N.Y. Vehicle & Traffic Law § 303: Official inspection stations

§ 303. Official inspection stations. (a) The commissioner is

authorized to operate, enter into contracts with any person to operate,

and license official inspection stations for the purpose of making the

inspection prescribed by this article and for the purpose of issuing

certificates of inspection.

(1) A license to operate an official inspection station shall be

issued only upon written application which shall set forth such facts

and evidence as may be required to ascertain the identity,

qualifications and character of the applicant. An original application

for a license for an official inspection station shall be accompanied by

an application fee of twenty-five dollars, which shall in no event be

refunded. The commissioner shall issue a license, after appropriate

inquiry and investigation, only when satisfied that the station is

properly equipped and has competent personnel to make such inspections

and that such inspections will be properly conducted, and that the

applicant complies with the provisions of this article and the rules and

regulations promulgated thereunder. If an application is approved by the

commissioner, a license shall be issued to the applicant. The annual fee

for a license or license renewal shall be fifty dollars. The

commissioner may issue such licenses on a staggered expiration basis, in

which event the fees for such licenses shall be prorated on a monthly

basis. In no event shall the fee exceed one hundred dollars for two

years. The commissioner shall have discretion to issue a license or

license renewal which shall be valid for a period of not more than two

years. The fee for any such renewal shall be not more than one hundred

dollars.

(2) The commissioner may issue a temporary permit to any applicant for

a license under the provisions of this article pending final action on

an application made for such a license, and the computation of the

license fee, if a license is issued, shall be computed from the date of

issuance of the temporary permit. Any such permit shall be valid for a

period not in excess of sixty days. The provisions of this paragraph

relating to fees, shall not apply to the state, a city, county, village,

town or school district, or any of the departments thereof.

(3) A contract to operate an emission inspection facility shall

include the following conditions:

(i) emission inspection facilities must be geographically dispersed

throughout each region in numbers sufficient to allow motorists

reasonable access to such facilities;

(ii) maximum daily average waiting times for motorists at emission

inspection facilities shall not exceed fifteen minutes for more than

five days each calendar month; and

(iii) no emission inspection facility authorized by a chapter of the

laws of nineteen hundred ninety-three shall begin to operate

commercially, except for a limited test period not to exceed thirty-one

days as approved by the department, prior to January first, nineteen

hundred ninety-six, in any area of the state which has an emission

inspection program in operation at the time of the enactment of such

chapter. The commissioner shall approve any proposed fee schedule to the

extent that it will allow an official inspection station operating such

a pre-existing program to recover any additional fee imposed by such

chapter.

(b) Each official inspection station shall keep a record of

inspections, re-inspections, and the results thereof, and a record of

certificates of inspection issued.

(c) Each official inspection station shall prominently display in an

area of the station where the orderly transaction of business of such

station occurs a sign provided or approved by the department and, after

a motor vehicle fails to pass inspection at such station, provide

written notice on forms provided or approved by the department to the

owner or person in charge of said vehicle that the necessary repairs

must be made to the vehicle within thirty days from the date of

inspection and that such repairs need not necessarily be made at that

station and shall be made in a manner consistent with federal law and

regulations. The period allowed for repair shall not extend the

expiration date of either the inspection sticker or registration

certificate.

(d) 1. The commissioner shall supervise and cause inspections to be

made of such official inspection stations. It shall be the duty of the

superintendent of state police and of the police forces of all

municipalities of the state to assist the commissioner in assuring

compliance by all official inspection stations with the provisions of

this article and with all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

An official inspection station and the records thereof shall be open for

inspection at reasonable times by any police officer or any person

designated by the commissioner to inspect such official inspection

stations or any person designated by the commissioner of environmental

conservation to inspect such official inspection stations with respect

to emission inspections.

2. The commissioner shall have the right to inspect motor vehicles

located on the premises of any person, association, corporation,

subsidiary corporation or municipality having obtained permission to

conduct self-inspection of motor vehicles pursuant to subdivision (c) or

(f) of section three hundred two of this chapter and which have been

issued a certificate of inspection within the previous fifteen days.

(e) 1. A license to operate an official inspection station or a

certificate to inspect vehicles may be suspended or revoked or renewal

thereof may be refused by the commissioner or any person duly deputized

for one or more of the following causes:

(i) Failure to conduct inspections in conformance with the provisions

of this article and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or

improper issuance of certificates of inspections.

(ii) Conviction of a crime involving fraud, theft, perjury or bribery

or other cause which would permit disqualification from receiving a

license or a certificate to inspect vehicles upon the original

application.

(iii) Fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in securing the license or a

certificate to inspect vehicles or in the conduct of licensed or

certified activity.

(iv) Excessive charges for conducting inspections and for making

adjustments, corrections or repairs required by such inspections.

(v) Violation of any provision of this article or any rule or

regulation promulgated thereunder.

2. Provided, however a license to operate an official inspection

station or a certificate to inspect vehicles shall be suspended or

revoked or renewal thereof shall be refused by the commissioner or any

person duly deputized, upon a third or subsequent violation committed

within a period of eighteen months of any rule or regulation of the

commissioner requiring an inspection station to refuse to perform an

inspection as set forth in paragraph two of subdivision (f) of section

79.20 of title fifteen of the codes, rules and regulations of the state

of New York. If the commissioner or any person duly deputized orders

penalties to be paid pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section, such

penalties shall be in addition to, but not in lieu of, a suspension,

revocation, or renewal thereof imposed pursuant to this paragraph.

3. Provided, however, a license to operate an official inspection

station or a certificate to inspect vehicles shall be suspended or

revoked or renewal thereof shall be refused by the commissioner or any

person duly deputized, upon a third or subsequent willful violation, all

within a period of eighteen months, of any rule or regulation of the

commissioner requiring an inspection station to inspect the muffler or

exhaust system of a motorcycle as set forth in subdivision (c) of

section 79.28 of title 15 of the codes, rules and regulations of the

state of New York. If the commissioner or any person duly deputized

orders penalties to be paid pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section,

such penalties shall be in addition to, but not in lieu of, a

suspension, revocation, or renewal thereof imposed pursuant to this

paragraph.

(f) No license or certificate shall be revoked or suspended, or

renewal refused, except upon notice to the licensee or certified

inspector and after an opportunity to be heard. A license or

certificate, however, may be temporarily suspended upon a written notice

of temporary suspension delivered by certified mail to the licensee or

certified inspector pending any prosecution, investigation or hearing.

The written notice of temporary suspension shall provide that the

temporary suspension is effective seventy-two hours after delivery of

such notice. Whenever any license to operate an official inspection

station or certificate to inspect vehicles is revoked, no license or

certificate shall be reissued to an applicant until after the expiration

of a period of one year from the date of such revocation.

(g) Upon the revocation or suspension of an inspection station license

or certificate to inspect vehicles, the holder thereof shall deliver

such license or certificate to the revoking or suspending officer,

together with all inspection and inspection extension certificates, all

inspection record forms, and any and all other items in the possession

of the license or certificate holder which theretofore had been issued

by the commissioner for use in connection with the inspection station or

the inspection of vehicles. The failure of the holder thereof to deliver

any of the aforesaid items to the revoking or suspending officer, or to

any peace officer, acting pursuant to his special duties, or police

officer directed by the commissioner or agent of the commissioner,

displaying authorization to act in such capacity along with a certified

copy of the order revoking or suspending such inspection station

license, to secure possession thereof, shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(h) The commissioner, or any person duly deputized, in addition to or

in lieu of revoking or suspending a license to operate an official

inspection station or a certificate to inspect vehicles, may by order

require the licensee or certified inspector to pay to the people of this

state a penalty for a first violation a sum not exceeding one thousand

dollars for each violation found to have been committed; and for a

second or subsequent violation not arising out of the same incident both

of which were committed within a period of thirty months, a sum of not

more than one thousand five hundred dollars for each violation found to

have been committed; provided, however, the penalty for each and any

violation of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph one of subdivision (e) of

this section found to have been committed shall be no less than five

hundred dollars and no more than one thousand five hundred dollars, and

provided further, however, the penalty for a violation found to have

been committed of any rule or regulation of the commissioner requiring

an inspection station to refuse to perform an inspection as set forth in

paragraph two of subdivision (f) of section 79.20 of title fifteen of

the codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York shall be a

fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than one

thousand dollars for a first violation, and a fine of not less than five

hundred dollars nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars for a

second or subsequent such violation not arising out of the same incident

both of which were committed within a period of eighteen months, and

upon the failure of such licensee to pay such penalty within twenty days

after the mailing of such order, postage prepaid, registered or

certified, and addressed to the last known place of business of such

licensee or certified inspector, unless such order is stayed by a court

of competent jurisdiction or in accordance with the provisions of

article three-A of this chapter, the commissioner may revoke the license

of such licensee or the certificate of such certified inspector or may

suspend the same for such period as may be determined. Civil penalties

assessed under this subdivision shall be paid to the commissioner for

deposit into the state treasury, and unpaid civil penalties may be

recovered by the commissioner in a civil action in the name of the

commissioner. In addition, as an alternative to such civil action and

provided that no proceeding for judicial review shall then be pending

and the time for initiation of such proceeding shall have expired, the

commissioner may file with the county clerk of the county in which the

registrant is located or the certified inspector resides a final order

of the commissioner containing the amount of the penalty assessed. The

filing of such final order shall have the full force and effect of a

judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk and may be enforced

in the same manner and with the same effect as that provided by law in

respect to executions issued against property upon judgments of a court

of record.

(i) The holder of an inspection station license shall remove or cause

to be removed any sign which contains the license number of the station

which is visible to the public and which is required to be displayed by

this article or regulations promulgated thereunder if the license is

revoked or suspended or the inspection station is out of business. If

the license is only suspended, the holder may cover up the sign instead

of removing it.

(j) No person shall permit the display of any sign required to be

displayed by this article or regulations promulgated thereunder

indicating to the public that an official inspection station is

operating unless an inspection station license has been issued to that

person and is currently valid.