New bill would roll back emissions testing requirements in North Carolina

A new bill proposal in the North Carolina senate would roll back emissions test requirements for vehicles in all counties where it’s required but one.

The vehicle inspection & maintenance (I&M) program was started just over 40 years ago when Mecklenburg County was found to be in violation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for harmful pollutants. Wake County was added two years later, followed by Forsyth, Guilford, and several others with the passage of Clean Air Act amendments in 1990.

One goal was to address ground-level ozone. At its peak, 44 counties took part in the program, but that number is now 19 — with each one currently meeting all federal air pollution standards. The proposed Safety and Emission Inspection Modifications bill (also known as SB 341), would reduce most car inspections to every other year rather than annually and eliminate emission tests in all counties but Mecklenburg.

Department of Environmental Quality’s Shawn Taylor says there are a number of things beyond the I&M program that DEQ does to ensure that the state remains in compliance with federal air quality standards.

"We’re just starting an analysis of how these current county levels would interact with the proposed legislation and I just don’t really have much information to share with you about what that would look like, or where those reductions would come from, if they’d be needed, etc.," says Taylor.

SB 341 was filed on March 21, and has since been referred to the Rules and Operations Senate Committee.