Pollution solutions possible for the Bluff City
Vehicle inspections are a thing of the past for Shelby County, but one neighbor suggests the decade-old practice might be a multi-pronged solution.
There’s a checklist to legally own and operate a vehicle in Memphis, and the requirements aren’t what you may notice in other cities similar to Memphis.
The list includes a drivers license, insurance and tags — but not a vehicle inspection.
Vehicle inspections were once mandatory in the Bluff City. That mandate went away in 2013 when the Memphis City Council voted to stop funding its testing program.
The program was specifically in place to ensure pollutants released by automobiles fall within Tennessee’s allowed limits. Former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert and current Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris were all city council members at the time.
“A lot of folks thought it was a hassle," Harris said.
A hassle to some but surveying the city’s impact on the planet to others.
Without the inspections that were run by the city, the responsibility of tracking vehicle emissions falls on the Shelby County Health Department and State of Tennessee officials.
The American Lung Association grades the ozone for 15 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Ozone is formed by a chemical reaction between pollution from vehicles, factories, fossil fuels and other pollutants.
Shelby County’s ozone is the only Tennessee county to receive an 'F' in 2024, according to the American Lung Association.
“We have a lot of work to do," Harris said.
Pollution Solutions
"We have too many emissions and we need to bring our emission load down," Harris said. "One of the largest sources of emissions is cars. The best way to get to reduced emissions is to reduce the number of cars on the road.”
The Shelby County Health Department has a Memphis Area Rideshare Program to save neighbors money and reduce vehicle emissions but it’s not an end all be all.
In addition to the increase of pollutants, talks of a property tax and solid waste fee increase are lingering. Lifelong Memphian Johnetta Phillips says inspections could be a one size fits all - including Mayor Paul Young's need for revenue in the city.
“I’ve heard you when you said you want your streets to be cleaner," Mayor Young said at a town hall in Orange Mound. "I’ve heard you when you said you want your communities to be safer. And in order for us to do that we have to be on a fiscally strong path as a city."
“All of a sudden I thought about well we can bring back the inspection stations," Phillips said.
When vehicle emission inspections were operating, Phillips recalls taking her car in, paying a fee and being on her way.
"Maybe 55 or 65 dollars," she said.
Phillips also mentioned that the problems she and her neighbors want addressed could be fixed through inspections.
“Outside of that, to eliminate the loud mufflers going down the street because they would have to take the cars through inspection and that would eliminate a lot of that noise from the mufflers," Phillips said. "A lot of people driving down the street with no tags, expired tags, no head lights, backlights are out and they do it on purpose so the police can’t catch them.”
Why did inspections go away?
“These inspections also from time to time would pick up on other things like the check engine light and so in order to pass the inspection, a lot of the residents would have to get their check engine light repaired.”
So, city leadership decided to end them.
In 2022, the state followed suit, ending a Tennessee requirement for vehicle emission inspections.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation shared information from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA “determined the removal of vehicle emissions testing in Tennessee is consistent with the Federal Clean Air Act.”
While Memphis wasn’t the first Tennessee area to remove this requirement, the push to end emission inspections was made in an effort to ease requirements for drivers and the city.
“There was a push to change it and we changed it,” Harris said.
Memphis still has a lot of work in the years to come to create a cleaner and less polluted environment, but as Mayor Harris mentioned, less cars on the road is a start.
He said it’s unlikely vehicle emission inspections will ever come back but the city and county are still pushing for drivers to do what you can to reduce pollution, including using public transportation, rideshare programs and walking or biking when possible.