House Bill 3297 (88th Legislative Session, 2023), effective January 1, 2025, abolishes the Vehicle Safety Inspection Program for non-commercial vehicles, eliminating most safety vehicle inspections statewide. This means if you live in a non-emissions county and are currently not required to obtain an emissions inspection on your vehicle, you will not be required to have your vehicle inspected prior to registration beginning January 1, 2025. However, the $7.50 fee remains intact under a new name: the inspection program replacement fee. This fee will be added to your vehicle registration fee. For owners of new cars, either the current model or preceding model year that has not been previously registered in Texas or another state, there will instead be an initial fee of $16.75 to cover two years.
The bill does not eliminate vehicle emissions inspections. Emissions inspections will also still be required in the following Texas counties:
- Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery Counties
- Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant Counties
- Travis and Williamson Counties, and
- El Paso County
Please note, in November 2026 Bexar County will be added to the above list of counties required to have an emissions inspection. Those motorists with vehicles registered in Bexar County will have to obtain a passing emissions inspection in order to renew their vehicle's annual registration.
The safety inspection fee will also be eliminated for vehicle owners in emissions counties; however, those in emissions counties will also be subject to the inspection program replacement fee.
All commercial vehicles, regardless of county, will still be required to have a safety inspection. Commercial vehicles will be exempt from the inspection program replacement fee as they will still be required to pay for a safety inspection.
All vehicles will still be required to be registered; the registration process will continue to be managed by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
