S 211 — An act relating to motor vehicle inspections

BILL AS INTRODUCED AND PASSED BY SENATE S.211 Page 1 of 34 S.211 AnIntroduced actby relatingSenators toWhite, motorBaruth, vehicleGulick, inspectionsHardy, ItHashim, isLyons, herebyRam enactedHinsdale, byVyhovsky, theWeeks Generaland AssemblyWestman ofReferred theto StateCommittee ofon Vermont:Transportation Date:

January 7, 2026 Subject:

Motor vehicles;

operation;

equipment;

inspections Statement of purpose of bill as introduced:

This bill proposes to require that motor vehicles be inspected every two years.

An act relating to motor vehicle inspections It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:

23 V.S.A.

§ 1222 is amended to read:

§ 1222.

INSPECTION OF REGISTERED VEHICLES (a) Except for school buses, which shall be inspected as prescribed in section 1282 of this title, and motor buses as defined in subdivision 4(17) of this title, which shall be inspected twice during the calendar year at six-month intervals, all motor vehicles registered in this State shall undergo a safety and visual emissions inspection once each year every two years and all motor vehicles that are registered in this State and are 16 model years old or less shall undergo an emissions or on board on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems BILL AS INTRODUCED AND PASSED BY SENATE S.211 Page 2 of 4 inspection once each year every two years as applicable.

Any motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer not currently inspected in this State shall be inspected within 15 days following the date of its registration in the State of Vermont.

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2.

23 V.S.A.

§ 1230 is amended to read:

§ 1230.

CHARGE For each inspection certificate issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Commissioner shall be paid $8.00 $16.00, provided that State and municipal inspection stations that inspect only State or municipally owned and registered vehicles shall not be required to pay a fee.

All vehicle inspection certificate charge revenue shall be allocated to the Transportation Fund with one-half reserved for bridge maintenance activities.

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3.

TRANSITION The month of next inspection for all motor vehicles shall be the month shown on the current inspection certificate affixed to the vehicle.

Inspection certificates issued after July 1, 2026, shall show a month that is two years after the month in which the vehicle is inspected.

Sec.

4.

EFFECTIVE DATE This act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

Sec.

1.

REPORT (a) The Secretaries of Transportation and of Natural Resources shall develop a plan to transition to a safety and emissions inspections program that BILL AS INTRODUCED AND PASSED BY SENATE S.211 Page 3 of 4 requires pleasure cars to be inspected once every two years beginning in January 2028.

(3) in addition to any issues or actions identified pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, identify any additional issues related to a change to biennial emissions inspections that could prevent Vermont from remaining in VT LEG #388038 v.1 AS PASSED BY SENATE S.211 Page 2 of 3 compliance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act and potential options for addressing those issues;

(c) On or before October 15, 2026, the Secretaries of Transportation and of Natural Resources shall submit a written report to the House Committees on VT LEG #388038 v.1 AS PASSED BY SENATE S.211 Page 3 of 3 Environment and on Transportation and the Senate Committees on Natural Resources and Energy and on Transportation regarding the plan developed pursuant to this section and any recommendations for legislative action.

BILL AS INTRODUCED AND PASSED BY SENATE S.211 Page 4 of 4 Sec.

VT LEG #388038 v.1