The District recently installed a self-service car emissions testing site in Kenilworth Park in Northeast. But the facility will never open.
The U.S. Park Service said the District didn’t have the authority or permission to build the site on federal park property.
Built just off Anacostia Avenue near 42nd Street in Ward 7, the emissions site remains closed, and will never perform a biannual emissions check on a single car.
“The National Park Service was not aware of the emissions test kiosk until it was brought to our attention by members of the community in mid-October 2023,” said Jasmine Shanti, the park service’s lead spokeswoman for the National Capital Region.
“Once we were made aware, we contacted the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) who approved the emissions test kiosk — without NPS approval or issued permit — and notified them they did not have authority or permission to approve the installation,” said Shanti.
A long-standing agreement between the park service and the District has specified federal parkland within D.C. can only be used for public recreational purposes.
“DPR has informed the NPS that they have communicated with the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles and will not be operating the emissions test kiosk at Kenilworth Parkside,” said Shanti.
The District has been seeking to install a self-service kiosk east of the Anacostia River, after the success of the city’s first kiosk, which opened four years ago at Takoma Recreation Center, in Ward 4.
The mistakenly-installed kiosk still sits unused in Kenilworth Park.
Shanti said DPR told the park service “they are looking at some alternative ‘non-park’ locations across Ward 7. The NPS doesn’t have any information on their plan(s) to remove the newly installed equipment at Kenilworth Parkside at this time.”
In a joint statement to WTOP, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Parks and Recreation said “unfortunately” the site can only be used for recreation.
“After consulting with the National Park Service and the community, the kiosk will be moved to another location,” the statement said, but it did not specify where the new site will be located.
