Emissions testing relief: what changed?
On September 28, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin informed Governor Greg Abbott that EPA is reconsidering federal actions connected to vehicle emissions testing in the San Antonio area. Patrick Von Dohlen organized a September 14 joint request urging review and a stay of the November 1 activation.
Has testing been canceled? No final cancellation is announced in the EPA letter. Testing remains scheduled for November 1 unless EPA or the state takes further action.
Read the EPA letter and background · View the full emissions record
Full campaign announcement
To my fellow Bexar County residents and everyone of goodwill:
SAN ANTONIO. Bexar County families could be spared tens of millions of dollars a year in inspection fees and repair bills. On Sept. 28, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin informed Governor Greg Abbott that EPA is reconsidering the decisions that triggered vehicle emissions testing in the San Antonio area. Testing is scheduled to begin Nov. 1 for roughly 1.24 million gasoline-powered vehicles between 2 and 24 model years old.
For families, the cost starts at $21 per vehicle every year, pass or fail. A vehicle that fails must be repaired before it can be registered. Average repairs run $1,500 for passenger cars and $2,500 or more for trucks and SUVs, and catalytic converter replacement costs $1,000 to $4,000. Countywide, that is more than $26 million a year in fees before a single repair, plus an estimated $48 million to $131 million in repairs. The vehicles most likely to fail are the older cars that working families and retirees drive because that is what they can afford.
“This is about protecting family budgets,” said Patrick Von Dohlen, Republican nominee for Bexar County Judge. “A family with two older cars is looking at $42 a year just to test, and one failed test can cost more than $1,500. TCEQ and AACOG estimate that 73 to 78 percent of the ozone this program targets comes from outside Bexar County. I raised this at City Council in 2019, and we have pressed it with TCEQ and EPA all year. In September I brought local and state leaders together to ask EPA to act before Nov. 1. I am grateful to Commissioner Moody, Councilwoman Spears and every leader who put their name on the line for Bexar County drivers.”
“We’re making real progress, but the work isn’t over,” Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody (Precinct 3) wrote in a Facebook post this week. “We’ll continue working with our state and federal partners to deliver historic regulatory relief for Bexar County taxpayers.”
Councilwoman Misty Spears (District 9) called the letter “an important step forward” in her own Facebook post, citing her work “to try and block this pointless regulation from taxing San Antonio drivers.”
Zeldin’s letter states that EPA is reconsidering three actions, including its 2022 disapproval of the San Antonio area’s Clean Air Act Section 179B demonstration. One possible outcome is that Texas nonattainment areas would no longer be subject to requirements those actions triggered, including section 182(b)(4), which governs vehicle inspection programs.
The letter follows a Sept. 14 joint request to Administrator Zeldin, organized by Von Dohlen, asking for expedited review of TCEQ’s July 2 Section 179B demonstration and a stay of the Nov. 1 activation. It was signed by Von Dohlen, Moody, Spears, Councilman Marc Whyte (District 10), State Senator Donna Campbell (District 25), State Representatives Marc LaHood and John Lujan, Somerset Councilman Patrick Orosco, and David Sherwood Hill, candidate for Bexar County Commissioner. State Representative Mark Dorazio (House District 122) wrote Zeldin separately on Aug. 14, and former Councilman Clayton Perry (District 10, 2017 to 2023) wrote on Sept. 18. Perry first filed comment supporting TCEQ’s 179B position in January 2020. The letters were copied to Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and Congressman Chip Roy.
According to their posts, Moody and Spears met with members of the Texas federal delegation in Washington several weeks ago, have met with EPA, and will meet with EPA in its Washington offices on Friday and with EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi next week.
Von Dohlen also thanked Governor Abbott and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, whose technical work and July 2 filing made the reconsideration possible.
EPA’s letter notes the agency cannot predetermine the outcome. Until EPA or the state acts, testing remains scheduled for Nov. 1. On Aug. 6, EPA proposed on an expedited schedule to approve New Hampshire’s request to end its inspection program. Von Dohlen called on EPA to give Bexar County families the same urgency before Nov. 1.
“Keep the pressure on,” Von Dohlen said. “Sign the petition at votepatrick.net, and we will keep working until Nov. 1 is off the calendar.”
About Patrick Von Dohlen
Patrick Von Dohlen is the Republican nominee for Bexar County Judge in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. A 28-year fiduciary financial adviser, father of nine and founder of the San Antonio Family Association PAC, Von Dohlen has spent his career serving San Antonio families. More information at votepatrick.net.
Read the full emissions record
Pol. Adv. Paid by the Von Dohlen for Bexar County Judge Campaign, Daniel Petri, Treasurer.
Sincerely,
Patrick Von Dohlen