BILL NUMBER: AB 1923	CHAPTERED  09/16/02

	CHAPTER  576
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 16, 2002
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 14, 2002
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 28, 2002
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 27, 2002
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 5, 2002
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 23, 2002

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dickerson

                        FEBRUARY 12, 2002

   An act to amend Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to highways.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1923, Dickerson.  Highway exit information signs.
   Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to allow
the placement of information signs on highways in rural areas.  The
signs are required to be placed near freeway exits and to identify
specific roadside businesses offering fuel, food, lodging, or camping
services.  Under existing law, the Department of Transportation is
prohibited from approving placement of the signs in any urban area
with a population of 5,000 or more.
   This bill would prohibit the department from removing information
signs placed before January 1, 2003, in any urban area where
population growth results in a population of 5,000 or more but less
than 10,000.  The bill would also require the department to provide
equal access to all business applicants.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 101.7 of the Streets and Highways Code is
amended to read:
   101.7.  (a) The department shall adopt rules and regulations which
allow the placement near exits on freeways located in rural areas,
of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses
offering fuel, food, lodging, or camping services and which prescribe
the standards for those signs.
   (b) The department shall provide equal access to all business
applicants.
   (c) The department shall not approve the placement of any sign
within any urban area designated by the United States Bureau of the
Census as having a population of 5,000 or more.
   The department may not remove an information sign that was placed
before January 1, 2003, due solely to population growth in an urban
area that results in a population of 5,000 or more but less than
10,000.
   (d) The information signs may be placed near the freeway exits in
addition to, or in lieu of, other highway signs of the department,
but not in lieu of on-premises or off-premises highway oriented
business signs and directional signs.
   (e) The department shall establish and charge a fee to place and
maintain information signs in an amount not less than 25 percent
above its estimated cost in placing and maintaining the information
signs.  The department shall annually review the amount of that fee
and revise it as necessary.  Funds derived from the imposition of the
fee, after deduction of the cost to the department for the placement
and maintenance of the information signs, shall be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for safety roadside rest purposes.