By: Ellis S.B. No. 1146
73R3842 JJT-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation and operation of a loan program to assist
1-3 certain low income persons to comply with a vehicle emissions and
1-4 maintenance program established in an air quality nonattainment
1-5 area.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code, is amended
1-8 by adding Subchapter G to read as follows:
1-9 SUBCHAPTER G. LOAN PROGRAM FOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS MAINTENANCE
1-10 Sec. 382.161. EMISSIONS MAINTENANCE LOAN PROGRAM. (a) The
1-11 board shall, through the development and administration of a
1-12 program, provide loans at no interest to assist an eligible person
1-13 to repair the person's motor vehicle in order to comply with
1-14 vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance requirements in an air
1-15 quality nonattainment area under the federal Clean Air Act (42
1-16 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) and its subsequent amendments.
1-17 (b) The board may grant to an eligible person a loan in an
1-18 amount not to exceed the lesser of the cost of repairs to the
1-19 person's motor vehicle necessary for the vehicle to pass a vehicle
1-20 emissions inspection or the inspection and maintenance program
1-21 waiver amount for the vehicle provided by or in accordance with
1-22 regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
1-23 (c) The board may conduct the loan program in each air
1-24 quality nonattainment area in the state when test-only vehicle
2-1 emission inspection facilities established by the board begin to
2-2 operate in the area.
2-3 Sec. 382.162. ELIGIBILITY. A person is eligible for a loan
2-4 under this subchapter if the person resides in an air quality
2-5 nonattainment area in which the board has established the loan
2-6 program, owns a vehicle that has failed a vehicle emissions
2-7 inspection at a test-only vehicle emission inspection facility, and
2-8 is, or is a dependent of, a person who:
2-9 (1) has a family income below the poverty level
2-10 according to the federal Office of Management and Budget poverty
2-11 index;
2-12 (2) receives financial assistance under Chapter 31,
2-13 Human Resources Code; or
2-14 (3) receives food stamp assistance.
2-15 Sec. 382.163. APPLICATION AND APPROVAL FOR LOAN. (a) An
2-16 applicant for a loan under this subchapter must submit the
2-17 application in accordance with rules of the board and must include
2-18 with the application:
2-19 (1) proof of eligibility;
2-20 (2) vehicle title information; and
2-21 (3) the application processing fee.
2-22 (b) The board by rule shall require each test-only vehicle
2-23 emission inspection facility to post a notice of the loan program's
2-24 existence and eligibility requirements and to provide a person who
2-25 might be eligible, on the person's request, with a loan application
2-26 form provided by the board.
2-27 (c) A loan may be approved for an eligible applicant. The
3-1 board by rule shall adopt standards for disapproval of an
3-2 application because of a person's unreliable payment history.
3-3 Sec. 382.164. APPROVAL OF AND PAYMENT FOR REPAIR. (a) For
3-4 any person for whom the board has approved a loan application, an
3-5 emission repair technician certified by the board shall conduct an
3-6 estimate for the cost of repairing a vehicle as necessary to comply
3-7 with the inspection and maintenance program provided by or in
3-8 accordance with regulations of the United States Environmental
3-9 Protection Agency.
3-10 (b) The repair technician shall transmit the repair estimate
3-11 and identifying information about the approved loan applicant to a
3-12 test-only referee for review and approval.
3-13 (c) The board shall pay the repair technician's invoice for
3-14 repairs made to a vehicle owned by an approved applicant that are
3-15 approved by the test-only referee. The board's payment may not
3-16 exceed the lesser of the:
3-17 (1) cost of the approved repairs;
3-18 (2) the amount that remains due for approved repairs
3-19 if the owner has made a partial payment for the repairs; or
3-20 (3) the amount of the waiver limit for the vehicle
3-21 under the inspection and maintenance program provided by or in
3-22 accordance with regulations of the United States Environmental
3-23 Protection Agency.
3-24 Sec. 382.165. LOAN REPAYMENT, DEFAULT, AND COLLECTION. (a)
3-25 The board shall issue to the person who owns the repaired vehicle a
3-26 loan repayment coupon book with invoices for the payment of four
3-27 monthly loan installments that total the amount paid by the board
4-1 under Section 382.164(c).
4-2 (b) The board may permit the person not more than two
4-3 one-month extensions on the period for repayment of the loan.
4-4 (c) The board may refer a defaulted loan account to the
4-5 attorney general for collection. On the request of the board, the
4-6 attorney general may file a civil suit to recover the amount of the
4-7 default or contract with a private collection agency to recover the
4-8 default at a reasonable commission.
4-9 Sec. 382.166. FEES AND FUNDING. (a) A special revolving
4-10 fund is established outside the state treasury to be known as the
4-11 vehicle emissions maintenance assistance fund. The fund may be
4-12 used only to provide loans under and to administer this subchapter.
4-13 (b) The fund consists of:
4-14 (1) vehicle emissions inspection surcharges collected
4-15 under Subsection (d);
4-16 (2) application processing fees collected under this
4-17 subchapter; and
4-18 (3) depository interest and investment income earned
4-19 on money in the fund.
4-20 (c) The state treasurer is the custodian of the fund. The
4-21 comptroller shall issue a warrant for the fund supported only by a
4-22 voucher signed by the executive director of the board.
4-23 (d) The board shall set a surcharge on the fee for a vehicle
4-24 emissions inspection by a test-only vehicle emission inspection
4-25 facility in an amount that is reasonable and necessary to cover the
4-26 cost of administering the program. The test-only vehicle emission
4-27 inspection facility shall maintain a separate accounting for the
5-1 surcharges collected under this subsection and shall submit the
5-2 surcharge amounts to the board in accordance with board rules.
5-3 The board shall deposit the surcharge amounts to the credit of the
5-4 fund.
5-5 (e) The board shall set an application processing fee in an
5-6 amount not to exceed $25.
5-7 SECTION 2. This Act does not affect the transfer of the
5-8 rights, powers, duties, responsibilities, and functions of the
5-9 Texas Air Control Board to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
5-10 Commission as provided by Sections 1.086 and 1.087, Chapter 3, Acts
5-11 of the 72nd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1991.
5-12 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-17 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-18 passage, and it is so enacted.