This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
New Hampshire has lost another round in a federal lawsuit seeking to force the state to preserve its mandatory vehicle inspection program.
U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty in Concord on Wednesday denied the state’s request that she stay, or suspend, her Jan. 27 preliminary injunction, which ordered the state to keep the inspection program going. The state wanted her to pause her injunction pending its appeal of the order.
"Staying the injunction would only result in greater confusion regarding the requirements and status of the inspection program and would foster disrespect for court orders and the rule of law," she wrote.
Despite her injunction, the state has discontinued the program, opening the possibility that it could be fined under the federal Clean Air Act.
The state’s implementation plan for that act includes yearly vehicle inspections, which, among other things, check onboard diagnostic systems that monitor emissions equipment.
The state requested from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 24 permission to amend its implementation plan to remove the inspections provision, but the EPA has yet to respond.
In a budget bill last year, the New Hampshire Legislature sunset the inspection program effective Jan. 31.
The lawsuit was brought on Dec. 8 by Gordon-Darby, the Kentucky-based company that administers the inspection program.
Defendants in the case are New Hampshire Department of Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn and N.H Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Robert Scott.
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Molly Rains/New Hampshire BulletinWhile the future of New Hampshire’s testing and inspection program remains unclear, enforcement of state inspections has been suspended until April 26. -
Dan Tuohy/NHPRState agencies said last week that New Hampshire's vehicle inspection program “is suspended until further notice,” and nobody is authorized to issue state inspection stickers. -
Todd Bookman/NHPRLaw enforcement are prepared to enforce longstanding laws on automobile safety — including broken windshields and bald tires — even as inspections are going away. -
Elena Eberwein/NHPRThe suit was filed by the company that makes emissions-testing equipment. They allege the state would violate the federal Clean Air Act by repealing mandatory vehicle inspections, set to take effect Feb. 1.
The judge, in her ruling Wednesday, said the state has the legal authority to comply with the preliminary injunction. She also repeated a portion of the injunction saying the state "must take all steps necessary to resume and ensure the continued implementation and enforcement of New Hampshire’s [inspection] program …”
She noted that the N.H. Executive Council on Feb. 4 rejected, 3-2, the commissioners’ request and N.H. Attorney General John Formella’s recommendation that the Executive Council temporarily extend Gordon-Darby’s contract to run the program.
Councilors Joseph Kenney of Wakefield; John Stephen of Manchester; and David Wheeler of Milford, all Republicans, voted against extending the contract, while Councilors Janet Stevens, R-Rye, and Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, voted in favor.
Formella had warned the Executive Council that failure to extend that contract would put the state in violation of the Clean Air Act and leave the state vulnerable to potential federal fines of up to $55,000 a day.
McCafferty said in her opinion that “the court does not find, at this time, that the Council’s approval was necessary.”
The Executive Council approves state contracts worth at least $10,000, but the state’s contract with Gordon-Darby didn’t require any expenditure of state funds. Service stations that perform inspections pay the company directly.
The judge noted in her opinion published reports showing hostility to her injunction from New Hampshire officials and politicians.
She included House Republican Leader Jason Osborne's comment to the N.H. Union Leader that the injunction "spit in the face of Granite Staters and New Hampshire state law."
The judge also included N.H. Rep. Michael Granger's comment to The Sentinel — “I wouldn’t tell anybody they should break the law, but I’m certainly not going to get an inspection.”
Some lawmakers favored passing legislation to counter the injunction, with proposals including limiting fines for noncompliance with inspection requirements to $1 and prohibiting police from pulling over cars for not having a current inspection sticker.
On Feb. 13, the N.H. Attorney General's Office issued a news release saying "the vehicle inspection program is suspended until further notice" and "inspection stations will no longer be authorized to issue state inspection stickers and vehicles will not be required to obtain an annual state inspection at this time."
The release said that, given the Executive Council's denial of the Department of Safety's request to temporarily extend Gordon-Darby's contract, there was no longer an approved vendor to run the inspection program.
This was an update from the AG's Jan. 30 news release saying the N.H. Department of Safety was extending the deadline to obtain a state inspection to April 10 for any vehicle with an inspection sticker that expired or expires prior to March 2026.
“We are reviewing the order to determine appropriate next steps. Our public guidance issued on February 13, 2026 remains in effect.”
The Attorney General's Office said in an email Thursday that it was reviewing the judge's Wednesday opinion.