H. B. 4279
(By Delegates Mezzatesta and Michael)
[Introduced February 5, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections four, five and six, article
sixteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating
to inspections of motor vehicles; increasing fees for
inspection stickers; and exempting from the inspection
requirement vehicles with an odometer reading of fifty
thousand or fewer miles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections four, five and six, article sixteen, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 16. INSPECTION OF VEHICLES.
§17C-16-4. Commissioner to require periodical inspection; acceptance of certificate of inspection from another state; suspension of registration of unsafe vehicles.
(a) The commissioner of motor vehicles shall once each year
require that every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole
trailer registered in this state and having an odometer reading
of more than fifty thousand miles, be inspected and that an
official certificate of inspection and approval be obtained for
each such vehicle.
Such inspections shall be made and such certificates
obtained with respect to the mechanism, brakes, and equipment of
every such vehicle as shall be designated by the commissioner.
The commissioner is hereby authorized to make necessary
rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of
this section and to designate any period or periods of time
during which owners of any vehicles, subject to this section,
shall display upon such vehicles certificates of inspection and
approval or shall produce the same upon demand of any officer or
employee of the department designated by the commissioner or any
police or peace officer when authorized by the commissioner.
(b) The commissioner may authorize the acceptance in this
state of a certificate of inspection and approval issued in
another state having an inspection law similar to this chapter and may extend the time within which a certificate shall be
obtained by the resident owner of a vehicle which was not in this
state during the time an inspection was required.
(c) The commissioner may suspend the registration of any
vehicle which he or she determines is in such unsafe condition as
to constitute a menace to safety or which after notice and demand
is not equipped as required in this chapter or for which a
required certificate has not been obtained.
§17C-16-5. Permit for official inspection stations; fees for and
certificate of inspection.
The superintendent of the department of public safety state
police shall be responsible for the inspection as provided in
this article and shall prescribe requirements and qualifications
for official inspection stations. He or she shall select and
designate such stations and shall issue permits therefor and
furnish instructions and all necessary forms thereto for the
inspection of vehicles as herein required and the issuance of
official certificates of inspection and approval. The
certificate of inspection shall be a paper sticker or decal to be
affixed to the windshield of a motor vehicle, shall be serially
numbered and shall properly identify the official inspection
station by which issued. A charge of one dollar two dollars per
sticker shall be charged by the department of public safety state police to the inspection station, and the funds so received shall
be deposited into the state treasury and credited to the account
of the department of public safety state police for application
in the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this
article. Any balance remaining in the fund on the last day of
June of each fiscal year, not required for operating expenses,
construction, repairs or alterations of police barracks for the
ensuing fiscal year and for the administration and enforcement of
the provisions of this article, shall be transferred to the state
road fund. The superintendent is authorized to exchange stickers
or to make refunds to official inspection stations for stickers
on hand when permits are revoked or when, for any reason, the
stickers become obsolete.
Application for permit shall be made upon an official form
prescribed by the superintendent and permits shall be granted
only when the superintendent is satisfied that the station is
properly equipped, and has competent personnel to make such
inspections and adjustments and that the inspections and
adjustments will be properly conducted. The superintendent,
before issuing a permit, may require the applicant to file a bond
with surety approved by the superintendent, conditioned that such
applicant, as a station operator, will make compensation for any
damage to a vehicle during an inspection or adjustment due to negligence on the part of such station operator or employees
thereof.
The superintendent shall properly supervise and cause
inspections to be made of such stations. Upon finding that a
station is not properly equipped or conducted, the superintendent
may, upon a first violation, suspend the permit for a period of
up to one year. Upon a second or subsequent finding that a
station is not properly equipped or conducted, the superintendent
shall permanently revoke and require the surrender of the permit.
The superintendent may reinstate the permit of any person whose
permit was permanently revoked prior to the effective date of
this section upon a first finding that a station was not properly
equipped or conducted, upon application, at any time after the
expiration of six months from the time of revocation, and shall
reinstate such permit, upon application, after the expiration of
one year. He or she shall maintain and post at his or her office
and at such other places as he or she may select lists of all
stations holding permits and of those whose permits have been
suspended or revoked.
§17C-16-6. Assignment, transfer and posting of official
inspection station permit; issuance and record
of certificate of inspection; inspection fee.
No permit for an official inspection station shall be assigned or transferred or used at any location other than
therein designated and every said permit shall be posted in a
conspicuous place at the station location designated.
The person operating any such station shall issue a
certificate of inspection and approval, upon an official form, to
the owner of a vehicle upon inspecting such vehicle and
determining that its equipment required hereunder is in good
condition and proper adjustment, but otherwise no certificate
shall be issued, except such as may be issued pursuant to section
two of this article. When required by the superintendent, a
record and report shall be made of every inspection and every
certificate so issued.
A fee of not more than seven fifteen dollars may be charged
for an inspection and any necessary headlight adjustment to
proper focus, not including any replacement parts required, and
the issuance of such certificate, but the imposition of such
charge shall not be mandatory.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the fees for
inspection stickers and inspections of motor vehicles; and to
eliminate the inspection requirement for vehicles with fifty
thousand or fewer miles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.