Sec. 382.207. INSPECTION STATIONS; QUALITY CONTROL AUDITS. (a) The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas by rule shall adopt standards and procedures for establishing vehicle emissions inspection stations authorized and licensed by the state.

(b) A vehicle emissions inspection may be performed at a decentralized independent inspection station or at a centralized inspection facility operated or licensed by the state. In developing the program for vehicle emissions inspections, the Department of Public Safety shall make all reasonable efforts to preserve the present decentralized system.

(c) After consultation with the Texas Department of Transportation, the commission shall require state and local transportation planning entities designated by the commission to prepare long-term projections of the combined impact of significant planned transportation system changes on emissions and air quality. The projections shall be prepared using air pollution estimation methodologies established jointly by the commission and the Texas Department of Transportation. This subsection does not restrict the Texas Department of Transportation's function as the transportation planning body for the state or its role in identifying and initiating specific transportation-related projects in the state.

(d) The Department of Public Safety may authorize enforcement personnel or other individuals to remove, disconnect, adjust, or make inoperable vehicle emissions control equipment, devices, or systems and to operate a vehicle in the tampered condition in order to perform a quality control audit of an inspection station or other quality control activities as necessary to assess and ensure the effectiveness of the vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program.

(e) The Department of Public Safety shall develop a challenge station program to provide for the reinspection of a motor vehicle at the option of the owner of the vehicle to ensure quality control of a vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance system.

(f) The commission may contract with one or more private entities to operate a program established under this section.

(g) In addition to other procedures established by the commission, the commission shall establish procedures by which a private entity with whom the commission has entered into a contract to operate a program established under this section may agree to perform:

(1) testing at a fleet facility or dealership using mobile test equipment;

(2) testing at a fleet facility or dealership using test equipment owned by the fleet or dealership but calibrated and operated by the private entity's personnel; or

(3) testing at a fleet facility or dealership using test equipment owned and operated by the private entity and installed at the fleet or dealership facility.

(h) The fee for a test conducted as provided by Subsection (g) shall be set by the commission in an amount not to exceed twice the fee otherwise provided by law or by rule of the commission. An appropriate portion of the fee, as determined by the commission, may be remitted by the private entity to the fleet facility or dealership.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 2.26, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 547, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 34, Sec. 3, eff. May 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.158, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 22(41), eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Renumbered from Sec. 382.038 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1075, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.