair service, as well as indicating on the vehicle service invoice that a tire inflation service was completed.

On March 19, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) disapproved the CARB's proposed adoption of Section 95550. The OAL cited the CARB's failure to comply with the clarity and necessity standards of Government Code section 11349, a failure to follow the required procedure, and the fact the regulatory file did not contain all required documents. These requirements have since been met.

For questions related to the CARB regulation, please contact Theresa Anderson at 916-445-2159, or by e-mail at tmanders@arb.ca.gov.

Following is a summary of the requirements and compliance deadlines necessary for all automotive service providers in California. A full copy of the regulation can be obtained by contacting AMRA at amra@amra.org, or by calling 703-532-2027.

The Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair is partnering with Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes (SWAF) to promote the GreenLink Shop designation for collision repair centers in Sherwin-Williams' A-Plus™ Network and EcoLean™ certified facilities across the United States.

"We are excited to bring the benefits of CCAR's GreenLink Shoprecognition program to our A-Plus Network Members," said Brandon Devis, A-Plus Network Program Manager. "Our members continue to look for ways to set them apart from their respective competition and this is a great consumer driver benefit.  There is a natural synergy between the GreenLink Shop recognition and our EcoLean training we provide through our A-Plus University workshops."

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Antifreeze is a substance added to a solvent, such as water, to lower its freezing point. Antifreeze is typically added to water in the cooling system of an internal-combustion engine so that it can be cooled below the freezing point of pure water (32 degrees F) without freezing. Ethylene glycol is the most widely used automotive cooling-system antifreeze, although methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and propylene glycol are also used. In automotive windshield-washer fluids, an alcohol (e.g., methanol) is usually added to keep the mixture from freezing; it also acts as a solvent to help clean the glass. The brine used in some commercial refrigeration systems is an antifreeze mixture; it is typically a water solution of calcium chloride or propylene glycol.

Antifreeze is toxic to humans and animals. Waste antifreeze contains heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and chromium in high enough levels to potentially make it a regulated hazardous waste, so most states strictly regulate antifreeze disposal. Antifreeze generators and state and local programs should not dump spent antifreeze on land or discharge it into a sanitary sewer, storm drain, ditch, dry well, or septic system; dumping antifreeze can cause serious water quality problems and might harm people, pets, or wildlife.

by Jennifer Penland
CCAR Director of Operations

New Java updates? IE 8? Cookies? Trusted sites? Firewalls? Networks? Bandwidth? Confused? The technology behind making any website run properly has the ability to confuse even the most experienced user of online learning programs.

During this busy time of year, as school resumes and hundreds of new users are accessing the S/P2 system, CCAR is trying to ease the confusion. We have taken some of the most-often-asked technical questions and provided answers with step-by-step instructions. We have also developed a new tool as part of the S/P2 site to help diagnose if your computer has all the necessary programs to run S/P2 to its full potential.

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