FWIW ... we have discussed this here in the past ... If you live in an EPA non-compliant county, the legal inspection procedure for these replicas is to take them to a Department of Public Safety Waiver Station (there is usually one per county) and have them inspected there and receive a WAIVER for failing the emissions test.
If you are successful in getting a dealer or an
oil change business to do your inspection, you were fortunate and congratulations are due ... maybe. Most of these locations are not aware of the law on replicas, and there is not sufficient enforcement to keep up with them.
In 2010, I received a letter from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality advising me that my '2007 ASVE' had been denied registration because there was no record of it having passed an emissions check or having received a waiver. It turned out that DPS had erred on reporting my test to the state and once I called TCEQ and gave them my
waiver number, they were able to find the record and clear my car. The 'Natural Resource Specialist' advised that if the flag on my car was not cleared, I would not be able to renew the annual registration the next time. Has this happened to anyone else?
Sam