Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LEGISLATIVE GENERAL COUNSEL                                                  H.B. 95
Approved for Filing: K.P. Gasser 6
          6 12-22-22 3:53 PM 6
                            NOISE POLLUTION AMENDMENTS
                                      2023 GENERAL SESSION
                                           STATE OF UTAH
                              Chief Sponsor: Gay Lynn Bennion
                                 Senate Sponsor: ____________
 6
 LONG TITLE
 General Description:
        This bill requires an inspection of noise suppression equipment at the time of a vehicle
 emissions inspection as a prerequisite to registration of a motor vehicle.
 Highlighted Provisions:
        This bill:
        < requires vehicles subject to an emissions inspection to be inspected for compliance
 with noise suppression equipment requirements;
        < requires proof of the inspection as a condition of registration; and
        < makes technical changes.
 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
        None
 Other Special Clauses:
        This bill provides a special effective date.
 Utah Code Sections Affected:
 AMENDS:
        41-6a-1626, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 282
        41-6a-1642, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapters 160, 259
25
                                                                                                       H.B. 95
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
        Section 1. Section 41-6a-1626 is amended to read:
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        41-6a-1626. Mufflers -- Prevention of noise, smoke, and fumes -- Air pollution
 control devices.
        (1) (a) A vehicle shall be equipped, maintained, and operated to prevent excessive or
 unusual noise.
        (b) A motor vehicle shall be equipped with a muffler or other effective noise
 suppressing system in good working order and in constant operation.
        (c) A person may not use a muffler cut-out, bypass, or similar device on a vehicle.
        (d) As part of an emissions inspection described in Section 41-6a-1642, an emissions
 inspection station shall inspect each motor vehicle subject to an emissions inspection to ensure
 compliance with the noise prevention equipment requirements in this section.
        (2) (a) Except while the engine is being warmed to the recommended operating
 temperature, the engine and power mechanism of a gasoline-powered motor vehicle may not
 emit visible contaminants during operation.
        (b) (i) As used in this Subsection (2)(b), "heavy tow" means a tow that exceeds the
 vehicle's maximum tow weight.
        (ii) A diesel engine manufactured on or after January 1, 2008, may not emit visible
 contaminants during operation:
        (A) except while the engine is being warmed to the recommended operating
 temperature or under a heavy tow; or
        (B) unless the diesel engine is in a vehicle with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight
 rating in excess of 26,000 pounds.
        (iii) A diesel engine manufactured before January 1, 2008, may not emit visible
 contaminants of a shade or density that obscures a contrasting background by more than 20%,
 for more than five consecutive seconds:
        (A) except while the engine is being warmed to the recommended operating
 temperature or under a heavy tow; or
        (B) unless the diesel engine is in a vehicle with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight
 rating in excess of 26,000 pounds.
        (c) A person who violates the provisions of Subsection (2)(a) is guilty of an infraction
 and shall be fined:
        (i) not less than $50 for a violation; or
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          (ii) not less than $100 for a second or subsequent violation within three years of a
 previous violation of this section.
          (d) A person who violates the provisions of Subsection (2)(b) is guilty of an infraction
 and shall be fined:
          (i) not less than $100 for a violation; or
          (ii) not less than $500 for a second or subsequent violation within three years of a
 previous violation of this section.
          (e) (i) As used in this section:
          (A) "Local health department" means the same as that term is defined in Section
 26A-1-102.
          (B) "Nonattainment area" means a part of the state where air quality is determined to
 exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, as defined in the Clean Air Act
 Amendments of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-604, Sec. 109, for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5).
          (ii) Within a nonattainment area, for a second or subsequent violation of Subsection
 (2)(a) or (2)(b), the court shall report the violations to the local health department at a regular
 interval.
          (iii) If the local health department receives a notification as described in Subsection
 (2)(e)(ii), and the local health department determines that the registered vehicle is unable to
 meet state or local air emission standards, the local health department shall send notification to
 the Motor Vehicle Division.
          (3) (a) If a motor vehicle is equipped by a manufacturer with air pollution control
 devices, the devices shall be maintained in good working order and in constant operation.
          (b) For purposes of the first sale of a vehicle at retail, an air pollution control device
 may be substituted for the manufacturer's original device if the substituted device is at least as
 effective in the reduction of emissions from the vehicle motor as the air pollution control
 device furnished by the manufacturer of the vehicle as standard equipment for the same vehicle
 class.
          (c) A person who renders inoperable an air pollution control device on a motor vehicle
 is guilty of an infraction.
          (4) Subsection (3) does not apply to a motor vehicle altered and modified to use clean
 fuel, as defined under Section 59-13-102, when the emissions from the modified or altered
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 motor vehicle are at levels that comply with existing state or federal standards for the emission
 of pollutants from a motor vehicle of the same class.
        (5) A violation of Subsection (1), (2), or (3) is an infraction.
        Section 2. Section 41-6a-1642 is amended to read:
        41-6a-1642. Emissions inspection -- County program.
        (1) The legislative body of each county required under federal law to utilize a motor
 vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program or in which an emissions inspection
 and maintenance program is necessary to attain or maintain any national ambient air quality
 standard shall require:
        (a) a certificate of emissions inspection, a waiver, or other evidence the motor vehicle
 is exempt from emissions inspection and maintenance program requirements be presented:
        (i) as a condition of registration or renewal of registration; and
        (ii) at other times as the county legislative body may require to enforce inspection
 requirements for individual motor vehicles, except that the county legislative body may not
 routinely require a certificate of emissions inspection, or waiver of the certificate, more often
 than required under Subsection (9); and
        (b) compliance with this section for a motor vehicle registered or principally operated
 in the county and owned by or being used by a department, division, instrumentality, agency, or
 employee of:
        (i) the federal government;
        (ii) the state and any of its agencies; or
        (iii) a political subdivision of the state, including school districts.
        (2) A vehicle owner subject to Subsection (1) shall obtain a motor vehicle emissions
 inspection and maintenance program certificate of emissions inspection as described in
 Subsection (1), but the program may not deny vehicle registration based solely on the presence
 of a defeat device covered in the Volkswagen partial consent decrees or a United States
 Environmental Protection Agency-approved vehicle modification in the following vehicles:
        (a) a 2.0-liter diesel engine motor vehicle in which its lifetime nitrogen oxide
 emissions are mitigated in the state pursuant to a partial consent decree, including:
        (i) Volkswagen Jetta, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015;
        (ii) Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and
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 2014;
         (iii) Volkswagen Golf, model years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015;
         (iv) Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen, model year 2015;
         (v) Volkswagen Passat, model years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015;
         (vi) Volkswagen Beetle, model years 2013, 2014, and 2015;
         (vii) Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, model years 2013, 2014, and 2015; and
         (viii) Audi A3, model years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015; and
         (b) a 3.0-liter diesel engine motor vehicle in which its lifetime nitrogen oxide
 emissions are mitigated in the state to a settlement, including:
         (i) Volkswagen Touareg, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and
 2016;
         (ii) Audi Q7, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016;
         (iii) Audi A6 Quattro, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
         (iv) Audi A7 Quattro, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
         (v) Audi A8, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
         (vi) Audi A8L, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
         (vii) Audi Q5, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016; and
         (viii) Porsche Cayenne Diesel, model years 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
         (3) (a) The legislative body of a county identified in Subsection (1), in consultation
 with the Air Quality Board created under Section 19-1-106, shall make regulations or
 ordinances regarding:
         (i) emissions standards;
         (ii) test procedures;
         (iii) inspections stations;
         (iv) repair requirements and dollar limits for correction of deficiencies; and
         (v) certificates of emissions inspections.
         (b) In accordance with Subsection (3)(a), a county legislative body:
         (i) shall make regulations or ordinances to attain or maintain ambient air quality
 standards in the county, consistent with the state implementation plan and federal
 requirements;
         (ii) may allow for a phase-in of the program by geographical area; and
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        (iii) shall comply with the analyzer design and certification requirements contained in
 the state implementation plan prepared under Title 19, Chapter 2, Air Conservation Act.
        (c) The county legislative body and the Air Quality Board shall give preference to an
 inspection and maintenance program that:
        (i) is decentralized, to the extent the decentralized program will attain and maintain
 ambient air quality standards and meet federal requirements;
        (ii) is the most cost effective means to achieve and maintain the maximum benefit with
 regard to ambient air quality standards and to meet federal air quality requirements as related to
 vehicle emissions; and
        (iii) provides a reasonable phase-out period for replacement of air pollution emission
 testing equipment made obsolete by the program.
        (d) The provisions of Subsection (3)(c)(iii) apply only to the extent the phase-out:
        (i) may be accomplished in accordance with applicable federal requirements; and
        (ii) does not otherwise interfere with the attainment and maintenance of ambient air
 quality standards.
        (4) The following vehicles are exempt from an emissions inspection program and the
 provisions of this section:
        (a) an implement of husbandry as defined in Section 41-1a-102;
        (b) a motor vehicle that:
        (i) meets the definition of a farm truck under Section 41-1a-102; and
        (ii) has a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,001 pounds or more;
        (c) a vintage vehicle as defined in Section 41-21-1:
        (i) if the vintage vehicle has a model year of 1980 or older; or
        (ii) for a vintage vehicle that has a model year of 1981 or newer, if the owner provides
 proof of vehicle insurance that is a type specific to a vehicle collector;
        (d) a custom vehicle as defined in Section 41-6a-1507;
        (e) to the extent allowed under the current federally approved state implementation
 plan, in accordance with the federal Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401, et seq., a motor
 vehicle that is less than two years old on January 1 based on the age of the vehicle as
 determined by the model year identified by the manufacturer;
        (f) a pickup truck, as defined in Section 41-1a-102, with a gross vehicle weight rating
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 of 12,000 pounds or less, if the registered owner of the pickup truck provides a signed
 statement to the legislative body stating the truck is used:
        (i) by the owner or operator of a farm located on property that qualifies as land in
 agricultural use under Sections 59-2-502 and 59-2-503; and
        (ii) exclusively for the following purposes in operating the farm:
        (A) for the transportation of farm products, including livestock and its products,
 poultry and its products, floricultural and horticultural products; and
        (B) in the transportation of farm supplies, including tile, fence, and every other thing or
 commodity used in agricultural, floricultural, horticultural, livestock, and poultry production
 and maintenance;
        (g) a motorcycle as defined in Section 41-1a-102;
        (h) an electric motor vehicle as defined in Section 41-1a-102; and
        (i) a motor vehicle with a model year of 1967 or older.
        (5) The county shall issue to the registered owner who signs and submits a signed
 statement under Subsection (4)(f) a certificate of exemption from emissions inspection
 requirements for purposes of registering the exempt vehicle.
        (6) A legislative body of a county described in Subsection (1) may exempt from an
 emissions inspection program a diesel-powered motor vehicle with a:
        (a) gross vehicle weight rating of more than 14,000 pounds; or
        (b) model year of 1997 or older.
        (7) The legislative body of a county required under federal law to utilize a motor
 vehicle emissions inspection program shall require:
        (a) a computerized emissions inspection for a diesel-powered motor vehicle that has:
        (i) a model year of 2007 or newer;
        (ii) a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds or less; and
        (iii) a model year that is five years old or older; and
        (b) a visual inspection of emissions equipment for a diesel-powered motor vehicle:
        (i) with a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds or less;
        (ii) that has a model year of 1998 or newer; and
        (iii) that has a model year that is five years old or older.
        (8) (a) Subject to Subsection (8)(c), the legislative body of each county required under
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 federal law to utilize a motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program or in
 which an emissions inspection and maintenance program is necessary to attain or maintain any
 national ambient air quality standard may require each college or university located in a county
 subject to this section to require its students and employees who park a motor vehicle not
 registered in a county subject to this section to provide proof of compliance with an emissions
 inspection accepted by the county legislative body if the motor vehicle is parked on the college
 or university campus or property.
        (b) College or university parking areas that are metered or for which payment is
 required per use are not subject to the requirements of this Subsection (8).
        (c) The legislative body of a county shall make the reasons for implementing the
 provisions of this Subsection (8) part of the record at the time that the county legislative body
 takes its official action to implement the provisions of this Subsection (8).
        (9) (a) An emissions inspection station shall issue a certificate of emissions inspection
 for each motor vehicle that meets the inspection and maintenance program requirements
 established in [regulations or] Section 41-6a-1626 and in rules or ordinances made under
 Subsection (3).
        (b) The frequency of the emissions inspection shall be determined based on the age of
 the vehicle as determined by model year and shall be required annually subject to the