§ 303. Official inspection stations. (a) The commissioner is
authorized to operate, enter into contracts with any person to operate,
and license official inspection stations for the purpose of making the
inspection prescribed by this article and for the purpose of issuing
certificates of inspection.

(1) A license to operate an official inspection station shall be
issued only upon written application which shall set forth such facts
and evidence as may be required to ascertain the identity,
qualifications and character of the applicant. An original application
for a license for an official inspection station shall be accompanied by
an application fee of twenty-five dollars, which shall in no event be
refunded. The commissioner shall issue a license, after appropriate
inquiry and investigation, only when satisfied that the station is
properly equipped and has competent personnel to make such inspections
and that such inspections will be properly conducted, and that the
applicant complies with the provisions of this article and the rules and
regulations promulgated thereunder. If an application is approved by the
commissioner, a license shall be issued to the applicant. The annual fee
for a license or license renewal shall be fifty dollars. The
commissioner may issue such licenses on a staggered expiration basis, in
which event the fees for such licenses shall be prorated on a monthly
basis. In no event shall the fee exceed one hundred dollars for two
years. The commissioner shall have discretion to issue a license or
license renewal which shall be valid for a period of not more than two
years. The fee for any such renewal shall be not more than one hundred
dollars.

(2) The commissioner may issue a temporary permit to any applicant for
a license under the provisions of this article pending final action on
an application made for such a license, and the computation of the
license fee, if a license is issued, shall be computed from the date of
issuance of the temporary permit. Any such permit shall be valid for a
period not in excess of sixty days. The provisions of this paragraph
relating to fees, shall not apply to the state, a city, county, village,
town or school district, or any of the departments thereof.

(3) A contract to operate an emission inspection facility shall
include the following conditions:

(i) emission inspection facilities must be geographically dispersed
throughout each region in numbers sufficient to allow motorists
reasonable access to such facilities;

(ii) maximum daily average waiting times for motorists at emission
inspection facilities shall not exceed fifteen minutes for more than
five days each calendar month; and

(iii) no emission inspection facility authorized by a chapter of the
laws of nineteen hundred ninety-three shall begin to operate
commercially, except for a limited test period not to exceed thirty-one
days as approved by the department, prior to January first, nineteen
hundred ninety-six, in any area of the state which has an emission
inspection program in operation at the time of the enactment of such
chapter. The commissioner shall approve any proposed fee schedule to the
extent that it will allow an official inspection station operating such
a pre-existing program to recover any additional fee imposed by such
chapter.

(b) Each official inspection station shall keep a record of
inspections, re-inspections, and the results thereof, and a record of
certificates of inspection issued.

(c) Each official inspection station shall prominently display in an
area of the station where the orderly transaction of business of such
station occurs a sign provided or approved by the department and, after
a motor vehicle fails to pass inspection at such station, provide
written notice on forms provided or approved by the department to the
owner or person in charge of said vehicle that the necessary repairs
must be made to the vehicle within thirty days from the date of
inspection and that such repairs need not necessarily be made at that
station and shall be made in a manner consistent with federal law and
regulations. The period allowed for repair shall not extend the
expiration date of either the inspection sticker or registration
certificate.

(d) 1. The commissioner shall supervise and cause inspections to be
made of such official inspection stations. It shall be the duty of the
superintendent of state police and of the police forces of all
municipalities of the state to assist the commissioner in assuring
compliance by all official inspection stations with the provisions of
this article and with all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
An official inspection station and the records thereof shall be open for
inspection at reasonable times by any police officer or any person
designated by the commissioner to inspect such official inspection
stations or any person designated by the commissioner of environmental
conservation to inspect such official inspection stations with respect
to emission inspections.

2. The commissioner shall have the right to inspect motor vehicles
located on the premises of any person, association, corporation,
subsidiary corporation or municipality having obtained permission to
conduct self-inspection of motor vehicles pursuant to subdivision (c) or
(f) of section three hundred two of this chapter and which have been
issued a certificate of inspection within the previous fifteen days.

(e) 1. A license to operate an official inspection station or a
certificate to inspect vehicles may be suspended or revoked or renewal
thereof may be refused by the commissioner or any person duly deputized
for one or more of the following causes:

(i) Failure to conduct inspections in conformance with the provisions
of this article and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or
improper issuance of certificates of inspections.

(ii) Conviction of a crime involving fraud, theft, perjury or bribery
or other cause which would permit disqualification from receiving a
license or a certificate to inspect vehicles upon the original
application.

(iii) Fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in securing the license or a
certificate to inspect vehicles or in the conduct of licensed or
certified activity.

(iv) Excessive charges for conducting inspections and for making
adjustments, corrections or repairs required by such inspections.

(v) Violation of any provision of this article or any rule or
regulation promulgated thereunder.

2. Provided, however a license to operate an official inspection
station or a certificate to inspect vehicles shall be suspended or
revoked or renewal thereof shall be refused by the commissioner or any
person duly deputized, upon a third or subsequent violation committed
within a period of eighteen months of any rule or regulation of the
commissioner requiring an inspection station to refuse to perform an
inspection as set forth in paragraph two of subdivision (f) of section
79.20 of title fifteen of the codes, rules and regulations of the state
of New York. If the commissioner or any person duly deputized orders
penalties to be paid pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section, such
penalties shall be in addition to, but not in lieu of, a suspension,
revocation, or renewal thereof imposed pursuant to this paragraph.

3. Provided, however, a license to operate an official inspection
station or a certificate to inspect vehicles shall be suspended or
revoked or renewal thereof shall be refused by the commissioner or any
person duly deputized, upon a third or subsequent willful violation, all
within a period of eighteen months, of any rule or regulation of the
commissioner requiring an inspection station to inspect the muffler or
exhaust system of a motorcycle as set forth in subdivision (c) of
section 79.28 of title 15 of the codes, rules and regulations of the
state of New York. If the commissioner or any person duly deputized
orders penalties to be paid pursuant to subdivision (h) of this section,
such penalties shall be in addition to, but not in lieu of, a
suspension, revocation, or renewal thereof imposed pursuant to this
paragraph.

(f) No license or certificate shall be revoked or suspended, or
renewal refused, except upon notice to the licensee or certified
inspector and after an opportunity to be heard. A license or
certificate, however, may be temporarily suspended upon a written notice
of temporary suspension delivered by certified mail to the licensee or
certified inspector pending any prosecution, investigation or hearing.
The written notice of temporary suspension shall provide that the
temporary suspension is effective seventy-two hours after delivery of
such notice. Whenever any license to operate an official inspection
station or certificate to inspect vehicles is revoked, no license or
certificate shall be reissued to an applicant until after the expiration
of a period of one year from the date of such revocation.

(g) Upon the revocation or suspension of an inspection station license
or certificate to inspect vehicles, the holder thereof shall deliver
such license or certificate to the revoking or suspending officer,
together with all inspection and inspection extension certificates, all
inspection record forms, and any and all other items in the possession
of the license or certificate holder which theretofore had been issued
by the commissioner for use in connection with the inspection station or
the inspection of vehicles. The failure of the holder thereof to deliver
any of the aforesaid items to the revoking or suspending officer, or to
any peace officer, acting pursuant to his special duties, or police
officer directed by the commissioner or agent of the commissioner,
displaying authorization to act in such capacity along with a certified
copy of the order revoking or suspending such inspection station
license, to secure possession thereof, shall constitute a misdemeanor.

(h) The commissioner, or any person duly deputized, in addition to or
in lieu of revoking or suspending a license to operate an official
inspection station or a certificate to inspect vehicles, may by order
require the licensee or certified inspector to pay to the people of this
state a penalty for a first violation a sum not exceeding one thousand
dollars for each violation found to have been committed; and for a
second or subsequent violation not arising out of the same incident both
of which were committed within a period of thirty months, a sum of not
more than one thousand five hundred dollars for each violation found to
have been committed; provided, however, the penalty for each and any
violation of subparagraph (iii) of paragraph one of subdivision (e) of
this section found to have been committed shall be no less than five
hundred dollars and no more than one thousand five hundred dollars, and
provided further, however, the penalty for a violation found to have
been committed of any rule or regulation of the commissioner requiring
an inspection station to refuse to perform an inspection as set forth in
paragraph two of subdivision (f) of section 79.20 of title fifteen of
the codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York shall be a
fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars for a first violation, and a fine of not less than five
hundred dollars nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars for a
second or subsequent such violation not arising out of the same incident
both of which were committed within a period of eighteen months, and
upon the failure of such licensee to pay such penalty within twenty days
after the mailing of such order, postage prepaid, registered or
certified, and addressed to the last known place of business of such
licensee or certified inspector, unless such order is stayed by a court
of competent jurisdiction or in accordance with the provisions of
article three-A of this chapter, the commissioner may revoke the license
of such licensee or the certificate of such certified inspector or may
suspend the same for such period as may be determined. Civil penalties
assessed under this subdivision shall be paid to the commissioner for
deposit into the state treasury, and unpaid civil penalties may be
recovered by the commissioner in a civil action in the name of the
commissioner. In addition, as an alternative to such civil action and
provided that no proceeding for judicial review shall then be pending
and the time for initiation of such proceeding shall have expired, the
commissioner may file with the county clerk of the county in which the
registrant is located or the certified inspector resides a final order
of the commissioner containing the amount of the penalty assessed. The
filing of such final order shall have the full force and effect of a
judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk and may be enforced
in the same manner and with the same effect as that provided by law in
respect to executions issued against property upon judgments of a court
of record.

(i) The holder of an inspection station license shall remove or cause
to be removed any sign which contains the license number of the station
which is visible to the public and which is required to be displayed by
this article or regulations promulgated thereunder if the license is
revoked or suspended or the inspection station is out of business. If
the license is only suspended, the holder may cover up the sign instead
of removing it.

(j) No person shall permit the display of any sign required to be
displayed by this article or regulations promulgated thereunder
indicating to the public that an official inspection station is
operating unless an inspection station license has been issued to that
person and is currently valid.