Vermont Introduces Pro-Hobby Bills

The Vermont State Legislature introduced a variety of pro-hobby bills for the 2022 legislative session. The following bills are pending before the House Committee on Transportation and may be scheduled to be heard at any time.

DON’T DELAY! Please contact the House Committee on Transportation to request support for H. 675 and H. 649:

You may use the following points in your message:
 

H. 675 — Implements a fair testing procedure based on SEMA-model legislation for vehicle owners accused of exhaust noise violations.

  • This bill implements the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) objective testing procedures for determining if a vehicle’s installed exhaust system is in excess of 95 decibels.
     
  • This bill allows the operator of a vehicle to defend an exhaust noise violation, recognizing that the best way to address this issue is by establishing a fair and reasonable exhaust noise decibel limit.
     

H. 649 — Reduces safety and emissions inspections to every other year. 

  • This bill requires a biennial safety inspection and visual emissions inspection for all motor vehicles instead of the current annual inspection.
     
  • This bill requires a biennial emissions or on board diagnostic (OBD) system inspection for vehicles that are 16 model years old or less instead of an annual inspection.
     
  • This bill will save the government money and will save the state’s vehicle owners significant time and energy.
     
  • This bill acknowledges the burden annual inspections place on vehicle owners, the results of which demonstrate no significant benefits.