Hey Chuck,
One other thing to note.....you can go to two different tag offices and have two entirely different experiences. You can always grab your stuff and pull back and regroup.
Here are the other TXDMV docs that outline the previous method for obtaining an ASVE tile. You might want print these and take them with you, especially given that emissions is not mentioned:
Docs - a set on Flickr
FYI this was not a published book, I got it from the chief at the DMV in Austin.