(a) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, shall review the technical information concerning testing techniques, standards and instructions for emission control features and equipment relative to diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles, including such information available from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and information regarding standards issued by the Society of Automotive Engineers and shall, not later than January 1, 1997, establish a standard of minimum exhaust emission for all diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles operated on the highways of this state. In establishing such standard, the commissioner shall also review standards in effect in other states and in regions subject to federal air quality requirements and shall endeavor to maintain consistency with such standards. The standard shall be reviewed by the commissioner periodically and may be revised as the commissioner deems appropriate. Not later than July 1, 1997, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, shall select a method or methods for testing the exhaust emissions of diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles.

(b) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall provide for the conduct of emissions inspections of diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles operated on the highways of this state using the method or methods selected by the commissioner under subsection (a) of this section. Such inspections may be performed in conjunction with any safety or weight inspection at any official weighing area or other location designated by the commissioner. In lieu of any such inspection performed by the commissioner, the commissioner may accept the results of an inspection performed (1) by agreement with an owner or operator of a fleet of diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles licensed by the commissioner pursuant to subsection (h) of § 14-164c, or (2) by any licensed motor vehicle dealer or repairer authorized by the commissioner, pursuant to this section, to establish a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle inspection station. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall design a sticker to be affixed to the windshield of a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle inspected in accordance with the provisions of this section, which shall bear the date of inspection.

(c) Any person, as defined in subsection (g) of this section, whose vehicle fails to pass an inspection under subsection (b) of this section shall have the vehicle repaired and, within forty-five consecutive calendar days, present proof of emissions-related repairs of such vehicle in such form as the commissioner shall require. The commissioner shall issue a two-year intrastate waiver from compliance with emissions standards to any such vehicle failing to meet such standards but complying with the minimum repair requirements. For purposes of this section, the minimum repair requirements for diesel-powered commercial motor vehicles shall be the expenditure of one thousand dollars towards emissions-related repairs of such vehicle. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall suspend the commercial registration, issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, of any vehicle for which no proof of emissions-related repairs has been submitted within such forty-five-day period.

(d) When a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle fails to submit to an emissions inspection requested in conjunction with any safety or weight inspection at any official weighing area or other location designated by the commissioner, or fails to comply with any provision of this section, the commissioner shall (1) suspend the registration privilege to operate the vehicle on the highways of the state, and (2) notify the jurisdiction in which the vehicle is registered and request said jurisdiction to suspend the registration of the vehicle.

(e) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 to implement the provisions of this section.

(f) No diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle shall be operated on the highways of this state unless such vehicle complies with the provisions of this section and the regulations adopted by the commissioner. Any person who operates or permits the operation of any such vehicle in violation of the provisions of this section or the regulations adopted by the commissioner shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars for a first violation and not more than five hundred dollars for a second or subsequent violation committed within one year after a previous violation.

(g) For the purposes of this section, (1) “commercial motor vehicle” shall not be construed to include a school bus, and (2) “person” means the person holding title to the vehicle or having legal right to register the same, including a purchaser under a conditional bill of sale and a lessee for a term of more than thirty days.