§ 51.369 - Improving repair effectiveness.

§ 51.369 Improving repair effectiveness.

Effective repairs are the key to achieving program goals and the State shall take steps to ensure the capability exists in the repair industry to repair vehicles that fail I/M tests.

(a) Technical assistance. The oversight agency shall provide the repair industry with information and assistance related to vehicle inspection diagnosis and repair.

(1) The agency shall regularly inform repair facilities of changes in the inspection program, training course schedules, common problems being found with particular engine families, diagnostic tips and the like.

(2) The agency shall provide a hot line service to assist repair technicians with specific repair problems, answer technical questions that arise in the repair process, and answer questions related to the legal requirements of State and Federal law with regard to emission control device tampering, engine switching, or similar issues.

(b) Performance monitoring.

(1) In enhanced I/M program areas, the oversight agency shall monitor the performance of individual motor vehicle repair facilities, and provide to the public at the time of initial failure, a summary of the performance of local repair facilities that have repaired vehicles for retest. Performance monitoring shall include statistics on the number of vehicles submitted for a retest after repair by the repair facility, the percentage passing on first retest, the percentage requiring more than one repair/retest trip before passing, and the percentage receiving a waiver. Programs may provide motorists with alternative statistics that convey similar information on the relative ability of repair facilities in providing effective and convenient repair, in light of the age and other characteristics of vehicles presented for repair at each facility.

(2) Programs shall provide feedback, including statistical and qualitative information to individual repair facilities on a regular basis (at least annually) regarding their success in repairing failed vehicles.

(3) A prerequisite for a retest shall be a completed repair form that indicates which repairs were performed, as well as any technician recommended repairs that were not performed, and identification of the facility that performed the repairs.

(c) Repair technician training. The State shall assess the availability of adequate repair technician training in the I/M area and, if the types of training described in paragraphs (c)(1) through (4) of this section are not currently available, shall insure that training is made available to all interested individuals in the community either through private or public facilities. This may involve working with local community colleges or vocational schools to add curricula to existing programs or start new programs or it might involve attracting private training providers to offer classes in the area. The training available shall include:

(1) Diagnosis and repair of malfunctions in computer controlled, close-loop vehicles;

(2) The application of emission control theory and diagnostic data to the diagnosis and repair of failures on the transient emission test and the evaporative system functional checks (where applicable);

(3) Utilization of diagnostic information on systematic or repeated failures observed in the transient emission test and the evaporative system functional checks (where applicable); and

(4) General training on the various subsystems related to engine emission control.

(d) SIP requirements. The SIP shall include a description of the technical assistance program to be implemented, a description of the procedures and criteria to be used in meeting the performance monitoring requirements of this section, and a description of the repair technician training resources available in the community.

[57 FR 52987, Nov. 5, 1992, as amended at 65 FR 45535, July 24, 2000]