By Wentworth S.B. No. 1439
75R5927 JJT-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the state's motor vehicle emissions inspection and
1-3 maintenance program; providing penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
1-6 Code, is amended by adding Sections 382.0372-382.0377 to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 Sec. 382.0372. VEHICLES SUBJECT TO PROGRAM; EXEMPTIONS. (a)
1-9 The inspection and maintenance program applies to any
1-10 gasoline-fueled light-duty vehicle or light-duty or heavy-duty
1-11 truck that is:
1-12 (1) required to be registered in or is primarily
1-13 operated in Dallas, Tarrant, El Paso, or Harris County; and
1-14 (2) between two and 24 years old.
1-15 (b) In addition to a vehicle described by Subsection (a),
1-16 the program applies to:
1-17 (1) a vehicle operated on a federal facility in
1-18 Dallas, Tarrant, El Paso, or Harris County; and
1-19 (2) a vehicle exempt from motor vehicle registration
1-20 requirements or eligible under Chapter 502, Transportation Code, to
1-21 display an "exempt" license plate.
1-22 (c) The commission by rule may exempt from program
1-23 requirements, in accordance with standards adopted by the
1-24 commission, certain vehicles and vehicle owners, including:
2-1 (1) the registered owner of a vehicle who:
2-2 (A) cannot afford to comply with the program,
2-3 based on reasonable income standards; or
2-4 (B) has spent a reasonable amount of money, set
2-5 by the commission, to repair the vehicle, without bringing the
2-6 vehicle into compliance with emissions standards; and
2-7 (2) a vehicle that cannot be brought into compliance
2-8 with emissions standards by performing repairs.
2-9 Sec. 382.0373. REMOTE SENSING PROGRAM. (a) The commission
2-10 and the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas jointly
2-11 shall develop a program for enforcing emissions standards by use of
2-12 remote or automatic emissions detection and analysis equipment.
2-13 (b) The program may include notification of a violation
2-14 mailed by the commission or the department to the registered owner
2-15 of a vehicle if a remote sensing device detects and records that
2-16 the vehicle emitted, in an area to which an emissions standard
2-17 applies, pollutants in excess of standards adopted by the
2-18 commission.
2-19 (c) The program may require the registered owner of a
2-20 vehicle who is issued a notice of violation under Subsection (b) to
2-21 obtain a verification emissions test at a certified or licensed
2-22 motor vehicle emissions inspection station and to perform any
2-23 repairs required to allow the vehicle to pass a verification test.
2-24 (d) A person commits an offense if the person does not
2-25 comply with a testing or repair requirement adopted under this
2-26 section. An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
2-27 (e) A person who operates a motor vehicle after the
3-1 registered owner of the vehicle has been issued a notice of
3-2 violation under this section may be fined $25. A peace officer may
3-3 issue a citation for the violation in the same manner as a citation
3-4 for a violation of a traffic law.
3-5 Sec. 382.0374. CHOICE OF TESTING. In obtaining an emissions
3-6 test under this subchapter at a licensed or certified emissions
3-7 testing facility, the owner of a vehicle may choose to have the
3-8 vehicle tested, subject to availability of the testing procedures,
3-9 by a:
3-10 (1) two-speed idle test; or
3-11 (2) loaded/transient mode test.
3-12 Sec. 382.0375. INSPECTION EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES; FEE.
3-13 (a) In regulating inspection stations under the emissions
3-14 inspection and maintenance program, the commission by rule shall
3-15 adopt:
3-16 (1) standards for motor vehicle emissions testing
3-17 equipment;
3-18 (2) testing, recordkeeping, and reporting procedures;
3-19 (3) measurable emissions standards a vehicle must meet
3-20 to pass the inspection; and
3-21 (4) procedures for issuing or denying an emissions
3-22 inspection certificate.
3-23 (b) The commission by rule shall establish an emissions
3-24 inspection fee in an amount sufficient to recover the state's costs
3-25 of overseeing the emissions inspection and maintenance program.
3-26 Sec. 382.0376. COLLECTION OF DATA; REPORT. (a) The
3-27 commission shall collect inspection and maintenance information
4-1 derived from the emissions inspection and maintenance program,
4-2 including:
4-3 (1) inspection results;
4-4 (2) inspection station information;
4-5 (3) information regarding vehicles operated on federal
4-6 facilities;
4-7 (4) vehicle registration information; and
4-8 (5) other data the United States Environmental
4-9 Protection Agency requires.
4-10 (b) The commission shall:
4-11 (1) report the information to the United States
4-12 Environmental Protection Agency; and
4-13 (2) compare the information on inspection results with
4-14 registration information for enforcement purposes.
4-15 Sec. 382.0377. PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN. The commission
4-16 and the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas shall
4-17 develop, implement, and oversee a public information campaign that
4-18 includes information about:
4-19 (1) the emissions inspection and maintenance program's
4-20 remote sensing component; and
4-21 (2) the requirement that a vehicle be tested within 60
4-22 days of resale.
4-23 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
4-24 is amended by adding Section 502.009 to read as follows:
4-25 Sec. 502.009. INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE REQUIRED FOR
4-26 REGISTRATION. (a) The department or a county tax
4-27 assessor-collector may not register a motor vehicle if the
5-1 department receives from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
5-2 Commission or the Department of Public Safety notification that the
5-3 vehicle is not in compliance with the emissions inspection and
5-4 maintenance program or rules of the Texas Natural Resource
5-5 Conservation Commission adopted under the program.
5-6 (b) The department or a county tax assessor-collector may
5-7 not register a vehicle to a new owner if:
5-8 (1) the owner resides in, or may operate the vehicle
5-9 primarily in, Dallas, Tarrant, or Harris County;
5-10 (2) the vehicle is between two and 24 years old; and
5-11 (3) the owner does not provide proof, in a form
5-12 approved by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission,
5-13 that the vehicle has passed a vehicle emissions inspection within
5-14 60 days of the sale or transfer of the vehicle.
5-15 (c) The department may exempt from the requirements of
5-16 Subsection (b):
5-17 (1) the sale or other transfer of a vehicle from a
5-18 person to a member of the person's family; or
5-19 (2) a vehicle that is due for an inspection under the
5-20 emissions inspection and maintenance program after the owner
5-21 applies for registration and on a date fewer than 60 days after the
5-22 sale or other transfer.
5-23 (d) The department or a county employee or official is not
5-24 liable to any person for denying registration as provided by this
5-25 section.
5-26 SECTION 3. As soon after the effective date of this Act as
5-27 practicable, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
6-1 shall adopt a resolution, as provided by Section 382.037, Health
6-2 and Safety Code, that requires the Department of Public Safety of
6-3 the State of Texas to implement a system that requires, as a
6-4 condition of obtaining a safety inspection certificate issued under
6-5 Chapter 548, Transportation Code, in a county that is included in
6-6 the motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program,
6-7 that the vehicle be inspected annually with a two-speed idle test
6-8 or inspected biennially with a loaded/transient mode test, as the
6-9 state's air quality state implementation plan requires.
6-10 SECTION 4. As soon after the effective date of this Act as
6-11 practicable, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and
6-12 the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas shall enter
6-13 an agreement to establish the following components of the motor
6-14 vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program:
6-15 (1) rules adopted by the department as needed to
6-16 implement the inspection and maintenance program designed by the
6-17 commission;
6-18 (2) rules adopted by the department to license or
6-19 certify inspection facilities, including penalty provisions that
6-20 meet the requirements provided by 40 C.F.R. Section 51.364;
6-21 (3) a public information campaign, developed by the
6-22 department in cooperation with the commission, related to educating
6-23 the public on emissions inspection and maintenance requirements,
6-24 including the recognized repair technician component of the
6-25 program;
6-26 (4) the department's responsibility for the resolution
6-27 of consumer complaints and disputes related to an inspection
7-1 facility, inspector, or inspection results;
7-2 (5) rules adopted by the department to ensure the
7-3 quality of inspection stations and inspectors and to protect
7-4 consumers, including procedures by which a motor vehicle owner may
7-5 conveniently challenge the validity of inspection results; and
7-6 (6) rules adopted by the department under which the
7-7 department, to promote increased consumer protection, may
7-8 recognize, in accordance with criteria adopted by the commission,
7-9 automotive repair facilities and technicians, as related to repairs
7-10 under the inspection and maintenance program.
7-11 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
7-12 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
7-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.