STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10351
IN ASSEMBLY
May 13, 2022
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Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Carroll) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
prohibiting the disabling, removal or interference with emission
control devices; and to amend the environmental conservation law and
the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to prohibiting the use of
emission tampering devices and providing remedies for the violation of
such provisions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act may be known and may be cited as the "emission
2 tampering act of 2022".
3 § 2. Article 19 of the environmental conservation law is amended by
4 adding a new title 13 to read as follows:
5 TITLE 13
6 EMISSION TAMPERING
7 Section 19-1301. Statement of findings.
8 19-1303. Definitions.
9 19-1305. Prohibitions.
10 19-1307. Emission inspections and reporting.
11 19-1309. Enforcement.
12 § 19-1301. Statement of findings.
13 1. Emission control devices installed by manufacturers of diesel-pow-
14 ered heavy duty vehicles are essential to limiting the emission of air
15 pollutants from such vehicles, protecting the public health from the
16 adverse health effects of those pollutants, and maintaining the state's
17 ability to meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets set forth in the
18 climate change and community leadership act.
19 2. The United States environmental protection agency has determined
20 that emission controls have been removed from over one-half million
21 heavy duty vehicles in the last decade, resulting in more than one-half
22 million tons of excess nitrogen oxides and five thousand tons of excess
23 particulate matter being emitted from those vehicles.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10860-03-2
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1 3. The United States environmental protection agency has estimated
2 that in New York more than thirteen thousand heavy duty vehicles have
3 disabled or removed emission controls, resulting in excess emissions of
4 over thirteen thousand tons of nitrogen oxides and over one hundred tons
5 of particulate matter.
6 4. The tampering with, disabling, or removal of emission controls in
7 diesel-powered motor vehicles poses a serious threat to the health of
8 the citizens of New York state.
9 § 19-1303. Definitions.
10 As used in this title:
11 1. "Aftermarket defeat device" means a part or component intended for
12 use with, or as part of, any motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine where
13 a principal effect of the part or component is to bypass, defeat, alter
14 or render inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in
15 a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in compliance with any require-
16 ment of the federal clean air act or of this title.
17 2. "Heavy duty vehicle" means a heavy duty vehicle as defined in
18 subdivision one of section 19-0320 of this article.
19 3. "Motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined in section one
20 hundred twenty-five of the vehicle and traffic law.
21 4. "Tamper" means to remove or render inoperative or inaccurate any
22 device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor
23 vehicle engine in compliance with any requirement of the federal clean
24 air act or of this article.
25 § 19-1305. Prohibitions.
26 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper with a motor vehicle.
27 2. No person shall sell, offer for sale or distribute an aftermarket
28 defeat device.
29 3. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, install or attempt
30 to install an aftermarket defeat device.
31 4. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty
32 of not less than one thousand dollars and not more than five thousand
33 dollars for the first violation and not less than two thousand and not
34 more than ten thousand dollars for the second and each subsequent
35 violation by the court or administrative tribunal before which the
36 summons or appearance ticket is returnable.
37 § 19-1307. Emission inspections and reporting.
38 1. No later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date of
39 this title, the department, jointly with the department of motor vehi-
40 cles and department of transportation, shall modify the annual
41 inspection and roadside program established by subdivision two of
42 section 19-0320 of this article and the enhanced inspection and mainte-
43 nance program governed by 6 NYCRR Part 217 to require that each vehicle
44 is visually inspected for the presence of an aftermarket defeat device.
45 2. The owner or operator of a motor vehicle that, as a result of an
46 inspection, is determined to have an aftermarket defeat device, shall
47 remove or cause to be removed such device within ten business days of
48 the date of the inspection and shall provide written proof of such
49 removal in a form acceptable to the department, such proof to be submit-
50 ted to the department within fifteen business days of the date of the
51 inspection.
52 3. Failure by the owner or operator of a motor vehicle to remove or
53 cause to be removed an aftermarket defeat device and provide written
54 proof thereof to the department shall subject such person to a civil
55 penalty of not less than one thousand dollars and not more than five
56 thousand dollars.
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1 4. No later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date of
2 this title, the department shall prepare and make available to vehicle
3 emission inspection stations:
4 a. a written notice setting forth the removal and written proof
5 requirements relating to aftermarket defeat devices and the penalties
6 for failing to comply with such requirements for distribution to owners
7 or operators of motor vehicles containing aftermarket defeat devices;
8 and
9 b. a form constituting written proof of removal of an aftermarket
10 defeat device.
11 5. Any person conducting an inspection of a motor vehicle who deter-
12 mines that the vehicle contains an aftermarket defeat device shall
13 promptly inform the owner or operator of the vehicle of the presence of
14 the device and inform such owner or operator of the removal and written
15 proof requirements of this section. Such information may be provided by
16 written notice in such form as prepared by the department.
17 § 19-1309. Enforcement.
18 The department and the attorney general are hereby authorized to
19 enforce the provisions of this title and all monies collected shall be
20 deposited to the credit of the environmental protection fund established
21 pursuant to section ninety-two-s of the state finance law. The
22 provisions of section 19-1305 of this title may be enforced by a county,
23 city, town or village provided the local legislative body thereof may
24 adopt local laws, ordinances or regulations consistent with this title
25 providing for the enforcement of such provisions.
26 § 3. Subdivision 28-a of section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law,
27 as added by chapter 1026 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as
28 follows:
29 28-a. (a) Except as permitted or authorized by law, no person shall
30 remove, dismantle or otherwise cause to be inoperative any equipment or
31 feature constituting an operational element of a motor vehicle's air
32 pollution control system or mechanism required by federal or state law
33 or by any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.
34 (b) Except as permitted or authorized by law, no registered owner
35 shall permit a motor vehicle fueled with diesel fuel to be operated with
36 an aftermarket defeat device, nor shall a registered owner possess,
37 install, or attempt to install an aftermarket defeat device.
38 (c) As used in this subdivision, "aftermarket defeat device" shall
39 mean a part or component intended for use with, or as part of, any motor
40 vehicle or motor vehicle engine where a principal effect of the part or
41 component is to bypass, defeat, alter or render inoperative any device
42 or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle
43 engine in compliance with any requirement of the federal clean air act,
44 the environmental conservation law, or of this article.
45 (d) A person convicted of a violation of this subdivision shall, for a
46 first violation thereof with respect to a particular motor vehicle, be
47 punished by a fine of seven hundred fifty dollars. Such fine may not be
48 waived, suspended or in any other manner not levied, except that four
49 hundred fifty dollars of such fine may be waived upon submission of
50 acceptable evidence prior to the final determination of the violation
51 that the air pollution control system or mechanism required by federal
52 or state law or by any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto
53 has been restored on the vehicle and is in proper working condition. A
54 person convicted of a second or subsequent violation with respect to a
55 particular vehicle shall be punished by a fine of seven hundred fifty
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1 dollars, which fine may not be waived, suspended or in any other manner
2 not levied.
3 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
4 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
5 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
6 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
7 completed on or before such effective date.