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.

If your vehicle is being registered for the first time in Virginia and has a current valid emissions certificate (performed in the last 12 months) from one of the following states, it may be titled and registered without a Virginia emissions inspection:

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 directly from DEQ for special circumstances.

When you have your vehicle inspected, the emissions station will update your vehicle record at DMV immediately. For emission inspection program fees and 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.

Certain motor vehicles are exempted from emissions inspections. This includes:

• Motorcycles
  
  
• 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 more than 10,000 pounds (i.e. on January 1, 2006, vehicles with a model year of 1981 are exempt from emissions; on January 1, 2007, vehicles with a model year of 1982 are exempt from emissions). However, vehicles that are 25 or more model years old that are exempt from emissions inspections must still pay the $2 per year emissions fee when renewing the vehicle registration. (Required by the DEQ, Virginia Code § 46.2-1182.1).

  These vehicles also fall within the definition of "Antique Motor Vehicles". However, a vehicle that is 25 or more model years old does not have to display antique license plates to be exempt from emissions requirements.

• Diesel powered vehicles, except those vehicles that have all three of the following characteristics. (They are not exempt from the emissions testing program requirements.)

  1. A model year newer than 1996, and
  2. a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) less than 8,501 lbs., (if GVWR is not available, empty and gross weights will be used) and
  3. a registration that expires in July 2007 or later.

• Vehicles exclusively powered by clean fuel, including:
  • Compressed Natural Gas
  • Electricity
  • Liquefied Natural Gas
  • Solar Energy

• Vehicles being titled for the first time in Virginia with a Manufacturer's Certification of Origin (MCO).

• Qualified hybrid motor vehicles - 2007 and prior model years Toyota Prius, 2006 and prior model years Honda Insight.

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 your vehicle registration via the Internet, touchtone, by mail, or at any customer service center.