If your car inspection is due in February and you are confused whether you need to get it done, don’t worry – the state has given you a month’s leeway while the convoluted legal situation is ironed out.
“Due to the public’s reasonable expectation that the program was ending on January 31, 2026, the Department of Safety is extending the deadline to obtain a state inspection to April 10, 2026, for any vehicle with an inspection that expires prior to March 2026,” Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Friday afternoon.
On Wednesday a federal judge issued a temporary halt to the state’s proposal to end car inspections starting Feb. 1.
The company that makes equipment which performs emissions inspections had sued to overturn the state law, saying it would put New Hampshire in violation of the Clean Air Act. U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty agreed, saying that unless the Environmental Protection Agency waives our need to comply with the law, emission inspections must continue.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte is expected to ask the EPA to waive the requirement and the agency is likely to agree.