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Vehicle Services: Emissions Inspections
If your vehicle is garaged in the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William,
or Stafford, or the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas or Manassas Park,
your vehicle must meet the emissions inspection requirements. Inspections are valid for two years and may be obtained by having your vehicle inspected by a certified emissions inspection station.
No vehicle subject to an emissions inspection will be registered or reregistered by DMV until it has passed an emissions
inspection or has been issued an emissions inspection waiver for failed emissions standards.
When you have your vehicle inspected, the emissions station will update your vehicle record at DMV immediately. For emission inspection program information or to find the location of the inspection station nearest to you, please visit the Department of Environmental Quality at (703) 583-3900 or toll free in Virginia at 1-800-275-3844.
The inspection station should not charge you more than $20 for your emissions inspection. You will be charged an additional $2 per year by DMV for your vehicle registration. This $2 per year supports the administrative expenses incurred by the Commonwealth to oversee the emissions program.
Certain motor vehicles are exempted from emissions inspections. This includes:
Any gasoline powered passenger or property carrying vehicle with a model year that is more than 25 model years old before January 1 of the current calendar year and with a manufacturer's designated gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less (i.e. on January 1, 2001, vehicles with a model year of 1976 are exempt from emissions; on January 1, 2002, vehicles with a model year of 1977 are exempt from emissions).
These vehicles also fall within the definition of "Antique Motor Vehicles". However, a vehicle that is twenty-five or more calendar years old does not have to display antique license plates to be exempt from emissions requirements.
Vehicles exclusively powered by clean fuel, including:
Compressed Natural Gas
Diesel
Electricity
Liquefied Natural Gas
Solar Energy
Vehicles assisted by clean fuel such as hybrid fuel vehicles (i.e. gasoline engines that are assisted with electricity) are not exempt from emissions requirements. However, testing will not be performed until the inspection procedures have been modified to accommodate the unique engine configuration of these vehicles. Inspections are expected to be required starting in 2002; vehicle owners will be notified when their vehicles are required to be tested.
To avoid delays in obtaining your vehicle registration from DMV, have your emissions inspection completed before you apply to DMV for registration. DMV is limited to issuing a one-time only 30-day temporary registration if the vehicle owner is unable to produce proof of successfully passing an emission inspection. The customer will be charged a prorated registration fee for the one-month registration. There is no grace period allowed for the safety inspection when Virginia tags are displayed.
Don't forget, you can renew you vehicle registration via the Internet, touchtone, by mail, or at any customer service center.
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