Bill Text: TX SB1685 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the repeal of the Texas emissions reduction plan and the low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to Natural Resources & Economic Development [SB1685 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB1685-Introduced.html

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2015S0467-1 03/12/15
By: Huffines S.B. No. 1685

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the repeal of the Texas emissions reduction plan and the
low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated
vehicle retirement program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 382.202(g), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) The commission shall,[:
[(1) use part of the fee collected under Subsection
(e) to fund low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and
accelerated vehicle retirement programs created under Section
382.209; and
[(2)] to the extent practicable, distribute available
funding created under Subsection (e) to affected [participating]
counties in reasonable proportion to the amount of fees collected
under Subsection (e) in those counties or in the regions in which
those counties are located.
SECTION 2. Section 382.212(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) To the extent allowable under federal law, the
commission by rule shall authorize:
(1) [the assignment of a percentage of emissions
reduction credit to a private, commercial, or business entity that
purchases, for accelerated retirement, a qualified vehicle under a
low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated
vehicle retirement program;
[(2)] the transferability of an assigned emissions
reduction credit;
(2) [(3)] the use of emissions reduction credit by the
holder of the credit against any state or federal emissions
requirements applicable to a facility owned or operated by the
holder of the credit; and
(3) [(4)] the assignment of a percentage of emissions
reduction credit, on the retirement of a fleet vehicle, a vehicle
owned or leased by a governmental entity, or a commercial vehicle,
to the owner or lessor of the vehicle[; and
[(5) other actions relating to the disposition or use
of emissions reduction credit that the commission determines will
benefit the implementation of low-income vehicle repair
assistance, retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement programs
established under Section 382.209].
SECTION 3. Sections 382.213(a) and (a-1), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c) and Subdivision (5)
of this subsection, a vehicle retired under an accelerated vehicle
retirement program authorized by former Section 382.209 may not be
resold or reused in its entirety in this or another state. Subject
to the provisions of Subsection (i), the automobile dealer who
takes possession of the vehicle must submit to the program
administrator proof, in a manner adopted by the commission, that
the vehicle has been retired. The vehicle must be:
(1) destroyed;
(2) recycled; or
(3) dismantled and its parts sold as used parts [or
used in the program;
[(4) placed in a storage facility of a program
established under Section 382.209 and subsequently destroyed,
recycled, or dismantled and its parts sold or used in the program;
or
[(5) repaired, brought into compliance, and used as a
replacement vehicle under Section 382.209(d)(2)].
(a-1) The commission shall establish a partnership with
representatives of the steel industry, automobile dismantlers, and
the scrap metal recycling industry to ensure that:
(1) vehicles retired under former Section 382.209 are
scrapped or recycled; and
(2) proof of scrapping or recycling is provided to the
commission.
SECTION 4. Section 382.216, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 382.216. INCENTIVES FOR VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN
VEHICLE EMISSIONS INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. The
commission, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Public
Safety Commission may, subject to federal limitations:
(1) encourage counties likely to exceed federal clean
air standards to implement voluntary[:
[(A)] motor vehicle emissions inspection and
maintenance programs; [and
[(B) low-income vehicle repair assistance,
retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement programs;]
(2) establish incentives for counties to voluntarily
implement motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance
programs [and low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and
accelerated vehicle retirement programs]; and
(3) designate a county that voluntarily implements a
motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program [or a
low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated
vehicle retirement program] as a "Clean Air County" and give
preference to a county designated as a Clean Air County in any
federal or state clean air grant program.
SECTION 5. Sections 382.220(a) and (d), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Money that is made available to affected
[participating] counties under Section 382.202(g) or 382.302 may be
appropriated only for programs administered in accordance with
Chapter 783, Government Code, to improve air quality. An affected
[A participating] county may agree to contract with any appropriate
entity, including a metropolitan planning organization or a council
of governments to implement a program under Section 382.202[,
382.209,] or this section.
(d) Fees collected under Sections 382.202 and 382.302 may be
used in an amount not to exceed $7 million per fiscal year for
projects described by Subsection (b), of which $2 million may be
used only for projects described by Subsection (b)(4). The
remaining $5 million may be used for any project described by
Subsection (b). The fees shall be made available [only to counties
participating in the low-income vehicle repair assistance,
retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement programs created
under Section 382.209 and] only on a matching basis, whereby the
commission provides money to a county in the same amount that the
county dedicates to a project authorized by Subsection (b). The
commission may reduce the match requirement for a county that
proposes to develop and implement independent test facility fraud
detection programs, including the use of remote sensing technology
for coordinating with law enforcement officials to detect, prevent,
and prosecute the use of counterfeit registration insignia and
vehicle inspection reports.
SECTION 6. The following provisions of the Health and
Safety Code are repealed:
(1) Sections 382.201(4), 382.205(f), 382.209,
382.210, 382.211, 382.214, and 382.302(e); and
(2) Chapter 386.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.