Northern Virginia drivers, who have been lining up for more than 40 years, have had their vehicles inspected every two-years (in addition to the safety inspections that are required in Virginia), for emission testing. This mandate only applied to Northern Virginia localities and was passed in 1982 as part of the 1970 Clean Air Act. It was an appropriate response to the air pollution crisis at the time.

This era has long passed. The vehicles of today are technological wonders in comparison to the ones on the roads when Ronald Reagan was president, and the air quality in the region has improved dramatically. Virginians still pay over $50 million per year for a regulatory program which has little or no benefit to the environment. It is time that policymakers acknowledge the success of this program and end it.

The results are clear. The cars of today emit between 98 and 99% less pollutants than those from the mid-20th century. Air quality in Northern Virginia meets federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards. This is true even when you take into account anomalies such as the recent Canadian wildfires that blew through our region.

Cleaner Cars, Cleaner Air

The original goal of the program was to reduce smog and pollutants caused by older vehicles that were less efficient. Many cars at the time lacked catalytic convertors and even more modern models lacked sophisticated onboard diagnosis. This is no longer true.

Modern vehicles come equipped with advanced emission-control technology. This includes catalytic convertors, which were made standard in 1974, as well as On-Board Diagnostics systems (OBD-II), which have been mandatory since 1996. These systems continuously monitor the vehicle’s emission components and alert drivers immediately to any problems, making a biennial check redundant.

Was once an innovative public health measure, has now become a bureaucratic cost. Only 1.8% of the 1.8 millions vehicles that are tested fail inspections. Even those that fail are usually a technicality. The majority of failures are caused by a malfunctioning OBD system in the vehicle, and not because it is polluting too much. Rarely, genuine emissions-related problems are caused by minor issues like a loose cap.

Northern Virginians also spend millions of dollars every two years in inspection fees plus administrative costs, fuel wasted, and lost time at work. The poorest families are the hardest hit, as they are often forced to make expensive repairs on older cars that contribute little to overall emissions. Ironically, this program increases pollution. Every two years, mandatory inspection station trips add 18 million miles of vehicle travel to local roads. The problem is exacerbated by idling engines at inspection stations.

{Adding insult to injury, the oldest vehicles–those more than 25 years old and likely to pollute the most–are exempt from testing altogether.|

A Smarter Way Forward

There are many reasons to repeal the law: air quality today is excellent, modern vehicle technology makes inspections unnecessary and compliance costs far outweigh any measurable benefit. Tennessee and Kentucky, for example, have recognized that their emissions programs are outdated. They have submitted revised State Implementation Plans to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and repealed these mandates.

Virginia should follow suit. Virginia should follow suit. Eliminating emissions testing would save Virginians millions of dollars and reduce pollution and unnecessary driving. It would also free up resources to be used for other environmental priorities.

If the lawmakers cannot repeal this program immediately, they should reform it. Virginia families would be relieved of the burden if they could exempt cars older than 10 years, waive inspections on vehicles that are driven less than 5,000 miles per year, and expand “RapidPass”, which uses remote sensing to monitor vehicle emissions.

However, incremental reforms will only be a temporary solution. Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality must submit a revised SIP and remove the mandate for emissions testing to the EPA. Northern Virginians did their part. It’s evident in our cleaner cars and air. Richmond must now trust science and technology and submit a plan for the EPA that will lift this burden.