[Cowman]

Your car is emitting on a public roadway, the fumes that come out of it are open to collection

OK So if that's the case then why do I still have to get sniffed annually and pay the state fee? It seems to me this is just another way of getting into my pocket and using the force of law to do so

[discostu]

It is. But it’s the rules. And there’s no guarantee you’d be sniffed at random on the roadway. Of course if you live in the right place and have the right car you’d only get sniffed every other year. Live in an even MORE right place and you don’t have to get sniffed at all.