Get Answers: Why does only 1 county require emissions test?

it's a test that's only required for residents in one county in the state and it has a few of you...  More »

it's a test that's only required for residents in one county in the state and it has a few of you questioning its fairness. one viewer writes: "why is it only bernalillo county residents who have to pay for 'vehicle emission testing' when sandoval, valencia and santa fe counties send tens of thousands of cars into bernalillo county everyday?" valerie castro set out to get the answer. she's live near the big i with the details. an emissions test will cost you around 20-bucks and every resident of bernalillo county is required to pay up before registering most vehicles. we set out to find out why cities like rio rancho with large populations aren't required to take the tests even when a lot of their residents frequently drive into albuquerque. the albuquerque bernalillo county air quality control board says when federal air quality standards were put into place back in the 80's, the city and county didn't make the grade. that prompted a vehicle emission law -- requiring the emissions tests -- it's a move that's seemed to work: "yes we are well below those standards for carbon monoxide within albuquerque and bernalillo county." part of the law applies to drivers who live outside bernalillo county. it states drivers who come to bernalillo county more than 60 days in a year must also have an emissions test. as you can imagine -- that's been tough to enforce. "short of putting a gps tracker on each individual that's coming in or tracking them through some electronic means, it's difficult to address that part of the rule." but the board says tracking rule." but the board says tracking those cars coming into the county isn't a big worry. that's largely because cars and fuel are cleaner today than when that law first went into effect and the air quality in the albuquerque area now meets federal standards. but that doesn't mean the test requirements will go away for bernalillo county and albuquerque any time soon. the law isn't set to end until 20-16 when the federal government will re-evaluate it. the state environment department regulates all other counties in the state and says places like sandoval county have never violated the federal air quality standards.  « Less