A Greeley lawmaker will try to prevent Denver-style auto-emissions screening from going into effect in Weld and Larimer counties following last year’s vote by the legislature to impose the policy as early as this July 1. Greeley Republican Sen. Scott Renfroe charges that the program was expanded into  northern Front Range communities in part to boost metro Denver’s average air-quality rating.

Renfroe says vehicle-emissions testing is not only unnecessary but also unpopular among his constituents, who have been petitioning local officials to gather more data before moving ahead. Leading the charge against the program are the Weld County commissioners, who are backing Renfroe’s effort. The first-term lawmaker anticipates that Larimer County commissioners will be supportive as well.

“The air in those counties is actually clean and below the standards set by the EPA for 2013,” Renfroe said. “We’re being forced into this program because Denver’s air is not clean, and this is one way to (raise Denver’s average) for a better air-quality rating.”

Today, Renfroe and Greeley Republican Rep. Glenn Vaad introduced Senate Bill 95, which would repeal last year’s legislation expanding the air-quality program. That measure, sponsored by Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins,  and Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, will usher in a vehicle-testing regimen long familiar to Denver area motorists, who can face hours-long waits for their vehicles to undergo treadmill tests at designated facilities before they can renew their auto registration.

However, another Greeley lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Jim Riesberg, maintains that the program should move forward despite data indicating current compliance with the EPA standards, and he said he stands behind his vote for last year’s bill expanding the policy into Weld and Larimer.

“I voted for the bill last year after meeting with the people at Air Quality Control and felt that this was something that we need to do,” said Riesberg, who acknowledged his own county commissioners are adamantly opposed to the program.

Riesberg points to more stringent requirements that the EPA will put into effect in 2013, and he says those could moot today’s clean-air standards.

“More comprehensive testing that includes detection of previously untested pollutants may or may not find us in compliance,” Riesberg said.