New Hampshire included a provision in its 2026 budget to eliminate car inspection requirements earlier this year. Folks who want zero restrictions of any kind on their cars are likely rejoicing, but not everyone is happy about it. One Congressman intends to file a bill next session to bring back safety inspections. Meanwhile, the company that currently runs New Hampshire’s emission testing program is suing the state for violating the Clean Air Act.
NH Representative Peter Leishman intends to introduce legislation that would reinstate most of the previous safety inspection requirements, according to the Concord Monitor. Eliminating inspections was a last-minute addition to the 2026 budget bill, reports WMUR. Because Republicans called this an “absolute condition” for passing the bill, it’s not surprising that some Democrats, like Leishman, may have felt pressure to pass the budget, and now want to change the law back.
However, Leishman’s new bill, HB1560, makes two important changes to the previous law. Inspections would only be required for cars more than three years old. Proponents of safety inspections argue that the streets will be full of unsafe jalopies without them, particularly in the north, where road salt causes serious rust issues. However, nearby Rhode Island only requires inspection every two years, and Connecticut no longer does safety inspections, only emissions. While there are certainly a few unsafe cars running around southern New England, it’s also not the post-apocalyptic landscape that some make it out to be, nor are any of the 27 states that currently have no safety inspections. The other important change from past inspection requirements is that the bill does not reinstate any emissions testing requirements, only safety inspections.
What about emissions?
Naturally, Gordon-Darby, the company that has run New Hampshire’s emission tests since 2004, has filed a lawsuit to stop the state from eliminating the tests, according to NHPR. Certainly, the company losing out on the money it makes from New Hampshire’s current emission testing couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the motivation behind this lawsuit.
In Republican-controlled New Hampshire, it’s easy to blame the elimination of emissions testing on President Trump’s belief that it doesn’t “mean a damn bit of difference for the environment” and “make it impossible for people to build cars.” That may be part of the reason, but another argument is that modern cars run so clean that only a tiny percentage of them fail emissions tests anymore. According to data from California’s Bureau of Auto Repair, only 6.72% of vehicles tested in 2025, that were built after 1997, failed emissions on the first attempt. Older vehicles tend to have higher failure rates, but there are far fewer of them on the road than newer cars, so the vast majority of vehicles on the road today already run clean without needing testing or repairs.
Gordon-Darby’s lawsuit may prove problematic for those attempting to gut vehicle inspection rules in NH if the courts decide that the Clean Air Act has been violated. According to WBUR, the state must obtain a waiver from the EPA to eliminate emissions testing before the end of September 2026. That process is currently underway, with a public feedback period that ended in late November. The state, however, appears to be acting with certainty that the EPA will grant the waiver before inspections are scheduled to end after January 31. Despite the current EPA’s “pave the rainforest” attitude, this is not guaranteed to happen in time. Depending on the outcome of the lawsuit, New Hampshire may be required to continue emissions testing until or unless the EPA issues a waiver.
