SB 5778 — Addressing the current backlog of vehicle inspections.

S-5351.1S-3493.1 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5778 State of Washington 67th Legislature 2022 Regular Session By Senate Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Braun, Honeyford, Lovick, Padden, Short, and J.

Wilson)Wilson READRead FIRSTfirst TIMEtime 03/07/22.01/11/22.

Referred to Committee on Transportation.

and amending RCW 46.12.56046.12.560. and 46.68.410;

adding a new section to chapter 46.09 RCW;

creating a new section;

providing an effective date;

and providing an expiration date.

(1)(a) ((Before))Before Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, before accepting an application for a certificate of title, the department, county auditor or other agent, or subagent appointed by the director shall require an applicant to provide a certificate of vehicle inspection completed by the Washington state patrol or other authorized inspector if the vehicle:

or (iii) Is presented with documents from another state showing that the vehicle was a total loss or salvage vehicle and has not been p.reissued a valid registration certificate from that state after the declaration of total loss or salvage.

1p. SSB 5778 reissued a valid registration certificate from that state after the declaration of total loss or salvage.

1 SB 5778 (b) A vehicle presented for inspection must have all damaged major component parts replaced or repaired to meet all requirements in law and rule before the Washington state patrol will inspect the vehicle.

(c) A Washington state patrol vehicle identification number specialist or other authorized inspector must ensure that all major component parts used for the reconstruction of a salvage or rebuilt vehicle were obtained legally, and must securely attach a marking at the driver's door latch pillar indicating the vehicle was previously destroyed or declared a total loss.

p.(iii) The date of sale;

2 SSB 5778 (iii) The date of sale;

(3)p. A person presenting a vehicle for inspection under this section who is unable to provide an acceptable release of interest or proof of ownership for a vehicle or major component part as described in this section shall apply for an ownership in doubt application described in RCW 46.12.680.

(4)2 All-terrainSB vehicles,5778 wheeled(3) all-terrainA vehicles,person andpresenting utility-typea vehiclesvehicle arefor exemptinspection fromunder thethis vehiclesection identificationwho numberis inspectionunable requiredto inprovide subsectionsan (1)acceptable throughrelease (3)of interest or proof of ownership for a vehicle or major component part as described in this section.section shall apply for an ownership in doubt application described in RCW 46.12.680.

(5)(a)(4)(a) Before accepting an application for a certificate of title, the department, county auditor or other agent, or subagent appointed by the director shall require an applicant to provide a certificate of vehicle inspection completed by the Washington state patrol or other authorized inspector when the application is for a vehicle being titled for the first time as:

(((5)))(5)(a) (6)(a) Before accepting an application for a certificate of title, the department, county auditor or other agent, or subagent appointed by the director shall require an applicant to provide a certificate of vehicle inspection completed by the Washington state patrol when the application is for a vehicle with a vehicle identification number that has been:

p.(b) The application must include payment of the fee required in RCW 46.17.135.

3 SSB 5778 (b) The application must include payment of the fee required in RCW 46.17.135.

(d) The department shall use the new vehicle identification number assigned by the Washington state patrol as the official vehicle identification number assigned to the vehicle.

(((6))) (7) The department may adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.

Sec.

2.

A new section is added to chapter 46.09 RCW to read as follows:

Vehicles titled under this chapter are exempt from the vehicle identification number inspection required in RCW 46.12.560.

NEW SECTION.

Sec.

3.

(1) The Washington state patrol and the department of licensing, in collaboration with an outside consultant, must examine the vehicle identification number inspection program and make recommendations for improvements to the program, including the timeliness of completed inspections.

The study must:

(a) Review current underlying statutes and compare with best practices of other states;

(b) Examine the types of statutorily and administratively required inspections, and prioritize to ones that have a direct impact on public safety and actually reduce the number of stolen vehicles and parts in the state;

(c) Recommend changes to the existing program to increase financial sustainability, customer satisfaction, and the overall efficiency of the program;

and (d) Identify staffing and technology needs to optimize service delivery, including improved inspection scheduling and completions.

(2)(a) The Washington state patrol and the department of licensing must jointly provide a preliminary report of their findings and recommendations to the joint transportation committee by November 1, 2022.

(b) The Washington state patrol and the department of licensing must jointly submit a final report of their findings and recommendations to the governor and the transportation committees of the legislature by January 1, 2023.

43 SSBSB 5778 (3)(d) ThisThe sectiondepartment expiresshall Januaryuse 2,the 2023.new vehicle identification number assigned by the Washington state patrol as the official vehicle identification number assigned to the vehicle.