COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has moved closer than ever to ending its mandatory E-Check program that requires motorists in Greater Cleveland to get a vehicle emissions test every two years.
The only remaining barrier now is to get the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to end its E-Check requirement for Cuyahoga and six surrounding counties – something Ohio lawmakers have expressed hope will happen under the second Trump administration.
The new two-year state budget requires the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director to
“immediately discontinue” the E-check program and “take any actions necessary to effectuate” its termination if the U.S. EPA determines that it is no longer necessary in order for Ohio to comply with federal ozone standards.
Your feedback matters
Should E-Check vehicle emissions testing continue in Northeast Ohio?
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Mark W
No, approximately 94% of vehicles subjected to the E-Check emissions test pass. Why subject 94% of car owners to this inconvenience?
Pete
The e-check has devolved from an actual test of emissions from a running car to an electronic check for error messages in the car’s digital memory. While this is much more convenient for car owners, it can’t touch cars that don’t have a digital memory. Is there any evidence that ozone and other pollutants have declined since the tests started decades ago? How is our status in recent years? I think the process is expensive and its benefits dubious, and it should be eliminated in favor of tax breaks for E-vehicles and renewable power.
The enormous new budget, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine late last month, also requires the Ohio EPA director to analyze whether the state’s E-check program is still necessary to meet the ozone standards set by the federal Clean Air Act and to issue a report by the spring of 2027.
Vehicles in the Cleveland-Akron area that are between four and 25 years old and that weigh 10,000 pounds or less must be inspected every two years at E-check test facilities. Vehicles found to be discharging too many airborne pollutants – such as lead, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide – must be repaired
before they can get vehicle registrations renewed.
In 2023, nearly 881,000 vehicle emission tests were performed at 23 testing stations, 21 self-service testing kiosks, and 45 independent garages, according to
the Ohio EPA’s budget proposal submitted earlier this year
.
Such emissions testing is currently required in all or part of 28 states,
according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
.
The Republican-dominated Ohio General Assembly passed a law earlier this year to allow vehicle owners to meet E-check requirements simply by signing an attestation that they own a vehicle that qualifies for testing and that it meets emissions standards. However, such an alternative
is also still awaiting federal approval
before it can take effect.
State lawmakers have also passed
multiple
non-binding resolutions
in recent years asking for the federal government’s permission to end the mandatory E-Check program, but such calls have so far gone unanswered – including during the first Trump administration.
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However, state Rep. Bill Roemer, a Richfield Republican and a vocal E-check opponent,
said in April
he’s “very hopeful” that new U.S. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin will give Ohio the green light, given that he
has already rolled back more than 30 other federal environmental regulations
.
When asked at the time what Zeldin intends to do, the U.S. EPA’s press office didn’t directly answer. Rather, the agency said in a statement that it’s committed to working closely with Ohio to meet the state’s air-quality goals while also helping the economy and avoiding undue costs or government red tape.
Asked for comment Monday, the U.S. EPA’s press office replied in an email that were “no updates at this time” to what they stated back in April.
Supporters of Ohio’s E-check program say it’s a low-cost way to comply with federal air-pollution standards and prevent greenhouse gases and pollutants from entering the atmosphere.
In 2022, E-Check testing of nearly 797,000 vehicles in Northeast Ohio prevented the release of an estimated 316 tons of nitrogen oxides, 205 tons of volatile organic compounds, and 10,350 tons of carbon monoxide, according to
the most recent report on the program
from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
But E-Check critics argue that air quality in Northeast Ohio has significantly improved in the past 30 years — not so much because of the E-check program, they say, as because auto manfacturers today sell more fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as electric vehicles. Mandatory testing in Ohio, they note, has only continued because the Obama administration
put into place tougher air-quality standards in 2015
.
Opponents also say that requiring vehicle owners to drive every two years for an emissions test is not only inconvenient for all Northeast Ohio drivers, but is particularly a huge burden for the working poor who rely on older cars and can’t afford to pay hundreds of dollars on repairs.
The first three Ohio E-Check tests within a 365-day period are free, but subsequent tests cost $18 each.
Ending Northeast Ohio’s E-check program would save the state $13 million per year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission. Almost all of that money goes to Envirotest Systems, the contractor that operates the program.
