Statehouse Headliners: House to consider Senate bill adding emissions test to annual car inspection

By Guy Page

The House Transportation Committee Thursday will consider a Senate bill to expand the annual registered vehicle inspection to include inspection of emissions or on-board diagnostic systems for all vehicles up to 10 years old.

S.84would amend current inspection law which states that “all motor vehicles registered in this state shall be inspected once each year.” This language would change to: “all motor vehicles registered in this State shall undergo a safety inspection once each year and all motor vehicles that are registered in this State and are 10 model years old or less shall undergo an emissions or on board diagnostic (OBD) systems inspection once each year as applicable.”

The 10-year exemption as passed by the Senate is seen as a cost-saving measure for owners of older cars. Emissions testing is required by the EPA because Vermont is part of a northeastern high-ozone pollution area. Yet during the last three years, Vermont has had only one day per year in which the federal ozone guidelines were exceeded.

School buses are inspected under other state statutes and would be exempt from S84’s requirements.

Other bills up for discussion in House committees this week – including minimum wage, marijuana legalization, medical monitoring, homeless youth, energy storage, banning plastic straws and takeout packaging – can be seen at In Committee This Week.

Statehouse Headliners is intended primarily to educate, not advocate. It is e-mailed to an ever-growing list of interested Vermonters, public officials and media. Guy Page is affiliated with the Vermont Energy Partnership; the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare; and Physicians, Families and Friends for a Better Vermont.

Image courtesy of Michael Bielawski/TNR

8 thoughts on “Statehouse Headliners: House to consider Senate bill adding emissions test to annual car inspection

  1. BTW as someone who grew up in MA with the sniffer test every year in the 70’s and 80’s it was easy to bypass. All we did was drop two quarts of rubbing alcohol in the tank, drove the car for about 15 minutes before the the test and it would pass every time.

    After I left MA the state mandated that the cars be tested under load. shops had to purchase $50k dyno testers. The ones who couldn’t swing it stopped doing car inspections. Shortly after the state stopped doing the sniffer test. I don’t think they do it anymore. I would have to ask a family member who still lives there.

    Now I just live in a state with no inspections. (MOST states in the US don’t have them) Life is good.

  2. Boy the nanny state sure aren’t going to like the news out of Brussels:

    “Electric vehicles emit more CO2 than diesel ones, German study shows”

    “When CO2 emissions linked to the production of batteries and the German energy mix – in which coal still plays an important role – are taken into consideration, electric vehicles emit 11% to 28% more than their diesel counterparts, according to the study, presented on Wednesday at the Ifo Institute in Munich.”

    http://brusselstimes.com/business/technology/15050/electric-vehicles-emit-more-co2-than-diesel-ones,-german-study-shows

  3. This is just liberal nonsense. Other states have emissions inspections, but only in areas where there is a defined problem. And some states, such as Georgia only require emissions checks every two years if you live in Atlanta or Augusta. And those people who are over 65 can sign a statement saying they drive 5000 miles or less a year, you are exempt from the inspection. Its a common sense inspection requirement. this one is vermont is utterly stupid. Rural areas should not have this requirement.

  4. ” EPA because Vermont is part of a northeastern high-ozone pollution area”

    Why isn’t our bone head AG fighting this federal intrusion on a CLEAN state.
    Why are we paying for NY/NJ pollution? Maybe he could cut his fights
    against Pres Trump in half and do something for the PEOPLE of VT…I don’t care as I have 2 2000 year cars..and I can “clean the computer report” if they ever do
    decide to test old cars. Just more ASSAULT Agenda from our leftist fascists…

  5. It’s just another Liberal agenda to save the world, on the back of working Vermonter’s.
    When will people learn, don’t vote these fools in !!

      • Upper income people can quite easily purchase older vehicles and not be ‘punished’ either, which is precisely what I will do. Hopefully I can find one that burns as much oil as gas, so you’ll recognize me coming from a mile away.

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