Panel hears industry request to raise or index vehicle emissions testing fees

A stand-in presenter and industry witnesses told a Georgia House Natural Resources subcommittee on Feb. 24 that fees for vehicle emissions testing set in 1992 are out of date and asked lawmakers to authorize either a higher flat fee or periodic review by the Environmental Protection Division.

Wesley Dunn, representing DECRA International, said the program covers the 13–15 counties in the Atlanta ozone maintenance area and that testing providers have not seen a fee increase in decades. "There's 695 facilities in the 15 counties, 2,100 employees," Dunn said, asking the committee to either set a reasonable flat fee or direct EPD to hold hearings and recommend a cap.

The stand-in presenter said a previous committee substitute raised the top fee to $35 on the high end; several members called $35 a reasonable starting point. EPD staff told the panel they prefer a defined fee rather than striking fees entirely because of recent court rulings affecting agency deference. EPD provided a breakdown of per-test revenue: about $1.28 per test to EPD, $1.74 to a contractor that operates equipment, and $1 to the affected county, with the remainder going to the station owner or emissions owner. "We are amenable to working... to set up fee that would help these folks," the EPD director said.

Committee members suggested alternatives including indexing the fee to inflation or asking EPD to report biennially on recommended caps to avoid another multi-decade lapse. The item was heard only; no vote was taken and members asked staff and EPD to work with industry on draft amendments for future consideration.