Final answer:
Transportation vehicle inspections are based on criteria established by the USDOT and the EPA, however, the EPA only tests a small percentage of new vehicles themselves, generally accepting automakers' submitted results.
Step-by-step explanation:
Transportation vehicle inspection is generally based upon criteria established within guidelines and laws provided by authoritative agencies such as the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to LibreTexts, these criteria and constraints are developed to ensure that potential commuter vehicle designs are safe, reliable, and compliant with environmental regulations. It's also important to recognize that while many may believe that the EPA conducts extensive testing on all new vehicle models, the reality is that only a small team of the agency's employees test a limited portion of new vehicles each year. Therefore, the majority of vehicle inspections rely on the automakers' submitted test results, which the EPA generally accepts as accurate without independent verification.