Illinois Administrative Code
Title 35 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Part 276 - PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF INSPECTIONS OF MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS
Subpart A - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 276.102 - Definitions

a) Except as hereinafter stated and unless a different meaning of a term is clear from its context, the definitions of terms used in this Part shall be the same as those used in the Environmental Protection Act [415 ILCS 5 ] and the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law of 2005 [625 ILCS 5/13C ].

b) The following definitions apply to this Part:

"Accuracy" means the combination of bias and precision errors, technically defined as uncertainty, that quantifies the differences between a measured and true value.

"Affected county" means any county or portion thereof, as defined in Section 13C-5 of the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law of 2005.

"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency or its designee.

"Calibration gas" means a gas of known concentration used to establish the response curve of the exhaust gas analyzer.

"Diagnostic trouble code" or "DTC" means an alphanumeric code that is set in a vehicle's onboard computer when a monitor detects a condition likely to indicate the existence of an emission related malfunction of the vehicle.

"Drift" means the amount of change in analyzer reading over a period of time. Zero drift refers to the change of zero reading. Span drift refers to a change in the reading at a specified span gas calibration point.

"Economic hardship extension" means a one year extension to the test-by date that may be granted to the owners of a vehicle in order for the owners to comply with the requirements of the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law of 2005.

"Emissions compliance certificate" means a certificate issued to an owner of a vehicle registered in an affected county who successfully complies with the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law of 2005 and the requirements of this Part. As required by the context, this means an emissions compliance certificate, annual exemption certificate or emissions inspection certificate.

"Emission control devices" means those components of a vehicle that were designed and are used to control vehicle exhaust and evaporative system emissions. For the purpose of this Part, this term refers to components with which the vehicle was originally equipped or direct replacements.

"Evaporative system integrity test" means a test of the fuel cap portion of a vehicle's evaporative system, which consists of either a fuel cap leak flow test, a fuel cap pressure decay test, or a fuel cap visual functional test, as applicable.

"Exhaust gas analyzer" means a device that has the capability to identify unknown concentrations of particular constituents in motor vehicle exhaust gases by comparison with known concentrations of analytical gases.

"Fleet inspection permit" means a permit issued to fleet self-testers in accordance with Subpart G.

"Fleet inventory" means those vehicles that have been registered with the Agency for the purpose of fleet self-testing and that have been assigned a test eligibility date.

"Fleet vehicle" means any non-exempt vehicle registered with the Agency for the purpose of fleet self-testing.

"Fuel cap" means a device used to seal a vehicle's fuel inlet.

"Fuel cap leak flow test" means a test performed in accordance with this Part on a vehicle's fuel cap using a fuel cap leak flow tester to determine whether the vehicle complies with the evaporative system emission standards of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 240.

"Fuel cap leak flow tester" or "fuel cap tester" means a device used to determine the leak flow integrity of a vehicle's fuel cap by comparing the measured leak flow of the fuel cap with an established fuel cap leak flow standard.

"Fuel cap pressure decay test" means the test performed in accordance with this Part on a vehicle's fuel cap using a fuel cap pressure decay tester to determine whether the vehicle complies with the evaporative system emission standards of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 240.

"Fuel cap pressure decay tester" means a device used to determine the pressure decay integrity of a vehicle's fuel cap by monitoring the pressure behind the fuel cap for a 10 second period and comparing the measured pressure decay of the fuel cap to an established fuel cap pressure decay standard.

"Fuel cap visual functional test" means the test performed in accordance with this Part on a vehicle's fuel cap using visual analysis to determine whether the vehicle complies with the evaporative system emission standards of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 240.

"Full-service official inspection station" means an inspection station that offers the full range of emissions inspection services and customer service functions, including waiver inspections.

"HC hangup" means hydrocarbons that cling to the surface of the analyzer gas sampling stream causing errors in hydrocarbon readings.

"High idle" means a vehicle operating condition with engine disconnected from an external load (placed in either neutral or park) and operating at a speed of 2500 ±300 RPM.

"Household income" means the gross income of all household members, except wage or salary income earned by dependent minors under 18 years of age. A head of household and his or her spouse are not considered as minors. Gross income includes wages, interest, annuities, pensions, social security, retirement, disability, public aid, alimony, child support, unemployment benefits, workers' compensation, and any other indirect income such as utility allowances.

"Idle mode" means that portion of a vehicle emission test procedure conducted with the engine disconnected from an external load and operating at minimum throttle.

"Initial idle mode" means the first of up to two idle mode sampling periods during a steady-state idle mode test, during which exhaust emission measurements are made with the vehicle in "as-received" condition.

"Low income" means the household income during the preceding 12 month period was not more than 150 percent of the latest available poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the contiguous United States and the District of Columbia.

"Malfunction indicator light" or "MIL" means the light found on the dashboard of OBD-equipped vehicles that is required to be illuminated when the OBD system detects malfunctions likely to result in emissions exceeding applicable emission standards. The MIL must display the phrase "Check Engine" or "Service Engine Soon". The word "Powertrain" may be substituted for "Engine". Alternatively, the ISO engine symbol may be substituted.

"National Institute of Standards and Technology gas" or "NIST gas" means a standard gas maintained or made available by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the purpose of determining the accuracy of calibration gases.

"Non-exempt vehicle" means any vehicle subject to emission inspections, regardless of whether the vehicle is in a certified configuration, under the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law of 2005.

"Non-fleet vehicle" means any non-exempt vehicle except for vehicles registered with the Agency for the purpose of fleet self-testing.

"Official inspection station" means a vehicle emission inspection facility operated by the Agency or the Agency's Contractor for the purpose of conducting emission inspections on non-fleet vehicles.

"On-board diagnostic readiness code" means a status flag stored by a vehicle's onboard computer that indicates whether a given monitor has been run (i.e., whether the component or system in question has been checked to determine if it is functioning properly).

"On-board diagnostic test" means the electronic retrieval of stored readiness status, diagnostic trouble codes, and MIL illumination status from a vehicle's OBD system to determine if any emission related trouble codes are present and if the MIL is commanded to be on, which would indicate the existence of an emission related malfunction with the vehicle.

"On-road remote sensing test" means the observation, measurement, and recording of vehicle exhaust emission concentrations of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) present in each in-use vehicle while traveling on roadways or in specified areas by equipment that is not connected to the vehicle.

"Preconditioning mode" means a period of steady-state high-idle operation conducted to ensure that the engine and emissions control system components are operating at normal operating temperatures, thus minimizing false failure caused by improper or insufficient warm-up.

"Private official inspection station" means a vehicle emission inspection facility operated by a registered owner or lessee of 15 or more non-exempt fleet vehicles.

"Recognized repair technician" means a person professionally engaged in vehicle repair, employed by a going concern whose purpose is vehicle repair, or possessing nationally recognized certification for emission related diagnosis and repair.

"Second-chance idle mode" means the second of two idle mode sampling periods during a steady-state idle mode test, preceded by a preconditioning mode and utilized as a second chance to pass idle exhaust emission standards immediately following an initial idle mode failure.

"Span gas" means a gas of known concentrations that is used to check or adjust the analyzer response characteristics to those determined by the calibration gases.

"Steady-state idle test" means a vehicle emission test procedure consisting of an initial idle mode measurement of exhaust emissions followed, if necessary, by a high idle preconditioning mode and a second-chance idle mode.

"Test-by date" or "TBD" means the date by which the vehicle is due to have an emissions inspection and corresponds to the date the vehicle's registration will expire. For non-expiring vehicle registrations, the TBD is the date of the vehicle's purchase anniversary month or, if not available, the month the vehicle was added to the Illinois Secretary of State's registration database.

"Test cycle" means the two-year period between a vehicle's test eligibility dates.

"Test eligibility date" or "TED" means the first day of the third month prior to the vehicle's TBD.

"Vehicle emissions test notice" means a notice sent by the Agency to the owners of a vehicle informing the owners of the need to comply with the requirements of the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Law of 2005.

"Vehicle inspection report" means a report issued to the motorist indicating the results of an emission inspection or waiver determination.

"Visual functional test" means a visual examination of a vehicle's fuel cap for any readily apparent wear, tampering, or defects that would prevent the fuel cap from operating properly.

"Visual inspection test" means a visual examination of a vehicle's MIL consisting of verifying the status of the MIL in key on/engine off position followed by verifying the status of the MIL in the key on/engine on position to determine the status of the MIL and existence of an emission related malfunction with the vehicle.

"Waiver" means a suspension of the requirement that a non-exempt vehicle comply with test standards after two or more attempts to do so, as provided for in this Part.

"Waiver inspection" means an inspection conducted by a waiver inspector to determine waiver eligibility.

"Waiver inspector" means a person authorized by the Agency to conduct waiver inspections and to approve or disapprove applications for a waiver.