ASSEMBLY, No. 2125
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED JUNE 3, 1996
By Assemblymen WEINGARTEN, DeCROCE, Gibson, O'Toole, Wolfe, Holzapfel, Bodine, Augustine, Bagger, Kelly, Bateman, Garrett, Kramer, Carroll, Felice, Assemblywoman Wright, Assemblyman Zecker and Assemblywoman Crecco
An Act concerning the emissions testing of motor vehicles and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that the State emissions testing program for motor vehicles, required pursuant to the federal "Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990," 42 U.S.C.§7503 et al., and authorized pursuant to the "Federal Clean Air Mandate Compliance Act," P.L.1995, c.112 (C.39:8-41 et al.), is scheduled to be fully implemented on January 1, 1998 but very little information is available concerning the actual impact the program will have on motor vehicle owners; that the State is committed to improving and preserving the environment and reducing air pollution, but the State believes it is necessary to assess and examine the practicality of the emissions testing program established by federal and State law before proceeding to full implementation of the program; that the public is very concerned about the economic and personal impact the program will have on individual motor vehicle owners and its fiscal implications for the State; that the Legislature does not intend and does not wish that individual motor vehicles be denied motor vehicle registration indiscriminately by an unnecessarily burdensome or stringent inspection and maintenance program for motor vehicles; that the federal government has given the State an excellent opportunity to revise and assess the proposed enhanced emissions testing program during the interim testing period prior to the final approval of the program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; that the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation is currently collecting data that would serve to assess some of the impact of the program and the United States Environmental Protection Agency is requiring the Division of Motor Vehicles to collect and submit other data pursuant to federal law that would serve to further assess the impact of the program; and that it is fitting, proper and prudent for the State to have actual data on the impact of the proposed program and assess the impact of the program based on this data prior to full implementation of the enhanced emissions testing program.
b. The Legislature therefore determines that the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation should collect data concerning emissions failures and the repairability of motor vehicles by model year during the interim period prior to final federal approval of the emissions testing program, and submit this data to the Governor and the Legislature along with its recommendations for further negotiations with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, needed action on the part of the State Congressional delegation to further change federal law, or possible action by the Governor and Legislature to further modify the program.
2. For the purposes of this act:
"Basic emissions testing" means the emissions test that measures emissions released from a motor vehicle while it is idling and the emissions test implemented by the Division of Motor Vehicles prior to the implementation of enhanced emissions testing;
"Centralized enhanced emissions testing" means enhanced emissions testing conducted by the State or a contracted private vendor in specific locations throughout the State, and shall not include enhanced emissions testing by private inspection facilities, individual mechanics or private garages;
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles;
"Division" means the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation;
"Emissions failure" means exceedance of the standards for acceptable levels of emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and other regulated emissions for the model year of motor vehicle being tested, as established by rule or regulation by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to P.L.1995, c.112 and the federal rules or regulations adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency that establish cut points and standards for emissions testing;
"Enhanced emissions testing" means testing of emissions released from motor vehicles pursuant to the regulations adopted pursuant to P.L.1995, c.112 (C.39:8-41 et al.) to comply with the federal requirement to implement an enhanced inspection and maintenance program for motor vehicles, and using an ASM 50/15 test or other test approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and authorized by State law for the implementation of an enhanced inspection and maintenance program for motor vehicles;
"Enhanced inspection and maintenance program" means an emissions inspection program for motor vehicles that may affect the registration or certification of motor vehicles for legal operation in a state, that complies with federal requirements for the inspection and registration of motor vehicles established by the federal "Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990," 42 U.S.C.§7403 et al., and the federal rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and that is approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for implementation in states required by federal law to implement an enhanced program to reduce pollution from in-use motor vehicles in part of the state or statewide, either during the interim testing period or after the close of that period;
"Interim testing period" means the 18-month period following the United States Environmental Protection Agency interim approval of the State revision to the State implementation plan submitted by March 27, 1996, during which time the State is required to begin implementation of its proposed enhanced inspection and maintenance program and collect data on the actual emissions levels and rates of failure from motor vehicles tested;
"Reparability" means the ability of a motor vehicle to be repaired sufficiently to pass the State enhanced emissions testing or basic emissions testing as indicated by model year and State regulation, and be registered in the State.
3. a. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall collect, or shall require the vendor operating the centralized enhanced emissions testing to collect, for no less than six months during the interim testing period emissions failure and repairability data by model year on motor vehicles tested under the enhanced emissions testing program during the interim testing period.
b. The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall report to the Governor and the Legislature within three months of the close of the interim testing period the data collected and, based on the data, recommendations for any negotiations with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, action to be taken by the State Congressional delegation, or action to be taken by the Governor and the Legislature for further modifications to the enhanced inspection and maintenance program. The data presented in the report shall be provided in such a way as to assist the Legislature in understanding the implementation of the program and its impact, and to allow for the Legislature to conduct its own review and assessment of the data and determine its own recommendations for further modifications to the enhanced inspection and maintenance program.
c. The report required pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall include, but not be limited to, a compilation and analysis of the number of motor vehicles by model year failing the enhanced emissions testing, the number of motor vehicles by model year failing both the enhanced emissions testing and the basic emissions testing, the percentage increase or decrease by model year of emissions failures due to the use of the enhanced emissions testing, any data and analysis submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency concerning the functioning of the enhanced emissions testing or the enhanced inspection and maintenance program, the average cost of repair by model year for motor vehicles failing the enhanced emissions testing, the average cost of repair by model year for motor vehicles failing the basic emissions testing, the average cost of repair by model year for motor vehicles failing both the enhanced emissions testing and the basic emissions testing, and, of the motor vehicles repaired and retested, the percentage and actual numbers of motor vehicles by model year that could not pass the enhanced emissions testing after repair. The report shall also include the results and analysis of the repairability study conducted by the division in conjunction with the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
4. a. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall provide, or shall require the vendor operating the centralized enhanced emissions testing to provide, diagnostic personnel and, to the extent available, diagnostic equipment, that are capable of assessing the possible reasons for emissions failure, the repair required, and the average cost of such repairs. The diagnostic personnel and equipment shall be provided as part of the staffing of the emissions testing lanes and shall not be incremental to the initial personnel or equipment provided for the implementation of the enhanced inspection and maintenance program during the interim testing period. The diagnostic personnel shall assess the possible reasons for emissions failure, the repair required, the average cost of repairs for each emissions failure for motor vehicles subjected to the enhanced emissions testing, and shall record the assessments made by model year of motor vehicle. The personnel required pursuant to this subsection shall be provided at the number testing lanes throughout the State necessary to obtain a statistically representative sample of motor vehicles tested, as determined by the director.
b. The director shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations establishing a method of data collection and record keeping for collecting the data required pursuant to section 2 of this act and the repairability data on motor vehicles failing the basic emissions testing, including the repair required and the average cost of repairs. The regulations shall also require private inspection facilities and persons licensed to repair motor vehicles in the State to collect and record the data in accordance with the rules and regulations. The director may also adopt rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Division of Motor Vehicles, or the vendor selected to operate the centralized enhanced emissions testing in the State, to collect for a minimum of six months data on the emissions failure and repairability of motor vehicles tested under the enhanced inspection and maintenance program. The bill further requires the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles to report within three months this data and, based on the data, recommendations for negotiations with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, action by the State Congressional delegation, or action to be taken by the Governor and the Legislature to further modify the proposed enhanced inspection and maintenance program. The bill requires diagnostic personnel to be provided as part of the initial staffing of the implementing of the enhanced inspection and maintenance program. The diagnostic personnel shall collect repairability data at the number of lanes necessary to obtain a statistically representative sample of motor vehicles tested, as determined by the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Finally, the bill directs the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles to establish by regulation a method of collecting repairability data on motor vehicles failing the basic emissions testing, provide for private inspection facilities to collect and provide this data, and adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement the act.
This bill is being introduced in response to public concern about the economic and personal impact the enhanced inspection and maintenance program will have on individual motor vehicle owners and its fiscal implications for the State. The bill is intended to allow the State to assess the practicality of the proposed enhanced inspection and maintenance program for motor vehicles prior to full implementation. It is not intended to undermine the goals of improving and preserving the environment or reducing air pollution. Also, the bill is intended to require the use of personnel and equipment that would be employed for the implementation of the enhanced inspection and maintenance program and is not intended to increase the personnel or equipment costs of implementing the program.
Requires DMV to collect certain data on emissions-tested motor vehicles and report data and recommendations for modification of emissions testing program to Governor and Legislature.