Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Matt Walker (Chair)]: We're live here Thursday morning, April twenty third twenty twenty six here in house transportation. We're working on our miscellaneous, motor vehicle bill. I think we're guess we're starting with the emissions and state inspections. We had some pieces on that. ANR oversees that portion related to air quality. And I think there's a handout for everybody, or at least an online document. We're going to see where we're at. Then we also have some other questions related to the next piece. So thank you for coming in. Apologies for the changes in schedules, the fire alarm, the joint hearing that ran over, and our time crunch for our next activity. But we will push forward and see if we can get it done. So I'm not sure if Peter is going first, or Rachel is going first, or what you have prepared, or how you want to handle it. Know what we want to get answered. Welcome. Thank you for coming.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Thank you so much for having us. For the record, my name is Deirdre Rutzer, and I'm the Mobile Sources Section Chief at the Air Quality and Climate Division, and that's in the Department of Environmental Conservation, which I'll refer to as DEC. And that's all in the Agency of Natural Resources. And I am joined remotely by my colleague, Rachel Stevens, who is the attorney that supports the AIR Division. Thanks again for inviting us to speak today. So as you have just said, the DEC partners with the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement vehicle inspections in Vermont. And DEC is primarily responsible for administering Vermont's emissions inspection component to ensure that motor vehicles comply with state and federal Clean Air Act requirements. Emissions inspections are an integral part of maintaining Vermont's air quality because snowman ravages are the largest source of air pollution. Today's cars and trucks depend on properly functioning emission controls to keep air pollution levels lower. Even minor malfunctions in the emission control system can increase emissions significantly. For example, if a vehicle's, oh, sorry. Okay.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Still gonna ask a question. Sorry. Just right in the beginning, Hi, Vedra, thanks for being here. You mentioned you need to enforce both federal and state standards and are there state standards for air quality or are those standards on how to do the inspection and stuff? Because I'm assuming the federal standards are the ones that are saying here are what the emissions are, but does Vermont have above and beyond the federal standards for emissions or is it more? You get that question? Think so.

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yes. I can speak to that too, Deirdre, after you go, if that's helpful. Sorry, I'm right behind you.

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: You can have fun with me.

[Matt Walker (Chair)]: Just got your back.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yeah, I'll definitely defer to Rachel, but yeah, the federal ambient air quality standards are what every state needs to meet. And emissions inspection is part of the way to get there to make sure that we're maintaining our air quality. So our inspection program is managed by the state. So those are kind of our state requirements on how to do that. And Rachel, if you want to add.

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yeah, I'll just share. So there are federal requirements that articulate how to actually, that we have to meet for emissions inspections. So those are described in the handout. Vermont has the Federal Clean Air Act talks about what's required for an emissions inspection. And then the federal regulations actually talk in-depth about everything from inspection criteria, the scope, how enforcement needs to be handled, inspection station non compliance. So all of that is set out in the federal regulation. And then as Deirdre said, as the state implementing those federal requirements, we have to implement that in Vermont. But there's also, as Deirdre mentioned, the federal emission standards that we have to meet, and there's also state specific emission standards as well. So there's kind of two different angles to answer your question. So we have federal and state emissions requirements related to the actual air quality, and then also federal requirements that we implement related to emissions inspections.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Okay, I think that answered, thank you.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: So so for example, if a vehicle's check engine light is on, means that a manufacturer has determined that the vehicle's emissions may be increased by 50% or more due to an emissions control system or part failure. So effective emissions inspection programs can identify these vehicles and ensure their repair. I'm gonna turn it over to Rachel to describe the legal requirements for emissions inspections.

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: So I'm gonna just focus on test frequency, because I have understood that may be a topic of interest for the committee. So as I mentioned, and it's in the handout, there are specific requirements that we have to follow in Vermont. The federal regulations assume an annual, sorry, assume an annual emissions test frequency, unless a required emissions performance standard is met. So if the legislature were to change Vermont's annual inspection to, for example, an every other year inspection, the agency of natural resources would need to conduct extensive technical modeling to determine whether this emissions performance standard could actually be met with a biannual frequency. If the standard cannot be met, then the inspection frequency would have to remain annual. There are other changes to the inspection program that could be made to offset the emissions reduction that would be lost by moving to biennial frequency. But this would all have to be worked out via modeling. If the performance standard can be met by moving to every other year, then the agency would need to amend its state implementation plan and seek approval from the US EPA. A SIP is what we call it for short. A state implementation plan is a document that provides all the emissions limitations and other control measures as may be necessary to meet the federal standards. So a SIP is how a state shows that it's implementing the federal requirements. And SIPs have to be reviewed and approved by EPA. Once the SIP is approved, it's federally enforceable. And I wanted to just point out that there was a court case in January, which I cited in my handout, where the New Hampshire legislature tried to terminate its inspection program before it sought EPA approval. And the court issued a preliminary injunction stopping New Hampshire from doing that and made it very clear in that court decision, which I think is linked, or in the electronic version, what's required for states that want to change their emissions program beyond the federal requirements. So I mentioned that court case because it's relevant to reinforcing this process for federal review and approval of changes to emissions inspections at the state level. I also just wanted to quickly provide context. I know there's been questions in the past about what states have annual or biannual inspections. So there are actually 28 states plus DC that have an emissions inspection program. Of these jurisdictions, 11 are annual and 13 are biennial, and five are a mix of annual and biennial, depending on the vehicle age or type. In New England, Connecticut and Rhode Island require a biennial emissions test, while all remaining, all the other remaining states have annual test frequency. So with that, I'm just gonna turn it over to Deirdre to talk a little bit about the potential change from emissions, if there were a change to emissions frequency, but also wanna recognize if there's specific questions we can take those, but Deirdre can provide a little more context.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: You're probably gonna answer it. The question I was gonna ask is, can you go through the process to see if we can get biannual approval from the EPA ahead of time and how big of an effort is that to find out if that's possible?

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: So in order to do that, we would first have to do the actual modeling that's involved you know, at the agency. So we'd actually have to run the models under certain different scenarios to see whether the performance standard could be met. And like tinker with the inspection program to see whether it could be met. If it can't be met, then EPA won't approve it. So it's more a matter of running the modeling under different scenarios to see whether it's possible. Even if it's possible, there could be difficulty in getting EPA approval. I think we've maybe mentioned in this committee before, but EPA has identified other deficiencies with our inspection program that we're currently working to improve with DMV. But I think it could be difficult to get approval even if we meet the performance standard, if we haven't resolved these other issues with DMV. Okay. But it's an exercise that could be conducted to see what's possible. Does that answer your question?

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Yeah, it does. Thank you.

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: Okay.

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: And you're just I'm actually sorry, got another

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: Go question ahead. For Sure. Yeah, Mollie Burke, it sounds like you could spend a lot of time doing this modeling, and then find out that you don't meet this standard, don't you? Right?

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Correct. And Deirdre's gonna talk a little bit about what we would expect from the modeling, just from, you know, our experience. So, she could talk a little bit more about what, you know, there's uncertainty, but what are some factors that we think could make it difficult to meet the standard? But again, we haven't run the models, but that exercise is a technical modeling exercise, but we haven't done that yet. But Dirdre, you want to just talk a little bit about some potential impacts from moving to the test frequency?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yeah. If if we're good on questions for the moment. So we're uncertain if we could meet the performance standard, But we would expect a change to biennial inspections to increase air pollution in Vermont, including ozone, air toxics, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide. A longer time between the inspections means repairs will be conducted less frequently, allowing vehicles with malfunctioning equipment to operate longer, causing emissions to increase. Another factor impacting our ability to meet that performance standard is a 2019 Vermont law that reduced the vehicle model years that are subject to the emissions inspection. So that essentially means that each year the inspection program is less effective at reducing emissions, making that federal performance standard more challenging to meet. But if the performance standard is met with the biennial test frequency, as Rachel said, we would have to undertake significant revisions to the SIP and seek EPA approval.

[Matt Walker (Chair)]: Another question.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Ask another question. Can you describe what the changes were back in 2018 or so? And is that related to this chart that I see, this green line in what you presented?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: It is not related to that chart.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: So there were changes that were done in the inspection program, I assume approved by the EPA?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: We did the modeling for those changes and we met the performance standard. And then we included that into the SIPs that we submitted to EPA. But it hasn't been approved yet as EPA has identified, Rachel mentioned, some deficiencies with our SIP that we're working with DMV on resolving.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Okay. And can you describe what the changes were?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yes. In 2019, so the EPA regulations for emissions inspections assume an annual inspection frequency, and it assumes vehicle model years 1996 through current model year undergo the emissions inspection. In 2019, the legislature limited that subset of vehicles to model years 16 model years or newer. So basically looking at 2011 to 2026 model year vehicles undergo the inspection, where the regulation assumes 1996 through 2026. So that's 30 that are assumed to be subject to the emissions inspection, but we've kind of cut that in half. That makes it a little more difficult to meet that performance standard because that sixteen model year window kind of stays the same. But the amount of vehicles we're not testing that originally should be keeps growing and growing. So we become

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: a little more less effective.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: So they've pushed back or have they pushed back and said, hey, you can't make this change because it's not really approved.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Not exactly. They haven't pushed back. They've pushed back on the other pieces that were not needed because we've shown that that can meet the performance standard. That was in 2022. So as we keep going, if we make changes and have to redo the modeling, it becomes a little more challenging.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: And makes sense that that change resulted in less failures because all of the vehicles aren't being tested any.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: So yes, but the failure rate is based on the number of vehicles undergoing that the inspection. So that doesn't quite play in unless you're looking at just the

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Well, Deirdre's gonna go through that graph and maybe that would be helpful to explain. Yeah. Because as Deirdre mentioned, the failure rate is just based on the vehicles that are tested. So the failure rate going down is not a result of the legislature's change and reduction in the number of vehicles. But I did just wanna mention that, you know, some of the issues that EPA identified that we are working on with DMV are more related to enforcement and being able to demonstrate that we actually enforce the inspection program in Vermont. So that's really where we're having issues with the EPA approval right now.

[Matt Walker (Chair)]: Courtney and Casey? In the last few years, has the EPA changed their rules at all?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: For the emissions inspection?

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: No,

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: they underwent an audit a few years back and provided more guidance because their audit was found that some of their inspection program requirements, they weren't really following through on, and they needed a little more oversight. So they did provide additional guidance to states to get everybody back in line, I think. But they haven't made any official regulation changes.

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yeah, there was a pretty significant Office of the Inspector General investigation into EPA, which concluded that EPA was not adequately enforcing the inspection requirements on states. So after that inspection report or audit that Deirdre mentioned came out, EPA has taken a stronger stand in terms of against states and ensuring that their state implementation plans meet the requirements. So the federal regulations haven't changed, but after that audit came out, EPA definitely has taken a stronger stance in ensuring that states meet the requirements. But I think maybe Deirdre, it would be helpful if you wanna pivot to talking a little bit more about what we put in the handout to kind of show the connection between repairs and inspections. Yes.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Yes. Kind of getting back a little bit to the graph that you were talking about in the handout. So since the implementation of the electronic data collection and management in Vermont's inspection program, the failure rate for emissions inspection has dropped from that initial 16% in 2027 down to 4%, which is what we see today.

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: Can you just give me those dates, not 2027?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: Sorry, 2017. 2017 to My bad. That's okay. To when? 16% in 2017, and it's dropped down. It's only 4% in 2025. Okay, thank you. Yes. And if you look at the graph, you can see that that improvement didn't happen gradually. It happened pretty quickly. So that significant drop in the failure rate really reflects the increased compliance as vehicle owners and inspection stations quickly recognized the accuracy of the electronic testing process and addressed emissions repairs prior to inspection. So that kind of gets back to a longer time between inspections means repairs will be conducted less frequently, allowing

[Unidentified Committee Member]: vehicles with malfunctioning equipment to operate longer causing additional. So we're looking at the chart and in 2018, is that when the program started? And then because of the, are you saying because of the testing and picking up failures, people are getting their cars fixed. And now that there's this ongoing sort of maintenance that now we've found a level spot of around 4%.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: The inspection program launched during 2017, but it wasn't at January 1. So it's not like a full year of inspections. I think there was like a first wave of inspection stations that went online. So 2017 was the first year of the electronic process. And yes, as soon as people became aware of what a significant change that was, and it's very accurate, the failure rate was pretty high as people recognize that the failure rate dropped pretty quickly as the next year, the year after occurred. So they were doing the pre inspection repairs.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Pre inspection repairs, meaning before you actually, you say, Hey, got a check engine light, let's fix it, then we'll inspect your car. Yes, yes. Are we in polls?

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: So we've heard that DMV is looking at their inspection manual and addressing things that are only safely related, And I'm just wondering if they are considering this in the MIPS or are they recognizing that this is maybe important to give you every year?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: I'm unaware of DMV suggesting changes to the emissions inspection. I am aware that they were doing a lot of work on the safety side.

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: Representative

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Parks? So

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: how long has Connecticut had this? Did you say they have every other year?

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: They do have every other year.

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: The year when it started, and they've seen a measurable increase in emissions since they started every two years? I'm not aware of when they switched to biennial.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: And so I'm not sure about how they're measuring their emissions reductions. I do know that the Connecticut has registration denial. So that means the inspection is a requirement before they can get registered to operate on the highway. So I do know that that's their mechanism to enforce the program. So it's a stricter enforcement. There's more compliance, I believe, because of that requirement.

[Mollie S. Burke (Member)]: So that's be measured somehow. I mean, how many people are denied registration because of an emissions problem? Probably. Yeah.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: They do an annual report to EPA on their inspection program. And typically those are online. I can see if I can locate their more recent ones.

[Rachel Stevens, Attorney, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: We do, related to that, I mean, we do know there are a significant number of vehicles in Vermont that should be going through the inspection program, but that get registered, but then do not follow through on the follow-up inspection. So that's a factor as well. That Connecticut wouldn't have that issue, as Steirdre mentioned, because of the registration denial that inspections come before registrations.

[Matt Walker (Chair)]: So this is, unfortunate. We're going to have to reschedule and bring you an ask you to come back. Again, we will have to reach out. We need to the whole committee's gotta be somewhere else, and so we I am terribly sorry for my scheduling error and for our delay this morning. But where we're at, I appreciate it. We will have to reach out. And I it's okay if it's done Zoom for both of you or not, but I appreciate you coming in. My apologies for the struggle the way that it was.

[Deirdre Rutzer, Mobile Sources Section Chief, Air Quality & Climate Division (DEC/ANR)]: No problem. We can't predict a fire drop.

[Matt Walker (Chair)]: We are adjourned, and the rest of us have to hust