It varies from state to state. In most the swapped in engine must either meeot or exceed the emissions requirements of the vehicle in which it originally came equipped. In some states it goes further stating that said engine must have been available with that car while in production, etc.
In Cali I know you have to have it physically inspected by a state ref and it has to meet or beat the original emissions specs of the donor vehicle(you have to provide a bill of sale with the donor's VIN, they'll go off of this for the specs, IIRC). All of the factory emissions controls which were equipped in the donor vehicle must be installed and functional in the new host. Some people in Cali have a horrible time with this and some have little trouble... I suspect it's a matter of your specific area and who you're lucky/unlucky enough to have to deal with.
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