AN ACT to remove all counties except mecklenburg county from motor vehicle emissions testing requirements.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 143‑215.107A reads as rewritten:

§ 143‑215.107A.  Motor vehicle emissions testing and maintenance program.

(a)        General Provisions. –

(1)        G.S. 143‑215.107(a)(6) shall be implemented as provided in this section.

(2)        Motor vehicle emissions inspections shall be performed by a person who holds an emissions inspection mechanic license issued as provided in G.S. 20‑183.4A(c) at a station that holds an emissions inspection station license issued under G.S. 20‑183.4A(a) or at a place of business that holds an emissions self‑inspector license issued as provided in G.S. 20‑183.4A(d). Motor vehicle emissions inspections may be performed by a decentralized network of test‑and‑repair stations as described in 40 Code of Federal Regulations § 51.353 (1 July 1998 Edition). The Commission may not require that motor vehicle emissions inspections be performed by a network of centralized or decentralized test‑only stations.

(b)        Repealed by Session Laws 2000‑134, s. 2, effective July 14, 2000.

(c)        Counties Covered. – Motor vehicle emissions inspections shall be performed in the following counties: Alamance, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Johnston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Randolph, Rowan, Union, and Wake.Mecklenburg County.

(d)       Repealed by Session Laws 2012‑200, s. 12(a), effective August 1, 2012.

SECTION 2.  No later than December 31, 2023, the Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare and submit to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for approval by that agency a proposed North Carolina State Implementation Plan amendment based on the change to the motor vehicle emissions testing program provided in this act.

SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective on the later of the following dates and applies to motor vehicles inspected, or due to be inspected, on or after that effective date:

(1)        January 1, 2024.

(2)        The first day of a month that is 60 days after the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality certifies to the Revisor of Statutes that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has approved an amendment to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan submitted as required by Section 2 of this act. The Secretary shall provide this notice along with the effective date of this act on its website and by written or electronic notice to emissions inspection mechanic license holders, emissions inspection station licensees, and self‑inspector licensees in the county where motor vehicle emissions inspection requirements are removed by this act.

SECTION 4.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.