EPA draft decision indicates support for New Hampshire’s plan to end mandatory vehicle inspection

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed preliminary support on Thursday for the end of New Hampshire’s vehicle inspection and emissions testing program, which ceased early this year.

The agency shared two proposals on Thursday. One would grant New Hampshire’s petition to withdraw from the Ozone Transport Region, a regional air pollution organization; another would remove vehicle inspections and maintenance from the list of requirements for New Hampshire to be in compliance with the Clean Air Act.

“Today’s proposed actions are an important step toward bringing New Hampshire’s federal air quality requirements into alignment with state law,” New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement.

Language passed in the most recent biennial budget ordered the early 2026 end of New Hampshire’s vehicle inspection and maintenance program, despite warnings to legislators from EPA Region One Administrator Mark Sanborn that doing so without first receiving federal approval would put the state in violation of federal law. 

That’s because emissions testing is part of a federal framework, laid out in the Clean Air Act, that requires states to have and adhere to official plans to keep air pollution under control within their borders. The emissions testing part of New Hampshire’s vehicle inspection program is currently part of New Hampshire’s plan, but the state has submitted documents to the federal government to propose changing that.

The application included data that New Hampshire officials said showed discontinuing the tests would not harm air quality, though some experts said the information in a draft version of the application was not conclusive. 

New Hampshire went ahead with the plan laid out in the budget to end inspections in early 2026, before EPA review of the application was complete. It could take as long as 18 months, according to agency officials, for that review to happen; but in a statement accompanying the Thursday announcement, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency was expediting the process. 

The road to ending vehicle inspections in New Hampshire has been bumpy. Kentucky-based company Gordon-Darby, the contractor that supplied New Hampshire auto shops with testing equipment, initiated a Clean Air Act lawsuit against the state in late 2025. The company later withdrew that lawsuit, but recently joined another suit led by a Wilton woman who alleges that the discontinuation of emissions tests has caused air quality in New Hampshire to worsen, harming her health.

The decisions proposed by the EPA on Thursday will go through a public comment process, including opportunities for written comment and a public hearing, before a final decision is released, according to the agency.