Remove Emissions Stickers

WATERBURY — Scrape it and toss it. This is what vehicle owners should do with the emissions sticker now on their windshields. They simply are no longer needed.

Instead of stickers, vehicles owners will receive in the mail a postcard reminding them of their new test date and the number of days to obtain the test before the state would consider them late. In addition, Agbar Technologies, Inc, which the Department of Motor Vehicles has hired to oversee the testing program, will have a website that will allow vehicle owners to look up test dates by vehicle identification number.

With a new emissions testing program due to start in September, the current stickers could cause confusion about when to obtain the required test. The DMV is urging vehicle owners to simply remove the current stickers now to avoid concern about obtaining the tests on the wrong date or sooner than necessary.

Testing, which was temporarily suspended last June, will start in September at 275 garages and dealerships statewide. The number will grow to 300 as more stations are added in the following weeks to accommodate test servicing in specific areas. The new network offers far wider availability of testing sites compared to only 25 testing centers under the old program.

As an added convenience, motorists will also be able to make appointments for the tests.

The testing process will be easier for most vehicles manufactured after 1996 because they will require only a quick computer hook-up to test the engine’s on-board diagnostics for emissions controls.

Older vehicles and some others still may require the traditional tailpipe probe test that measures the emissions gasses from the vehicle.

No emissions test are required for new cars until they are five years old. The four-year exemption is set annually with the introduction of new model-year vehicles. Agbar will notify motorists when their exemption period ends and the date for their tests to begin on the vehicle.

In the next two months motorists will receive a mailing explaining how the new program will work. The cost of the test will remain $20 for a test repeated every two years.