Who We Are

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes ambient air quality standards for the United States, identifies areas of excessive air pollution, and issues non-attainment designations for those areas. The EPA has designated five (5) counties in Utah as non-attainment zones — Cache, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah.

The Bear River Health Department is responsible  for the implementation and management of I/M Program activities in Cache County.

Why We Test

Vehicle Emissions in Cache County

Cache County is fortunate to have excellent air quality most of the year. However, during wintertime inversions, pollutants released into the air are trapped and can create unhealthy concentrations of particulate matter.

Motor vehicles contribute to the formation of particulate matter, particularly particles that are 2.5 microns or smaller. We call this PM2.5. As we control the pollutants that come from the motor vehicle, namely hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), we can reduce the amount of PM2.5 created in the air

Authority to Test Vehicles

The EPA designated Cache County as a non-attainment area for PM2.5. Due to this designation, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is required to develop control strategies for the county that will reduce the amount of pollutants released and improve the air quality. One of the control strategies identified by DEQ was a vehicle emission inspection and maintenance program.

Under Utah law, the management of an I/M Program becomes the responsibility of the county's governing body. The Cache County Council delegated that authority to Bear River Health Department.

The regulation that governs this program can be found here:

Bear River Health Department Approved Regulations

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What We Test

Beginning January 1, 2021 the following vehicles will be inspected on a biennial basis in Cache County:

• Gasoline and non-diesel based alternative fuel powered vehicles:
• 1996 and newer with a GVWR of 8,500 lbs or less; and
• 2008 and newer with a GVWR greater than 8,500 lbs and less than 14,001 lbs.
• Diesel and diesel based alternative fuel powered vehicles:
• 1998 and newer with a GVWR of 14,000 lbs or less.
• Odd numbered model years will be tested in odd years and even numbered model years will be tested in even years.
• The first 6 model years are exempt from testing requirements.

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