Annual "Smog Check" on Diesel Motor homes, where?

[FIRE_UP]

Gang,
I don't seem to recall any previous threads about this subject so, I thought I'd bring it up. Just wondering. When we were considering moving from San Diego to Arizona, I called the AZ Department of Motor Vehicles and inquired about the annual registration cost of our motor home. The nice lady on the phone began to explain how the system works and, how the cost(s) are tabulated. One of the items she spoke of was: "you'll have to get it smog checked too".

Well, I explained to her, "But, our motor home is a Diesel pusher, 36' long and has a GVWR of 27,910 lbs. She said, "So", it's still required do be smog checked on an annual basis. Hmmmmmmm, I'm thinking, wow, this is even stronger smog laws then CA. Never heard of such a thing.

Then she asked; "Oh, by the way, where are you thinking of moving to in AZ?". I said, "Lake Havasu City". She said, "Oh, then you won't have to smog it there". She stated that only in Phoenix and Tucson is it required for the annual smog checks.

Now, I have never taken this any further 'cause there was no need to. But, just wondering, to all of you all around this nice country of ours, how many of you must go through an annual smog inspection of any year/make/model diesel coach?

The last I've been shown in CA is, ANY DIESEL, motor homes included, that has a GVWR of less than 14,000 lbs. is required to have an annual smog inspection. Thanks for responding here.
Scott

[Cbones]

mtrumpet wrote:
No smog check here in New York (Yet!) - Better not say it too loud though or our tyrant of a Governor may discover it to be yet another possible source of revenue for New York State.:R

WRONG! Depends on county. NY Diesel Inspection

[Kayteg1]

CA made smog checks on diesels about 5 years ago and grandfathered it back to 1998 models.
THANKS GUYS WHO DRIVE PICKUPS MODIFIED OUT OF THEIR BRAINS WITH REMOVED EGR AND NO CATALYTIC CONVERTERS
.
The inspection is rather formal. No probe, no wheel spinning, no OBD plug.
They just take a look under the hood for EGR, check for a puff from tailpipe and sign it off.
I had a feeling 5 years ago that my car was first diesel the young mechanic have seen in his life, but his boss help him to process the papers.
For DP I would call around. I bet somebody having shop with big driveway will be happy to take big money for looking only.

[cbeierl]

Per http://www.dmv.org/nh-new-hampshire/smog-check.php:

NH Smog and Emissions Testing

The purpose of the smog check and emissions testing portion of the vehicle inspection is to ensure that your vehicle does not emit excessive pollution and that its own detection system functions correctly. The emissions test applied to New Hampshire vehicles is the On-Board Diagnostics test (OBD).

Vehicles required to get an OBD test, along with the rest of the inspections, are:

Gas-fueled light duty vehicles (up to 8500 lbs.) manufactured since 1996.
Diesel-fueled light duty vehicles (up to 8500 lbs.) manufactured since 1997.

[We_Cant_Wait]

No smog check here in NY, BUT if you have a diesel and the pollution police see you emitting dark smoke for over 10 seconds, you will got pulled over and they will do an exhaust smog check and if it's over 50ppm then you will get ticketed and have 10 days to provide proof of repairs to fix the smog issues. Trust me I know from when I drove truck.

[mtrumpet]

No smog check here in New York (Yet!) - Better not say it too loud though or our tyrant of a Governor may discover it to be yet another possible source of revenue for New York State.:R

[barmcd]

If a city exceeds ozone levels and ends up on the list, any contiguous county is also added. I see the need in places like Dallas, where Collin county is almost as densely populated as Dallas county, without a large population center in any one city. If San Antonio were to fail (and they have come close several times) four or five very rural counties will be added to the list along with Bexar county.

[crasster]

They sure check mine in Texas, but it is decided by counties.

[rgatijnet1]

This is one of those things that not too many people know about. it is usually mandated by the EPA, with little or no notification to the general public. States can decide to put tougher restrictions, but most don't.
Back in the early 90's I had a manufacturing company and we did painting. I got all of the necessary permits from the local building department and Fire Marshall. I thought I was good to go but a few months later, this EPA inspector comes by and starts right off with a $20,000 fine and an order to shut down my spray booth. It seems that the county I lived in was a non-attainment county and I was required to get an EPA permit and use low VOC paints and log everything. Three miles up the road, in another county, no EPA permit was required, because they were considered to meet the EPA requirements for air quality. Basically I could have moved my operation 3 miles and polluted the environment as much as I wanted to and this was OK with the EPA. Even in my county, if I had a body shop and was doing "refinish" painting, I could use any kind of paint I wanted. Since I was building new products, I had to meet the EPA restrictions.
In any case, this is why you have smog inspections/restrictions in some counties within a State, and not others.
Here is a list of the non-attainment counties per State and it will give you some idea of how the EPA works when it comes to pollution and, in the case of diesels, particulate matter. As you can see, the EPA considers Phoenix to have a "serious" problem but if you go to Lake Havasu City, you can belch great clouds of stuff and they don't care. EPA rules

[Dale_Traveling]

Exempt in Virginia. Applicable to vehicles with a weight capacity of less than 10,000 lbs. for gas and 8500 lbs. for diesel in certain cities around the Washington DC area.

Can't get past the yearly safety inspection. $15 for that at the local truck tire store.

[45Ricochet]

No smog checks on anything in Idaho.

[MarkTwain]

An Arizona smog certification is not accepted in Calif.

[mowermech]

No smog check in Montana.

[BB_TX]

Here are the Arizona rules. Looks like weight is not a consideration.

[MrWizard]

No smog check... On our 1995 DP.. 22,500 gw
Here in Calif

[MarkTwain]

Smog certification in Calif.--
In Calif. I have to smog my 3500 Dodge diesel truck every other year not annually.