Originally Posted By: eljefino
One needs a catalytic converter in every county on post 1982 cars but if it holds smoke you pass.
One needs a catalytic converter if your car originally came with one, regardless of where you live. Emissions equipment is covered by the Clean Air Act; that's federal legislation and no state has the authority to make it less stringent (ie, not applicable to certain cars, certain years, etc).
Some believe (not saying that you do) that if you don't happen to have emissions testing that you can remove a catalytic converter. You physically CAN, and you may not be caught...but that's a federal offense regardless of where you live.
Non-attainment areas in Virginia used to have an I/M 240 test, but I'm not sure if they still do. Non-attainment areas in North Carolina simply have the ODB-II plug-in test, which I think is completely useless. I think if they want to improve air quality, do a sniff test. If they don't care enough, then don't do anything at all, because the OBD-II check can be easily faked and doesn't guarantee any measure of air quality.