H. B. 2139
(By Delegate Mezzatesta)
[Introduced January 13, 1999; 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, all
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, all 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 the 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 the 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
the 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 the station operator or employees thereof.
The superintendent shall properly supervise and cause
inspections to be made of such the 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 the 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 may 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 the 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 the certificate, but the imposition of such
the charge shall not be is not 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.