STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1424
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2021
RE: S.B. No. 57
S.D. 2
H.D. 2
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 57, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VEHICLE INSPECTIONS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Codify the requirement for the Director of Transportation to supervise and certify vehicle inspectors and establish standards, examinations, and investigations of vehicle inspectors;
(2) Temporarily repeal the requirement for reconstructed vehicles to obtain a special inspection and certification; and
(3) Require the Department of Transportation to report to the Legislature on the effects of the repeal.
Your Committee finds that existing law requires motor vehicles in the State to pass an inspection check to ensure the safety of the driver and passengers in any vehicle on roads of the State. Your Committee further finds that vehicle inspectors are currently regulated under the Department of Transportation's administrative rules. This measure codifies the regulation of vehicle inspectors.
Your Committee further finds that the reconstructed vehicle inspection program no longer serves its intended purposes. The purpose of the reconstructed vehicle inspection program is to ensure that modifications to motor vehicles do not result in a significant degradation of highway safety. However, persons who inspect the vehicles are not engineers and often lack the expertise necessary to make an accurate judgment of the quality of work that was done on the modifications or their ramifications. To compensate for this weakness, the inspectors rely on the Hawaii Administrative Rule that requires the motor vehicle owner to obtain approval of the design plans by a registered professional engineer. However, since vehicle owners typically do not have a design plan and go to the reconstructed vehicle inspection station after the work has been completed, it is virtually impossible to find a registered professional engineer who will accept responsibility for the plans and the work done.
Your Committee has amended this measure by requiring the Department of Transportation to submit a report on the effects of the repeal proposed by this measure no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025, rather than no later than July 1, 2024.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 57, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 57, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,
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____________________________ AARON LING JOHANSON, Chair |
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