North Carolina § 20-183 - 8A. Civil penalties against motorists for emissions violations; waiver.

§ 20-183. 8A. Civil penalties against motorists for emissions violations; waiver.

Civil Penalties. - The Division must assess a civil penalty against a person who owns or leases a vehicle that is subject to an inspection and who engages in any of the emissions violations set out in this subsection. As provided in G.S. 20-54, the registration of a vehicle may not be renewed until a penalty imposed under this subsection has been paid. The civil penalties and violations are as follows: Fifty dollars ($50.00) for failure to have the vehicle inspected within four months after it is required to be inspected under this Part. Two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for instructing or allowing a person to tamper with an emission control device of the vehicle so as to make the device inoperative or fail to work properly. Two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for incorrectly stating the vehicle's county of registration to avoid having an emissions inspection of the vehicle. Waiver. - The Division must waive the civil penalty assessed under subdivision (a)(1) of this section against a person who establishes the following: The person was continuously out of the State on active military duty from the date the electronic authorization expired to the date the four-month grace period expired. No person operated the vehicle from the date the electronic authorization expired to the date the four-month grace period expired. The person obtained a current electronic authorization within 30 days after returning to the State. History (1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 754, ss. 1, 8; 1998-212, s. 27.6(b); 2007-364, ss. 3, 4; 2007-503, s. 15; 2009-319, s. 4.) Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2007-364, s. 3, effective August 17, 2007, and applicable to civil penalties assessed for violations committed on or after that date, added "waiver" in the section heading; added subsection (b) and designated the former provisions of the section as subsection (a); and in subsection (a), added the subsection heading "Civil Penalties." Session Laws 2007-364, s. 4, effective July 1, 2008, and applicable to civil penalties assessed for violations committed on or after that date, in the introductory paragraph of subsection (a), substituted "must assess" for "shall assess" near the beginning, substituted "in any of the emissions violations set out in this subsection" for "does any of the following," and added the last two sentences; rewrote subdivisions (a)(1) through (3); and deleted the former last paragraph of the subsection, which provided penalty amounts for certain vehicles. Session Laws 2009-319, s. 4, effective July 17, 2009, in subsection (a), in the introductory language, deleted "emissions" preceding "inspection"; and in subsection (b), substituted "electronic authorization" for "inspection sticker" three times.