[Comments on Recommendations in GAO Report]

GAO commented on recommendations it made in a previous report on safety issues associated with vehicle-based, or onboard, vapor recover systems. GAO noted that: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) should provide it with a safety determination before it can issue an onboard regulation, but NHSTA believes that it can not provide a safety assessment since the systems are not in use; (2) it recommended that EPA and NHSTA jointly develop an onboard system evaluation plan to ensure onboard system safety and increased coordination between the agencies, not to change EPA responsibility for safety-related decisionmaking or to obtain a NHSTA seal of approval; and (3) it did not intend the recommendations to change NHSTA legal authority to recall automobiles.