82R8082 JXC-D

By: Chisum H.B. No. 2639

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to motor vehicle inspections that employ remote sensing equipment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 382.2041 to read as follows:

Sec. 382.2041. CLEAN SCREEN PROGRAM COMPONENT. (a) In this section:

(1) "Clean screen remote sensing equipment" means on-road remote automatic emissions detection and analysis equipment used to determine whether a vehicle complies with applicable on-road emissions standards under Subchapter F, Chapter 548, Transportation Code.

(2) "Clean screen program component" means a component of the vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program under Subchapter F, Chapter 548, Transportation Code, that allows a motor vehicle to meet applicable emissions-related inspection requirements if the vehicle is inspected by clean screen remote sensing equipment and is determined to be in compliance with applicable emissions standards.

(3) "Inspection station" has the meaning assigned by Section 548.001, Transportation Code.

(b) The commission, the Public Safety Commission, and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles on their own initiative may jointly develop and implement a clean screen program component in a county designated as a nonattainment area within the meaning of Section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Section 7407) and its subsequent amendments, in any affected county, or in any county adjacent to an affected county.

(c) A county, a regional council of governments, as defined by Section 384.001(5), a regional planning commission organized under Chapter 391, Local Government Code, a metropolitan planning organization, as defined by Section 472.031, Transportation Code, or another organization designated by the commission to develop air quality plans may submit a written request to the commission to establish a clean screen program component in a county described by Subsection (b) that is under the jurisdiction of the county, council, commission, or organization that submitted the request. The commission, the Public Safety Commission, and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles jointly may develop and implement a clean screen program component in a county that is the subject of the request and shall implement a program component developed under this subsection not later than 24 months after the date the commission receives the request.

(d) A clean screen program component established under this section must apply only to passenger vehicles and light trucks not subject to inspection under Subchapter D, Chapter 548, Transportation Code.

(e) The clean screen program component described by this section:

(1) must include procedures to:

(A) identify a vehicle that is in compliance with applicable on-road emissions standards established by the commission;

(B) allow the registered owner of a vehicle described by Paragraph (A) to pay the fee described by Subsection (f) instead of:

(i) obtaining an emissions-related inspection certificate at an inspection station; and

(ii) paying a fee required by Subchapter H, Chapter 548, Transportation Code, for an emissions-related inspection; and

(C) provide written notice of the clean screen program component inspection and fee process to the registered owner of a vehicle:

(i) during the registration process under Section 502.002, Transportation Code; or

(ii) by mailing notice to motor vehicle owners; and

(2) may include procedures to allow the registered owner of a vehicle that is identified under the clean screen program component as being in compliance with applicable emissions standards to pay the fee described by Subsection (g) instead of:

(A) obtaining a vehicle safety inspection certificate under Subchapters B and C, Chapter 548, Transportation Code, at an inspection station; and

(B) paying a fee required by Subchapter H, Chapter 548, Transportation Code, for a vehicle safety inspection.

(f) The commission shall assess a clean screen inspection fee payable by and at the option of the registered owner of a vehicle that clean screen remote sensing equipment identifies as being in compliance with applicable on-road emissions standards. The fee must be in an amount:

(1) reasonably necessary to recover the costs of developing, administering, implementing, evaluating, and enforcing the clean screen program component; and

(2) not less than the sum of the fees that would be required for an emissions-related inspection conducted at an inspection station.

(g) If the commission adopts procedures under Subsection (e)(2), the commission shall assess a clean screen convenience fee payable by and at the option of the registered owner of a vehicle that clean screen remote sensing equipment identifies as being in compliance with applicable emissions standards. The fee must be in an amount not less than the sum of the fees that would be required for a vehicle safety inspection conducted at an inspection station.

(h) If the clean screen program component relies on privately operated or contractor-operated clean screen remote sensing equipment, the commission by rule shall authorize the private operator or contractor to retain an appropriate portion of fees assessed under Subsection (f) to recover the operator's cost of performing the inspection and provide the operator a reasonable margin of profit.

(i) The commission may stipulate in a contract for conducting clean screen remote sensing equipment inspections that the person contracted with must reimburse the commission for the cost of computer programming activities or hardware acquisitions required to accomodate use of the clean screen program component.

(j) Any portion of a fee collected by the commission under Subsection (f) or (g) must be used for the same purpose the fee would have been used for if collected under Subchapter H, Chapter 548, Transportation Code.

(k) A county that voluntarily participates in a clean screen program component established under this section is eligible for incentives established under Section 382.216.

SECTION 2. Section 382.302(b), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) After approving a request made under Subsection (a), the commission by resolution may request the Public Safety Commission to establish motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program requirements for the participating county under Subchapter F, Chapter 548, Transportation Code, in accordance with this section and rules adopted under this section. The motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program requirements for the participating county may include exhaust emissions testing, emissions control devices, [and] systems inspections, a remote sensing program component as provided by Section 382.204, a clean screen program component as provided by Section 382.2041, or other testing methods that meet or exceed United States Environmental Protection Agency requirements[, and a remote sensing component as provided by Section 382.204]. The motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program requirements adopted for the participating county may apply to all or to a defined subset of vehicles described by Section 382.203. If the commission implements a clean screen program component under Section 382.2041, the Public Safety Commission and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles may modify the motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program inspection process to accommodate elements of the clean screen program component.

SECTION 3. Section 548.052, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 548.052. VEHICLES NOT SUBJECT TO INSPECTION. This chapter does not apply to:

(1) a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile home moving under or bearing a current factory-delivery license plate or current in-transit license plate;

(2) a vehicle moving under or bearing a paper dealer in-transit tag, machinery license, disaster license, parade license, prorate tab, one-trip permit, antique license, temporary 24-hour permit, or permit license;

(3) a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile home having an actual gross weight or registered gross weight of 4,500 pounds or less;

(4) farm machinery, road-building equipment, a farm trailer, or a vehicle required to display a slow-moving-vehicle emblem under Section 547.703;

(5) a former military vehicle, as defined by Section 504.502 [502.275];

(6) a vehicle qualified for a tax exemption under Section 152.092, Tax Code; [or]

(7) a vehicle for which a certificate of title has been issued but that is not required to be registered; or

(8) a vehicle for which the registered owner has satisfied the requirements of Section 382.2041(e)(2), Health and Safety Code, if the conservation commission adopts procedures under Section 382.2041(e)(2), Health and Safety Code.

SECTION 4. Section 548.251, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 548.251. DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE INSPECTION CERTIFICATES AND VERIFICATION FORMS. (a) The department shall provide serially numbered inspection certificates and verification forms to inspection stations. The department may issue a unique inspection certificate for:

(1) a commercial motor vehicle inspected under Section 548.201; or

(2) a vehicle inspected under Subchapter F.

(b) Any provision in Subchapter E, F, or G that requires an inspection certificate to be issued only by an inspection station does not apply to a certificate issued for an inspection conducted under the clean screen program component described by Section 382.2041, Health and Safety Code. If the conservation commission establishes a clean screen program component under Section 382.2041, Health and Safety Code, the commission and the department may develop a system to issue an inspection certificate under the clean screen program component without requiring that an inspection station issue the inspection certificate.

SECTION 5. Section 548.301(d), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) A vehicle emissions inspection under this section may be performed by:

(1) the same facility that performs a safety inspection if the facility is authorized and certified by the department to perform the vehicle emissions inspection and certified by the department to perform the safety inspection; or

(2) clean screen remote sensing equipment as defined by Section 382.2041, Health and Safety Code, if the conservation commission establishes a clean screen program component under that section.

SECTION 6. Section 548.306(j), Transportation Code, is repealed.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.