How to submit a public comment on Ohio's E-Check Ease Act
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — A plan to make Ohio's biannual vehicle emissions testing easier will soon go before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval, and state regulators want to hear from Ohio drivers.
The E-Check Ease Act, introduced by state Reps. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) and Steve Demetriou (R-Bainbridge Township), was incorporated into the state's biennial transportation budget bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine at the end of March.
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Under Ohio's E-Check program, residents in seven counties — Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit — who own cars that are between 4 and 25 years old are required to have their emissions inspected every two years. A passing inspection is required for vehicle registration in those seven counties.
The proposed change would expand the exemption for newer cars from four years old to six years old. Hybrid vehicles that are seven years old or newer would also be exempt.
The bill also allows vehicle owners to forego inspections entirely and obtain an 'alternative emissions certificate' from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, attesting that their car meets state emissions laws 'to the best of their knowledge.'
That attestation could be rejected if the EPA determines it was falsified or if the driver was cited in the past two years for excessive exhaust or a noisy muffler, or if their vehicle was in a collision in the prior two years which caused 'substantial' internal damage. Rejected owners would then have to get the car inspected.
The Ohio EPA is required to submit the new certification process to the U.S. EPA, which must decide whether it complies with the federal Clean Air Act before it can move ahead. If approved, the Ohio EPA would then implement the state-level changes.
The public comment period for the bill opened earlier this month and runs through June 2. Public comments can be emailed to DAPC-Comments@epa.ohio.gov through then. The Ohio EPA is then expected to respond to the public comments and submit the changes to the U.S. EPA.
'For 30 years, Northeast Ohio has been unfairly burdened by E-Check,' Roemer is quoted in a Wednesday news release. 'It is far past time to address this problem, and I encourage citizens to reach out to eviscerate this burden.'
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State Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma) in a Wednesday news release said the E-Check program 'may have been well-intentioned' when it was created in 1996, but there's no evidence it has actually reduced vehicle emissions since then.
He said drivers actually burn about 600,000 gallons of gas per year just to comply with the mandate.
'The $11 million the state spends would be better spent on conservation education and public transit,' he is quoted in the release.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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