Bill Text: NY S03687 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Establishes that the department of motor vehicles shall notify individuals via postal mail or electronic notification that their vehicle inspection is subject to expiration thirty days before such expiration; provides for a five day grace period after the expiration of the vehicle inspection certificate wherein operators of such vehicle shall not be fined.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-05-17 - referred to transportation [S03687 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S03687-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3687--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 30, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  FELDER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation --  commit-
          tee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
          mitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in  relation  to  requiring
          vehicle  inspection  renewal notification thirty days prior to expira-
          tion

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Subdivisions (a) and (b) of section 306 of the vehicle and
     2  traffic law, as amended by chapter 608 of the laws of 1993, are  amended
     3  and a new subdivision (g) is added to read as follows:
     4    (a)  The  commissioner  shall  suspend  or prohibit the renewal of the
     5  registration of any motor vehicle for which  a  certificate  or  certif-
     6  icates  of  inspection has or have not been obtained as required by this
     7  article, or the regulations promulgated  thereunder,  or  which  is  not
     8  repaired  within  the period designated under subdivision (b) of section
     9  three hundred four of this article [(b)]; provided however, the  commis-
    10  sioner  shall  waive  the  requirement  for  any repairs to an emissions
    11  system beyond the expenditure amount permitted by federal law and  regu-
    12  lations once the amount has been expended, and provided further that the
    13  commissioner   shall   provide  for  suitable  notice  of  an  impending
    14  inspection  expiration  in  accordance  with  subdivision  (g)  of  this
    15  section.  The  commissioner  shall provide for an appeal from a determi-
    16  nation related to a request that the repair requirement  be  waived.  No
    17  such  notice or waiver shall apply to classes of vehicles for which such
    18  waiver would be prohibited pursuant to  a  final  decree  of  a  federal
    19  court.
    20    (b)  No  motor vehicle shall be operated or parked on the public high-
    21  ways of this state unless a certificate or certificates  of  inspection,
    22  as  required  by  this  article, is or are displayed upon the vehicle or

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02451-02-1

        S. 3687--A                          2

     1  affixed to the registration certificate for the vehicle as may be deter-
     2  mined by the commissioner. The commissioner may, by regulation,  provide
     3  for  a  temporary  indicia of inspection to be placed on a motor vehicle
     4  which  shall be valid as a certificate of inspection for a period not to
     5  exceed fifteen days upon the loss, theft, mutilation or destruction of a
     6  certificate of inspection. Any violation of  this  section  that  occurs
     7  while  a  motor  vehicle  is parked on the public highways of this state
     8  shall constitute a parking violation. Every agreement for the  lease  or
     9  rental  of  a  motor  vehicle  for a period of not more than thirty days
    10  shall be deemed to provide that the lessor of such vehicle shall, in all
    11  respects, be substituted for the lessee  or  any  person  operating  the
    12  vehicle  in  conformity with the lease or rental agreement in connection
    13  with any charge of violating this section,  provided  that  any  summons
    14  issued  to  the operator for violation of this section is turned over to
    15  the lessor. A violation of this subdivision shall  be  punishable  by  a
    16  fine  of  not  less  than  fifty nor more than one hundred dollars for a
    17  first offense, and by a fine of not less than fifty nor  more  than  two
    18  hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than fifteen days, or by
    19  both  such  fine and imprisonment, for each subsequent offense; provided
    20  however, that if the vehicle bears  a  certificate  or  certificates  of
    21  inspection which was or were valid within the past five days it shall be
    22  an  affirmative  defense  to  such violation and no violation shall have
    23  occurred; provided, further that if the vehicle bears a  certificate  or
    24  certificates  of inspection which was or were valid within [the last] no
    25  fewer than six days and no more than sixty days, such violation shall be
    26  punishable by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor  more  than  fifty
    27  dollars.
    28    (g)  (1)  The commissioner shall notify every owner of a motor vehicle
    29  registered in this state that their vehicle  inspection  is  subject  to
    30  expiration  thirty  days  before  such  expiration.  Such  notice may be
    31  provided electronically to an owner of a motor vehicle who has  affirma-
    32  tively  consented  or  requested  to be contacted by electronic means of
    33  communication in a form prescribed by the commissioner, or upon determi-
    34  nation that sufficient appropriations are available, by mailing of  such
    35  notice  to the address of an owner of a motor vehicle who has not affir-
    36  matively consented to communication by electronic means.
    37    (2) The renewal notification  shall  include  without  limitation  the
    38  following details: (i) a brief description of the motor vehicle that has
    39  an  inspection  that  needs to be renewed, including the vehicle owner's
    40  name and residence, together with the plate designation  and  the  plate
    41  type as shown by the registration plates of such vehicle and the expira-
    42  tion  date;  the  make or model, and body type of such vehicle; the name
    43  and factory number of such vehicle, and such other facts as the  commis-
    44  sioner shall require;
    45    (ii)  notification that such inspection shall expire at the end of the
    46  current month; and
    47    (iii) such additional  facts  or  evidence  as  the  commissioner  may
    48  require in connection with the form of the notification.
    49    (3)  The  commissioner shall register the notifications sent regarding
    50  such motor vehicles and shall maintain a record  of  such  notifications
    51  and  the addresses to which such notifications were sent. The production
    52  of a copy of a notice issued by the department, together with  an  elec-
    53  tronically-generated record of entry of such notice upon the appropriate
    54  owner's  registration  file  of  the  department  and an affidavit by an
    55  employee designated by the commissioner as having responsibility for the
    56  issuance of such notice issued  by  the  department  setting  forth  the

        S. 3687--A                          3

     1  procedure for the issuance and the mailing of such notice at the address
     2  of such person on file with the department, including electronic address
     3  or  telephone  number  for  owners  who  have affirmatively consented to
     4  communication  by  electronic  means, shall be presumptive evidence that
     5  such notice of inspection expiration was produced and mailed in  accord-
     6  ance with such procedures.
     7    (4) The commissioner may promulgate such regulations and procedures as
     8  shall be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this subdivision.
     9    §  2. This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding
    10  the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the
    11  addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule  or  regulation  necessary
    12  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
    13  to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
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