MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Tennessee environmental officials were in Memphis to discuss the topic every Shelby County driver dreads - car inspections. The City of Memphis is getting out of the inspection business in June and Shelby County leaders say they don't want any part of it. So, officials met to talk about the state taking over emissions testing.
One of the surprises is that the City of Memphis could actually delay dropping the emissions programs for an entire year. It's just one of the options that came out of this meeting.
Whether you're a Memphis resident or not, no one likes the vehicle emissions test or the idea that it could become mandatory county-wide.
Monday morning, Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell met behind closed doors for more than an hour with select suburban mayors, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, and representatives from the state to discuss emission testing options.
"There were options about delaying, accelerating, communicating the county assuming responsibility, the state assume responsibility, there were any number of ideas discussed on the table," Luttrell said.
Whoever ends up with the responsibility of the tests, there's one thing all sides agree on: it will no longer be free.
According to Commissioner Bob Martineau with the TN Dept. of Environment and Conservation, "In all the other counties where there is a vehicle inspection program there is a fee associated with that, about 10 dollars."
"No decisions were made today; we explored options, planning our work for the next four months," Luttrell stated.
Regardless of the decision there is a hard deadline of June to figure it all out, otherwise we could face federal consequences.
