Senate Transportation sends agency a plan to study biennial inspections, MBUF integration

The Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 24 directed state agencies to produce a plan — rather than immediately change law — for moving passenger-vehicle safety and emissions inspections to once every two years, with a target implementation date of Jan. 1, 2028.

Damien Leonard of the Office of Legislative Council told the committee the draft directs "the Secretaries of Transportation and Natural Resources to develop a plan in transition to a safety and emissions inspection program that requires pleasure cars to be inspected once every 2 years beginning in January 2028." Leonard said the plan would include a timeline, any Clean Air Act implications, options to mitigate revenue impacts and an outreach program for mechanics, inspection stations and vehicle owners. It would also identify statutes or rules needing change and integrate the change with the mileage-based user fee (MBUF).

The committee set a reporting deadline of Oct. 15 for the agencies to submit the plan and recommendations to both the Senate Transportation and Senate Natural Resources committees and to the House Transportation and Environment committees so any legislation could be drafted ahead of next year’s session.

Members repeatedly emphasized the difference between asking for a plan and adopting an immediate statutory change. One senator said the working draft intentionally framed the measure as a directive to prepare options rather than an immediate effective date, while noting the underlying S.02/11 could include an effective date if the committee chooses. Leonard said the draft omitted explicit MBUF integration in an earlier version and that language will be added in the next revision.

Lawmakers pressed the agencies to address several specific points in the plan. They asked the agencies to:

- outline fee structures and proposed mitigation options so that inspection changes do not create abrupt cost shifts for vehicle owners; committee members noted earlier drafts had an example where per-inspection fees doubled (from $8 to $16) under biennial schedules and warned against much larger increases; - identify vehicle types that should remain on an annual cycle (for example, school buses), and include options for differential frequencies or fees; - list any Clean Air Act or state implementation plan constraints that could prevent moving emissions testing to a two-year cadence, and present options for addressing those stumbling blocks; and - conduct stakeholder engagement with inspection stations, mechanics, dealers, insurers and other interested parties and report back on the outcome.

Committee members asked for insurer data and testimony about whether periodic inspections measurably improve safety; one member said, "Insurance companies have a lot of good information ... they know trends ... they know about safety" and asked that insurers be invited to provide evidence to the committee.

The chair said the committee will take up the item again Wednesday, decide whether to place the language inside the miscellaneous DMV bill or handle S.02/11 separately, and aim to have language to vote on by Friday so the bill can clear crossover deadlines. "My goal would be that we get this DMV built out of here, tomorrow," the chair said, noting the draft is intended to provoke discussion and that the committee may refine direction after hearing more testimony.

Next steps: agencies must integrate feedback from this hearing into a revised draft, add the MBUF integration language, and provide the Oct. 15 report; the committee will reconvene to consider testimony and vote on the language.