BILL NUMBER: SB 1220	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wolk

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to amend Section 35002 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1220, as introduced, Wolk. Vehicles: emergency vehicles: fire
apparatus.
   (1) Existing law requires specified authorized emergency vehicles
owned and operated by a governmental agency that are first purchased
on or after January 1, 1994, to meet certain size, weight, and load
requirements, including the requirement that the manufacturer weigh
and certify fire apparatus to determine compliance with weight
requirements. Existing law defines a "fire apparatus" as, among other
things, a vehicle designed, maintained, and used exclusively for the
suppression of fires or for fire prevention activities, including
the training of firefighters.
   This bill would instead define a "fire apparatus" as a vehicle
designed to be used under emergency conditions to transport personnel
and equipment, or to support the suppression of fires or mitigation
of other hazardous situations, consistent with Standard 1901 of the
National Fire Protection Association.
   (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 35002 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   35002.  (a) (1) This division does not apply to  any
  an  authorized emergency vehicle owned or
operated by a governmental agency while being used in responding to
and returning from emergency fire calls, while being moved from place
to place in anticipation of emergency fire calls, when used during
training in any fire service application or during fire prevention
activities, or when vehicles ordinarily used for those purposes are
necessarily transported for vehicle maintenance, repair, or service.
This subdivision only applies to vehicles purchased prior to January
1, 1994. Vehicles purchased on January 1, 1992, to and including
December 31, 1993, shall meet the applicable requirements of
Standards 1901 to 1904, inclusive, of the National Fire Protection
Association, as those standards were in effect on December 31, 1991.
   (2) All vehicles described in paragraph (1) first purchased on or
after January 1, 1994, shall comply with the applicable permit
requirements adopted by the Department of Transportation.
   (3) For purposes of this section, "purchased" means the date that
the operating agency enters into a contract to purchase the vehicle.
   (b) All vehicles described in subdivision (a) purchased on or
after January 1, 1994, shall meet the following requirements:
   (1) It shall be the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide
a gross axle weight rating (GAWR), gross combined weight rating
(GCWR), and gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), adequate to carry a
full water tank with the allowance for personnel and miscellaneous
equipment, including hose load, shown in the table below:
                                      Misc.
                       Personnel    Equipment
Pumpers                 1,200
                          lbs.     2,000 lbs.
Light attack
apparatus              600 lbs.     900 lbs.
Water towers            1,200
                          lbs.     1,500 lbs.
Aerial platforms
with
                         1,200
ground ladders           lbs.     2,500 lbs.
Aerial ladders
with                    1,200
ground ladders           lbs.     2,500 lbs.


Fire apparatus shall be weighed and certified by the manufacturer to
determine compliance with the table above prior to acceptance by the
purchaser. Apparatus and chassis manufacturers shall furnish
certification of the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), gross
combined weight rating (GCWR), and gross axle weight rating (GAWR) on
a nameplate affixed to the apparatus.
   (2)  Any   A  fire apparatus exceeding
31,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) shall be equipped
with a retarder.
   (3) For purposes of this section, a "fire apparatus" is 
any   a  vehicle  or combination of
vehicles designed, maintained, and used exclusively for the
suppression of fires or for fire prevention activities, including the
training of firefighters. A tank vehicle owned by a regularly
organized fire suppression agency and used to transport water or
other fire suppression materials is a fire apparatus. A vehicle or
combination of vehicles which is not designed primarily for fire
suppression, including, but not limited to, a hazardous materials
response vehicle, dedicated rescue vehicle, command post
communications vehicle, passenger vehicle, bus, mobile kitchen,
mobile sanitation facility, and heavy equipment transport vehicle,
are not a fire apparatus for purposes of this section  
designed to be used under emergency conditions to transport personnel
and equipment, or to support the suppression of fires or mitigation
of other hazardous situations, consistent with Standard 1901 of the
National Fire Protection Association  .
   (c) A vehicle owned, operated, or rented by  any 
 a  public agency  which   that 
is being used in responding to or returning from an emergency, may be
operated as required, if a reasonable effort is first made by the
agency to obtain verbal permission from an authorized officer or
employee of the agency having jurisdiction of the highways used, and,
upon termination of the emergency, when the vehicle is returning
from the site of the emergency, the public agency either obtains a
permit at the location of the emergency or makes a reasonable effort
to obtain verbal permission from an authorized officer or employee of
the agency having jurisdiction of the highways used, and obtains a
written permit for that use pursuant to Section 35780 not later than
three days after the date of the emergency. As used in this
subdivision, "emergency" means a condition  which 
 that  poses an imminent threat of loss of property or a
hazard to life, as determined by the public agency charged with
responsibility to respond thereto.
   (d)  Any   A    governmental
agency operating an authorized emergency vehicle or other vehicle
subject to this section is liable to the governmental agency having
jurisdiction of  any   a  state or county
highway for  any   the  damage to the
highway or  any   a  highway structure
caused by the operation of the vehicle of a size or weight of vehicle
or load exceeding that specified in this division. The cost of
repair of the damage is a proper charge against the support fund of
the governmental agency operating the oversize or overweight vehicle.

   (e) Neither the state nor  any   an 
agency thereof is liable for damage to  any   a
 highway or highway structure caused by vehicles operated,
pursuant to this section, by or on behalf of a local authority or any
other local governmental entity.
  SEC. 2.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to revise Vehicle Code provisions regulating the
operation of authorized emergency vehiclesas soon as possible, these
changes need to go into effect immediately.