The Environmental Protection Agency proposes approving changes the District of Columbia has already made to its vehicle emissions inspection program as part of the District's federal air plan. Written comments must be received by December 7, 2026.
The proposal also addresses whether the District's existing program meets federal requirements for its portion of the Washington-area ozone nonattainment area. Nonattainment means an area has not met a particular national air quality standard.
What EPA is reviewing
The District submitted its revision on June 7, 2024. According to EPA, it incorporates regulatory and administrative updates made since the agency last approved the District's enhanced inspection and maintenance program into its air plan in 1999. The submission also includes a modeling demonstration concerning applicable basic and enhanced program requirements.
The Washington area was reclassified to moderate nonattainment for the 2015 ozone standard in October 2022. EPA says the District can meet the basic inspection program requirement by demonstrating that its existing enhanced program meets the applicable requirements, including an emissions modeling standard.
The existing inspection program
EPA's summary describes periodic emissions tests for passenger cars every other year. It also describes different schedules for other vehicle categories and exemptions, including diesel-powered vehicles. The federal notice summarizes existing District requirements; it does not itself announce a new inspection schedule for motorists.
How to comment
The notice directs written comments to the federal regulations website or the email address specified in the document, and says comments may be published in the public docket. The notice header identifies docket EPA-R03-OAR-2026-1024, while its submission instructions identify EPA-R03-OAR-2025-0304. Readers should check the discrepancy with EPA before relying on either number. The notice cautions against electronically submitting confidential business information or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
EPA has proposed approval; it has not yet announced a final decision in this notice. The underlying District documents and modeling were not separately examined for this report.