Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Implementation.
Participation in the Low Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and
Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program (LIRAP) is voluntary. An affected county
may choose to participate in the program at its discretion. Upon receiving a
written request to participate in the LIRAP by a county commissioner's court,
the executive director shall authorize the implementation of a LIRAP in the
requesting county. The executive director and county shall enter into a grant
contract for the implementation of the LIRAP.
(1) The grant contract must provide
conditions, requirements, and projected funding allowances for the
implementation of the LIRAP.
(2) A
participating county may contract with an entity approved by the executive
director for services necessary to implement the LIRAP. A participating county
or its designated entity shall demonstrate to the executive director that, at a
minimum, the county or its designated entity has provided for appropriate
measures for determining applicant eligibility and repair effectiveness and
ensuring against fraud.
(3) The
participating county shall remain the contracted entity even if the county
contracts with another county or another entity approved by the executive
director to administer the LIRAP.
(b) Repair and retrofit assistance. A LIRAP
must provide for monetary or other compensatory assistance to eligible vehicle
owners for repairs directly related to bringing certain vehicles that have
failed a required emissions test into compliance with emissions requirements or
for installing retrofit equipment on vehicles that have failed a required
emissions test, if practically and economically feasible, in lieu of or in
combination with repairs performed to bring a vehicle into compliance with
emissions requirements. Vehicles under the LIRAP must be repaired or
retrofitted at a recognized emissions repair facility. To determine
eligibility, the participating county or its designated entity shall make
applications available for LIRAP participants. The application, at a minimum,
must require the vehicle owner to demonstrate that:
(1) the vehicle has failed a required
emissions test within 30 days of application submittal;
(2) the vehicle can be driven under its own
power to the emissions inspection station or vehicle retirement
facility;
(3) the vehicle is
currently registered in and has been registered in the participating program
county for at least 12 of the 15 months immediately preceding the application
for assistance;
(4) the vehicle has
passed the safety portion of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) motor
vehicle safety and emissions inspection as recorded in the Vehicle Inspection
Report, or provide assurance that actions will be taken to bring the vehicle
into compliance with safety requirements;
(5) the vehicle owner's net family income is
at or below 300% of the federal poverty level; and
(6) any other requirements of the
participating county or the executive director are met.
(c) Accelerated vehicle retirement. A LIRAP
must provide monetary or other compensatory assistance to eligible vehicle
owners to be used toward the purchase of a replacement vehicle.
(1) To determine eligibility, the
participating county or its designated entity shall make applications available
for LIRAP participants. The application, at a minimum, must require the vehicle
owner to demonstrate that:
(A) the vehicle
meets the requirements under subsection (b)(1) - (3) and (5) of this
section;
(B) the vehicle has passed
a DPS motor vehicle safety or safety and emissions inspection within 15 months
prior to application submittal; and
(C) any other requirements of the
participating county or the executive director are met.
(2) Eligible vehicle owners of pre-1996 model
year vehicles that pass the required United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Start-Up Acceleration Simulation Mode (ASM) standards emissions
test, but would have failed the EPA Final ASM standards emissions test, or some
other criteria determined by the commission, may be eligible for accelerated
vehicle retirement and replacement compensation under this section.
(3) Notwithstanding the vehicle requirement
provided under subsection (b)(1) of this section, an eligible vehicle owner of
a vehicle that is gasoline powered and is at least 10 years old as determined
from the current calendar year (i.e., 2010 minus 10 years equals 2000) and
meets the requirements under subsection (b)(2), (3), and (5) of this section,
may be eligible for accelerated vehicle retirement and compensation.
(4) Replacement vehicles must:
(A) be in a class or category of vehicles
that has been certified to meet federal Tier 2, Bin 5 or cleaner Bin
certification under 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §86.1811-04 or
federal Tier 3, Bin 160 or cleaner Bin certification under
40
CFR §
86.1811-17;
(B) have a gross vehicle weight rating of
less than 10,000 pounds;
(C) have
an odometer reading of not more than 70,000 miles;
(D) be a vehicle, the total cost of which
does not exceed $35,000 or up to $45,000 for hybrid, electric, or natural gas
vehicles, or vehicles certified as Tier 2, Bin 3 or cleaner Bin certification
under
40
CFR §
86.1811-04 or federal Tier 3, Bin
85 or cleaner Bin certification under
40
CFR §
86.1811-17; and
(E) have passed a DPS motor vehicle safety
inspection or safety and emissions inspection within the 15-month period before
the application is submitted.
(d) Compensation. The participating county
shall determine eligibility and approve or deny the application promptly. If
the requirements of subsection (b) or (c) of this section are met and based on
available funding, the county shall authorize monetary or other compensations
to the eligible vehicle owner.
(1)
Compensations must be:
(A) no more than $600
and no less than $30 per vehicle annually to be used for emission-related
repairs or retrofits performed at recognized emissions repair facilities,
including diagnostics tests performed on the vehicle; or
(B) based on vehicle type and model year of a
replacement vehicle for the accelerated retirement of a vehicle meeting the
requirements under this subsection. Only one retirement compensation can be
used toward one replacement vehicle annually per applicant. The maximum amount
toward a replacement vehicle must not exceed:
(i) $3,000 for a replacement car of the
current model year or previous three model years, except as provided by clause
(iii) of this subparagraph;
(ii)
$3,000 for a replacement truck of the current model year or the previous two
model years, except as provided by clause (iii) of this subparagraph;
and
(iii) $3,500 for a replacement
hybrid, electric, natural gas, and federal Tier 2, Bin 3 or cleaner Bin
certification under
40
CFR §
86.1811-04 or federal Tier 3, Bin
85 or cleaner Bin certification under
40
CFR §
86.1811-17 vehicle of the current
model year or the three previous model years.
(2) Vehicle owners shall be responsible for
paying the first $30 of emission-related repairs or retrofit costs that may
include diagnostics tests performed on the vehicle.
(3) For accelerated vehicle retirement,
provided that the compensation levels in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection
are met and minimum eligibility requirements under subsection (c) of this
section are met, a participating county may set a specific level of
compensation or implement a level of compensation schedule that allows
flexibility. The following criteria may be used for determining the amount of
financial assistance:
(A) model year of the
vehicle;
(B) miles registered on
the vehicle's odometer;
(C) fair
market value of the vehicle;
(D)
estimated cost of emission-related repairs necessary to bring the vehicle into
compliance with emission standards;
(E) amount of money the vehicle owner has
already spent to bring the vehicle into compliance, excluding the cost of the
vehicle emissions inspection; and
(F) vehicle owner's income.
(e) Reimbursement for
repairs and retrofits. A participating county shall reimburse the appropriate
recognized emissions repair facility for approved repairs and retrofits within
30 calendar days of receiving an invoice that meets the requirements of the
county or designated entity. Repaired or retrofitted vehicles must pass a DPS
safety and emissions inspection before the recognized emissions repair facility
is reimbursed. In the event that the vehicle does not pass the emissions retest
after diagnosed repairs are performed, the participating county has the
discretion, on a case-by-case basis, to make payment for diagnosed emissions
repair work performed.
(f)
Reimbursements for replacements. A participating county shall ensure that funds
are transferred to a participating automobile dealership no later than 10
business days after the county receives proof of the sale, proof of transfer to
a dismantler, and any administrative documents that meet the requirements of
the county or designated entity. A list of all administrative documents must be
included in the agreements that are entered into by the county or designated
entity and the participating automobile dealerships.
(1) A participating county shall provide an
electronic means for distributing replacement funds to a participating
automobile dealership once all program criteria have been met. The replacement
funds may be used as a down payment toward the purchase of a replacement
vehicle. Participating automobile dealers shall be located in the State of
Texas. Participation in the LIRAP by an automobile dealer is
voluntary.
(2) Participating
counties shall develop a document for confirming a person's eligibility for
purchasing a replacement vehicle and for tracking such purchase.
(A) The document must include at a minimum,
the full name of applicant, the vehicle identification number of the retired
vehicle, expiration date of the document, the program administrator's contact
information, and the amount of money available to the participating vehicle
owner.
(B) The document must be
presented to a participating dealer by the person seeking to purchase a
replacement vehicle before entering into negotiations for a replacement
vehicle.
(C) A participating dealer
who relies on the document issued by the participating county has no duty to
confirm the eligibility of the person purchasing a replacement vehicle in the
manner provided by this section.
(g) Opting out of the LIRAP. Participation in
the LIRAP is voluntary. A participating county may opt out of the program.
Procedures to release a participating county from the LIRAP shall be initiated
upon the receipt of a written request to the executive director by the county
commissioner's court in a participating county.
(1) A written request to opt out of the LIRAP
shall request release from the LIRAP fee as defined in §
114.7 of this title (relating to
Low Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle
Retirement Program Definitions) and the grant contract established in
subsection (a) of this section. The written request shall include one of the
following possible LIRAP opt-out effective dates as defined in §
114.7 of this title:
(A) the LIRAP fee termination effective date
as defined in §
114.7 of this title; or
(B) the last day of the legislative biennium
in which the LIRAP fee termination effective date as defined in §
114.7 of this title
occurred.
(2) Upon
receipt of a written request to be released from participation in the LIRAP,
the executive director shall notify, in writing, with a copy sent to the
requesting county, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, DPS, and the
Legislative Budget Board of Texas that the LIRAP fee should no longer be
collected for vehicles undergoing inspection and registration in the affected
county.
(3) A county opting out of
the LIRAP remains a participating county until the LIRAP opt-out effective date
as defined in §
114.7 of this title, on which date
the county is no longer subject to the LIRAP fee, and the grant contract
established in subsection (a) of this section is ended. Not more than 90 days
after a county's LIRAP opt-out effective date, the unspent balance of allocated
LIRAP funds for that county will be returned to the commission unless the
county opting out has entered into an official inter-county elective agreement
with other participating counties in the same region to share allocated LIRAP
funds. If the county opting out has entered into an official inter-county
elective agreement with other participating counties in the same region to
share allocated LIRAP funds, then the portion of LIRAP allocations that is
shared and unspent as of the LIRAP opt-out effective date will be redistributed
among the remaining participating counties that are part of that agreement.
This redistribution of funds will occur not more than 90 days after a county's
LIRAP opt-out effective date.
