{"id":457961,"date":"2026-10-06T12:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/457961\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T12:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:24:10","slug":"bexar-county-emissions-testing-requirement-delayed-after-epa-grants-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/457961\/","title":{"rendered":"Bexar County emissions testing requirement delayed after EPA grants stay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t<img width=\"640\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-1281892963-640x400.jpg\" class=\"object-cover wp-post-image\" alt=\"Bexar County emissions testing requirement delayed after EPA grants stay\" post-type=\"post\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tPlacard on exterior of EPA Building in Washington DC.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) \u2014\u00a0A new vehicle emissions testing requirement set to take effect Nov. 1 in Bexar County has been put on hold after the Environmental Protection Agency granted a stay, giving federal and state officials more time to review the program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">The requirement would have forced Bexar County drivers to undergo emissions testing at an estimated cost of $20, plus a $7.50 fee when registering a vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">San Antonio District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears and Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody traveled to Washington, D.C., to press EPA officials to reconsider the requirement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Spears said the testing could create a financial burden for residents who depend on older vehicles, particularly if their cars require costly repairs to pass.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Local officials are also pursuing an exemption under Section 179B of the federal Clean Air Act, which can provide relief when pollution contributing to an area\u2019s air-quality problems originates outside the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Spears has argued that pollution from Mexico and the area\u2019s geography contribute to Bexar County\u2019s air-quality challenges. She also pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, when vehicle traffic dropped sharply but, according to her, local air-quality levels did not significantly change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">The issue now moves to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which is expected to address Bexar County\u2019s request for an exemption with the EPA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Spears said the process could take 18 to 24 months or longer as officials continue pushing to remove the testing requirement from Bexar County.<\/p>\n<p>For now, drivers in Bexar County will not be required to undergo emissions testing beginning Nov. 1.<\/p>\n<p>More about:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Placard on exterior of EPA Building in Washington DC. SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) \u2014\u00a0A new vehicle emissions testing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[698,58729,50079,7285,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-457961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-bexar-county","tag-delayed","tag-emissions-testing","tag-environmental-protection-agency","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}