Please review and distribute as appropriate.
House Bill 3297 ended the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles in Texas. State law requires the department to validate a passing emissions inspection is completed prior to allowing registration, when applicable. To accommodate the enforcement of these emissions inspection requirements, the department updated our systems as part of the 25.1 Registration and Title System (RTS) Release.
After the go-live of this release, the department received numerous inquiries from the dealer community regarding the department’s interpretation of emissions requirements. In an abundance of caution and to prevent disrupting commerce, the department made further enhancements to our systems in the RTS 25.1.1 Release that provided an option for the dealer to select “Inspection Not Required” to bypass the emissions requirement and allow the transaction to process.
This temporary measure allowed the department to complete a detailed legal review.
Dealer Emissions Exemption (Retail Sale):
Upon completion of this legal review, it was determined that non-commercial vehicles sold in an emissions county to a customer who resides in an emissions county are required to have a passing emissions inspection unless that vehicle is 1996 or newer with less than 50,000 miles and previously titled and registered in a non-emissions Texas county.
If the vehicle meets ALL of the following criteria, an emissions inspection is not required for any customer:
- Subject to Retail Sale
- 1996 or Newer
- Less than 50,000 Miles on the odometer
- Last Titled/Registered in a Non-Emission Texas County
Dealer Action:
- If your dealership is located in an emissions county, obtain a passing emissions inspection when selling a vehicle to a customer residing in an emissions county unless the vehicle is 1996 or newer with less than 50,000 miles and previously titled/registered in a non-emissions Texas county.
- If your dealership is located in an emissions county, the vehicle was last titled or registered out-of-state, and the customer resides in an emissions Texas county, a passing emissions inspection is required.
- The transaction will be returned to you by the county tax office if you do not complete the required passing emissions inspection.
Additional enhancements will be implemented to address this issue more comprehensively in the coming weeks.
Thank you,
Annette Quintero, Director
Vehicle Titles and Registration Division
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
Emissions Counties: Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, El Paso, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson
If you have any questions concerning this communication, please contact your local TxDMV Regional Service Center.
|
