Remember how NH was going to get rid of car inspections?
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Maybe, maybe not. There's now a temporary injunction preventing the law from going into effect tomorrow. Lawsuit was brought against the state by the company that was contracted to run inspections.
https://www.wmur.com/article/injunction-new-hampshire-vehicle-emissions-tests/70173940
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Why? Supporters of the repeal argue inspections are outdated and expensive. “It’s a scam,” said Rep. Sam Farrington. “The data shows inspections don’t actually lead to safer roads. They just lead to $1,000 repair bills people weren’t expecting.”
The bill's supporters say the program is simply a cash cow for mechanics (inspections are $50). A scam.
The republicans in the NH Senate are currently working on an amendment to the bill which they hope will satisfy the judge.
Although I don't know what's in the amendment, I suspect it's along the lines of re-instating emissions inspections without all the rest. So a very pared down inspection.
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Interesting. Here in Illinois, the inspections are done by a state agency and you don't pay anything. Well, except the taxes that we pay to support state government.
If your car flunks you can't renew your license plates until you can pass the inspection.
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The saga continues. The NH Executive Council voted to terminate the contract with the out-of-state company that ran the inspection program--the company who sued the state for ending inspections.
At this time inspections are suspended until April, bucking the judge's orders.
“We have a program that is not authorized under New Hampshire law, but which the state has been ordered to continue by federal court order, given the requirements of the Clean Air Act,” said [NH Attorney General] Formella.
There is finger pointing, but efforts to resolve the quandary are on going.
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Quite the saga. Emphases mine.
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
A federal judge is telling New Hampshire that the state needs to get its vehicle inspection program back up and running.
The ruling on Wednesday does not immediately change anything for New Hampshire drivers, who currently do not need to get their vehicles inspected.
The judge denied a request to pause her original injunction, which ordered the state not to suspend the program.
Despite the initial ruling, inspections have not resumed, and the state has not approved a new contract to continue the program.
Gordon-Darby, the company that had been contracted to run New Hampshire's vehicle inspection program, sued the commissioners for the departments of Safety and Environmental Services after New Hampshire suspended the program to comply with a new state law to end it.
The judge agreed with Gordon-Darby that the state was violating the Clean Air Act by ending the program without a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency. The state applied for that waiver in December, but the EPA said it could take up to 18 months to review it.
The Executive Council has since ended the contract with Gordon-Darby.
In her ruling, Judge Landya McCafferty noted that the commissioners said they don't have the legal authority to find a new vendor, but she said the commissioners have the authority to comply with her first ruling.
The Executive Council is responsible for finding a new vendor. State officials said the program will remain suspended while they figure out what their next steps will be.
As New Hampshire continues to resist the orders issued by the judge, a constitutional crisis is brewing, according to University of New Hampshire law professor Daniel Pi.
"Where the state is openly defying the orders of a federal court, and this implicates Article VI of the U.S. Constitution and all sorts of things that just don't get litigated very often," Pi said. "Usually, states kind of understand what the federal structure is and agree with it."
For New Hampshire drivers, nothing changes. The state is sticking to its earlier guidance that the program is suspended.
That means inspection stations are no longer authorized to issue state inspection stickers, and vehicles are not required to get an annual state inspection at this time.
