Emissions testing in Florida ended at the turn of the century. One group wants it back

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Florida is one of 21 states that don’t require an emissions test to register a vehicle or renew an existing registration, and one group says that’s a problem.

In 2000, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush ended emissions tests to renew auto tags, citing high costs and frustrated motorists.

He said ending the $10 annual tailpipe test would save car owners tens of millions each year – calling it an unnecessary burden to drivers.  

But Glenn Compton, Chairman of Manasota-88, disagrees. 

“If we were to look at the true costs that air pollution has on not only the environment, but public’s health, we would find that vehicle emission inspections is a small cost to pay.” Compton said.

 Compton said it’s especially important with the state’s rapid growth.

“That means more people, more pollution, certainly a lot more vehicles and a lot more ozone and carbon monoxide issues than we’ve had previously” Compton told WMNF.

Compton’s group wants lawmakers to reintroduce the inspection in the 2025 legislative session.

University of Central Florida Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering Haofei Yu said overall, emissions in Florida are decreasing.

“Newer cars have better emissions control technologies, they’re generally cleaner to operate.” Yu said.

Yu said it only takes a small number of cars with bad emissions to make a big difference. 

“If you force everybody to bring in their cars for testing, you can very quickly identify the dirtiest cars,” Yu explained.

And inspections will lessen that. 

“It will help, improve for sure, because vehicle is such a huge contributor to air pollution.” Yu said.

Yu said the program would cost a lot of money to implement but would be very effective in controlling vehicle emissions.