1. (a) General. 37 TAC §23.93(j)(1)(G) of this title (relating to Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Program) requires that all public certified emissions inspection stations offer both Acceleration Simulation Mode 2 (ASM2) and On-Board Diagnostic II (ODBII) vehicle emissions tests. This section provides the requirements, application procedures, and the limitations of the low volume waiver provided by 37 TAC §23.93 (relating to Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Program). This waiver allows a public certified inspection station to perform limited state required vehicle emission testing on 1996 and newer model year vehicles using department approved OBDII testing equipment. Government and fleet inspection stations do not require this waiver.

2. (b) Limitations of low volume waiver.

   1. (1) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, under no circumstance shall an inspection station, public, government or fleet, operating with only OBDII test equipment issue an inspection certificate to a "designated vehicle" as defined in 37 TAC §23.93 of this title (relating to Vehicle Inspection Emissions and Maintenance Program) which is model year 1995 and older.
   2. (2) An inspection station operating under a low volume waiver is limited to performing 1200 emission inspections per year. This limitation is achieved through the OBD analyzer software and the vehicle inspection database contractor. Each month, the inspection station is allocated 100 emission tests. After the monthly test allocation of the station has been used, no more inspections will be allowed until the next month. In the event that the station performs less than 100 emission tests, the remaining number will carry over to the next month. The annual waiver limit number will be automatically reset each January with no carry over from the previous year.

3. (c) Applications for waiver.

   1. (1) New inspection station applications shall follow the procedures in 37 TAC §23.1 of this title (relating to New Applications) with the addition that the application form be annotated with "LOW VOLUME WAIVER - OBD ONLY" at the top of the form. New applicants will include written acknowledgement of limitation of low volume waiver as indicated in paragraph (2)(G) of this subsection.

   2. (2) Owners or operators of currently certified emission inspection stations shall request this waiver by letter or fax to the local department Regional Supervisor. This written correspondence must include the following:

      1. (A) Station name,
      2. (B) Physical address of the station,
      3. (C) Mailing address of the station,
      4. (D) Station number,
      5. (E) Signature of the station owner or operator,
      6. (F) Copy of purchase order or receipt for state approved OBDII only emission testing equipment, and
      7. (G) Signatory's statement acknowledging the limitations of low volume waiver. This statement shall read as follows: "I understand the conditions and limitations of being granted a low volume, OBD only emissions inspection station waiver. I agree to the limitation of 1200 annual emissions tests per year and agree to the 100 monthly emission test limit. I agree this inspection station shall not issue certificates to other than 1996 and newer model year designated vehicles. I understand and agree that violating the terms of this waiver shall result in the suspension and/or revocation of this station's certification."
   3. (3) The local Regional Supervisor will objectively review each application. After review, the Regional Supervisor shall indicate approval or disapproval by endorsement, with a copy provided to the requesting inspection station and the departmental file on the station. If disapproved, the Regional Supervisor must provide reasons for the department's denial of the waiver.
4. (d) In order to encourage a stable and viable program for providing emissions testing to the public in all areas of an affected county, the department will review the annual low volume waiver and monthly test number limitations on a regular basis and revise these number limits accordingly.
5. (e) This waiver is not available for inspection stations in El Paso County.

Source Note:The provisions of this §23.95 adopted to be effective April 22, 2002, 27 TexReg 3365.