URGENT LEGISLATIVE ALERT (UPDATE)
Tennessee Bills to Exempt Newer Cars From Emissions Inspection to be Considered by Committees on Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Separate but identical legislation in the Senate (S.B. 777) and House (H.B. 721) to extend the emissions inspection exemption for new cars will be considered in committee on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Under the bills, vehicles that are three years old and newer and that have an odometer reading of less than 36,000 miles would be excused from the emissions test. Current law only exempts new motor vehicles being registered for the first time or one year from initial registration. S.B. 777 will be considered by the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee andH.B. 721 will be considered Tennessee House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Please Contact Senate Transportation and Safety CommitteeMembers and House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Members (Contact InformationBelow) Immediately to Request Support for S.B. 777 and H.B. 721.
- S.B. 777/H.B. 721 acknowledges the relatively minimal environmental impact of the new vehicles targeted for this exemption.
- S.B. 777/H.B. 721 acknowledges that it is senseless to test newer vehicles, the results of which demonstrate no significant air quality benefits. The idea behind exempting any class of vehicles is to reduce costs while not losing appreciable emission reductions. This strategy builds support for emission inspection programs, but also directs finite resources to where they will be most valuable in cleaning the air.
- Tennessee already exempts pre-1975 vehicles from emissions testing. The logic for this trend is clear; such vehicles do not contribute in significant ways to air quality problems. This logic applies equally to newer cars.
DON’T DELAY! Please contact members of the Senate Transportation and Safety Committeeand House Agriculture and Natural ResourcesCommitteeimmediately to request their support for S.B. 777 and H.B. 721.
Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org. Also, please forward this Alert to your fellow car enthusiasts. Urge them to join the SAN and help defend the hobby! Thank you for your assistance.
Tennessee Senate Transportation and Safety Committee
To e-mail all Committee members regarding S.B. 777, copy and paste the email address block below:
sen.jim.tracy@capitol.tn.gov; sen.mae.beavers@capitol.tn.gov; sen.frank.niceley@capitol.tn.gov; sen.paul.bailey@capitol.tn.gov; sen.janice.bowling@capitol.tn.gov; sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov; sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov; sen.steve.southerland@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov
Tennessee House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
To e-mail all Committee members regarding H.B. 721, copy and paste the email address block below:
rep.curtis.halford@capitol.tn.gov; rep.andy.holt@capitol.tn.gov; rep.david.byrd@capitol.tn.gov; rep.david.hawk@capitol.tn.gov; rep.ga.hardaway@capitol.tn.gov; rep.bud.hulsey@capitol.tn.gov; rep.ron.lollar@capitol.tn.gov; rep.pat.marsh@capitol.tn.gov; rep.steve.mcdaniel@capitol.tn.gov; rep.debra.moody@capitol.tn.gov; rep.dennis.powers@capitol.tn.gov; rep.jay.reedy@capitol.tn.gov; rep.johnny.shaw@capitol.tn.gov; rep.art.swann@capitol.tn.gov; rep.john.windle@capitol.tn.gov