6. a. The commission, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation and with the approval of the Attorney General, shall establish and implement a periodic inspection program and a roadside enforcement program to implement the standards and test methods adopted pursuant to section 3 of this act. These programs shall be designed to measure exhaust emissions and to inspect emission control apparatus and related items on diesel buses, heavy-duty diesel trucks, and other diesel-powered motor vehicles. The programs shall include, at a minimum, diesel buses and heavy-duty diesel trucks subject to the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to section 3 of this act; provided that the commission, in consultation with the Department of Transportation, may exempt vehicles from either program for good cause, which may include that vehicles belonging to an exempted class are, by law, subject to emissions testing in another program. The commission, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection and with the approval of the Attorney General, may, by rule or regulation, expand the periodic inspection program and the roadside enforcement program to include other diesel-powered motor vehicles that are subject to the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to section 3 of this act. The commission, in consultation with the Commissioner of Transportation, may, by rule or regulation, impose upon every owner and lessee of a diesel bus, heavy-duty diesel truck, or other diesel-powered motor vehicle subject to periodic inspection the obligation to have the vehicle periodically inspected in a manner determined by the commission in consultation with the Commissioner of Transportation, to effect repairs or to abstain from operating or to limit the operation of a rejected vehicle or a vehicle overdue for inspection, and may take other action necessary or appropriate for implementation of the periodic inspection program. The commission, in consultation with the Commissioner of Transportation, may, by rule or regulation, impose upon every owner and lessee of a diesel bus, heavy-duty diesel truck, or other diesel-powered motor vehicle subject to roadside inspection the obligation to abstain from operating or to limit the operation of a vehicle that has been tested and found to be in violation of the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to section 3 of this act, or to effect repairs, and may take other action necessary or appropriate for implementation of the roadside enforcement program. A school bus, as defined pursuant to R.S.39:1-1, shall be exempt from the roadside enforcement program. However, nothing in this subsection allowing or mandating exemptions from the periodic inspection program or the roadside enforcement program shall be construed to limit any other enforcement actions permitted by law.

b. The commission shall exercise all authority, including but not limited to administrative, implementation, enforcement, and penalty authority, in connection with the periodic inspection program for diesel buses and the roadside enforcement program for diesel buses that are under the jurisdiction of the commission pursuant to Titles 27 and 48 of the Revised Statutes or any other law, rule, or regulation. The commission shall consult with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation in conducting the periodic inspection program for diesel buses and the roadside enforcement program for diesel buses that are under the jurisdiction of the commission. Any periodic inspection that may be required pursuant to this act for a diesel bus under the jurisdiction of the commission shall be conducted only in conjunction with any periodic safety inspection required for that diesel bus pursuant to law, rule, or regulation. Any suspension of registration privileges with respect to diesel buses for a violation of this act or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto shall be implemented by the commission.

L.1995,c.157,s.6; amended 2003, c.13, s.79.