The EPA grants North Carolina’s request to end vehicle emissions testing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The EPA agreed to end vehicle emissions testing in 19 North Carolina counties.
- State drivers would save nearly $20 million a year if emissions testing ends.
- Drivers in Mecklenburg County will likely still need emissions testing under state law.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to end vehicle emissions testing in 19 North Carolina counties where it still takes place, though testing will likely continue in Mecklenburg County under a state program.
But drivers in Wake, Durham, Johnston and more than a dozen other counties would no longer need emissions testing if the EPA’s proposal stands.
State regulators asked the EPA to end required emissions inspections for 18 North Carolina counties nearly two years ago. The N.C. Division of Air Quality says the inspections are no longer needed to help the state comply with federal air quality standards.
On Monday, the EPA said it agreed. The agency said state drivers would save nearly $20 million a year on emissions testing without significantly harming air quality.
“EPA is committed to eliminating unnecessary burdens to make testing more convenient and affordable for drivers and ensuring clean air for all Americans,” Kevin McOmber, the agency’s regional administrator, said in a statement.
The EPA will accept comments from the public over the next 30 days before making the change.
Vehicles that are more than 20 years old are exempt from emissions testing in North Carolina, as are light-duty vehicles less than three years old, as long as they have fewer than 70,000 miles on the odometer.
Cars and trucks in all 100 counties are still required to get annual safety inspections when their registration is renewed with the Division of Motor Vehicles. The fee for a standard safety inspection is $13.60. Where it’s required, the combined safety and emissions inspection costs $30.
Many motorists cheered the idea of eliminating the emissions test when it was proposed two years ago. But two groups opposed: businesses that provide the tests and environmental groups.
Several environmental organizations sent a joint letter to state regulators in 2024 saying the tests are beneficial, particularly for people who live near highways.
“North Carolina has achieved recent air quality gains because of programs like emissions testing,” said the letter written by the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill. “It does not make sense to eliminate emissions testing now and risk a backslide.”
North Carolina’s emissions inspections program began in 1982 and was eventually expanded to 48 of the state’s 100 counties. The goal was to identify vehicles with unusually high emissions of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides that cause ozone, the main ingredient of smog.
The effort was scaled back in recent years as air quality improved. The EPA allowed the state to end inspections in 26 counties in 2019, and three more — Lee, Onslow and Rockingham — in 2022.
Then in late 2023, the General Assembly authorized the state to eliminate inspections in 18 of the remaining 19 counties through the state budget. The state made a formal request in the fall of 2024.
The Trump administration went a step further than the state’s request by proposing to eliminate testing in Mecklenburg, which includes Charlotte, the state’s largest city. But even if the EPA’s proposal goes through, testing would still be required in Mecklenburg under state law.
The 18 counties where emissions testing would end are: Alamance, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Johnston, Lincoln, New Hanover, Randolph, Rowan, Union and Wake.
This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 3:12 PM.
