Bill Text: TX HB2639 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to motor vehicle inspections that employ remote sensing equipment.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-10 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB2639 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2639-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Chisum H.B. No. 2639
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2639:
By: Aliseda C.S.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) A county, a regional council of governments, as defined
by Section 384.001, 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 that is under
the jurisdiction of the entity that submitted the request and is:
(1) designated after September 1, 2011, 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; or
(2) a county adjacent to a county described by
Subdivision (1).
(c) 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. The commission, the Public Safety
Commission, and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles must agree
to implement a program component developed under this subsection
not later than 24 months after the date the commission receives the
request. If the agencies do not agree to implement the program
component before that deadline, the request expires.
(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 must include procedures to:
(1) identify a vehicle that is in compliance with
applicable on-road emissions standards established by the
commission;
(2) allow the registered owner of a vehicle described
by Subdivision (1) to pay the fee described by Subsection (g)
instead of:
(A) obtaining an emissions-related inspection
certificate at an inspection station; and
(B) paying a fee required by Subchapter H,
Chapter 548, Transportation Code, for an emissions-related
inspection; and
(3) provide written notice of the clean screen program
component inspection and fee process to the registered owner of a
vehicle:
(A) during the registration process under
Section 502.002, Transportation Code; or
(B) by mailing notice to motor vehicle owners.
(f) If the commission, the Public Safety Commission, and the
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles agree to include in the clean
screen program a component to waive motor vehicle safety
inspections, the Public Safety Commission by rule shall adopt
procedures to allow the registered owner of a vehicle identified
under the clean screen program component as being in compliance
with applicable emissions standards to pay the fee described by
Subsection (h) instead of:
(1) obtaining a vehicle safety inspection certificate
under Subchapters B and C, Chapter 548, Transportation Code, at an
inspection station; and
(2) paying a fee required by Subchapter H, Chapter
548, Transportation Code, for a vehicle safety inspection.
(g) 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.
(h) If the Public Safety Commission adopts procedures under
Subsection (f), 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.
(i) 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 (g) to recover the operator's cost
of performing the inspection and provide the operator a reasonable
margin of profit.
(j) 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 accommodate use of the clean screen program component.
(k) Any portion of a fee collected by the commission under
Subsection (g) or (h) must be used for the same purpose the fee
would have been used for if collected under Subchapter H, Chapter
548, Transportation Code.
(l) 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.
(c) In conjunction with a clean screen program component
established under Section 382.2041, Health and Safety Code, the
commission and the department may develop a system to:
(1) issue an inspection certificate under the clean
screen program component without requiring that an inspection
station issue the inspection certificate; and
(2) allow the operator of the clean screen remote
sensing equipment to issue an inspection certificate if the
component relies on privately operated or contractor-operated
clean screen remote sensing equipment.
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 a clean screen
program component is established under that section.
SECTION 6. Section 548.306(j), Transportation Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.