HB 663: Conservation and natural resources; fee for motor vehicle emissions inspections; revise provisions

Georgia law lets the Board of Natural Resources set fees that emission inspection stations charge for required vehicle emissions tests. Under current law (O.C.G.A. § 12-9-46), that fee must be at least $10 and no more than $25 per inspection, based on the actual cost of running the inspection. This bill raises the top of that range to $35 per inspection. It also adds a new provision allowing the fee cap to be adjusted every year to match inflation or deflation, using the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (or a successor index if that one stops being published). The bottom of the range, $10, stays the same. The bill repeals any conflicting laws but does not state a specific effective date beyond the standard process for a signed Act.

• Raises the maximum fee inspection stations can charge for a vehicle emissions inspection from $25.00 to $35.00 per inspection.
• Keeps the minimum fee at $10.00 per inspection, unchanged from current law.
• Adds a new rule letting the fee cap be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index to track inflation or deflation.
• Keeps the existing requirement that fees be based on the real cost of performing inspections, including equipment, labor, training, and recordkeeping.
• Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with these changes.

Georgia drivers who must get vehicle emissions inspections, the emission inspection stations that perform those tests and set their fees within the state cap, and the Georgia Board of Natural Resources, which writes the rules setting the actual fee amount.

Drivers in counties that require emissions testing could see the cost of getting their vehicle inspected go up, since stations would be allowed to charge as much as $35 instead of $25. The new inflation adjustment means the ceiling could keep climbing automatically in future years without a new law.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 12-9-46(a)(9) to raise the maximum permitted emissions inspection fee from $25.00 to $35.00 per inspection.
• Section 1 adds language allowing the fee to be adjusted annually to reflect inflation or deflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Section 1 keeps the $10.00 minimum fee and the requirement that fees reflect the actual cost of equipment, testing, labor, training, recordkeeping, and reporting.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.

1. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-27House Hopper (House)

• Derrick McCollum (R, HD-030)Primary sponsor
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)

• vehicle emissions inspections
• car inspection fees
• Board of Natural Resources
• consumer price index adjustment