Marco, I live in MA and know exactly what you are talking about. The thing is, though is that the CEL may be indicating a real problem, so read the codes (you are lucky and can do it without special tools, MY96 and on the cars are required to be equipped with OBDII connector and need a special tool to read/reset codes). So, read the codes and then clear them. See how long the light stays out before it goes on again. You may have enough time to pass inspection. OTOH, if the problem is real and you do have a problem with the emission system, you won't pass the tailpipe sniffer test. So, any way you slice it, you must read those codes and diagnose the problem.

Good luck