BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 628
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: conway
VERSION: 4/25/11
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 21, 2011
SUBJECT:
Off-Highway Vehicles: County of Inyo
DESCRIPTION:
This bill authorizes the County of Inyo to establish a pilot
project that sunsets on January 1, 2017, under which it may
designate segments of its county roads that are greater than
three miles in length for combined use by cars and off-highway
vehicles.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law prohibits an off-highway motor vehicle (OHV) from
being driven upon any public highway or street, except to cross
a highway or when a highway is closed due to snow. Existing
law, however, also allows a local authority, the federal
government, or the Department of Parks and Recreation to permit
both OHVs and motor vehicles on road segments of up to three
miles in length under its jurisdiction, if all of the following
conditions are met:
The segment connects OHV trails, connects an OHV
recreational use area and necessary services, or connects an
OHV recreational use area to lodging facilities;
The local authority finds that the road segment is
designed and constructed to safely permit the use of regular
vehicular traffic and the driving of OHVs;
The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
declares that allowing combined use on the road segment
would not create a potential traffic safety hazard;
The local authority adopts a resolution or ordinance
authorizing the combined use and prescribing rules and
regulations governing that combined use; and
AB 628 (CONWAY) Page 2
The local authority erects signs on and along the road
indicating combined use.
Drivers of OHVs that are operated on the road pursuant to a
local authority's combined use authorization must comply with
all provisions of the California Vehicle Code, including
possessing a valid driver's license, obeying speed laws,
possessing evidence of insurance, and wearing a helmet while on
a motorcycle. In no case, however, may an OHV be operated on a
road after dark.
This bill :
1.Permits the County of Inyo to establish a pilot project to
designate for combined use county road segments located in
unincorporated portions of Inyo County that are more than
three miles in length in order to link OHV trails and
trailheads on federal lands and to link OHV recreational use
areas with service and lodging facilities. The pilot project
shall:
Prescribe a procedure for highway, road, or route
selection and designation by the Inyo County Board of
Supervisors.
Establish, in cooperation with the state Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), uniform specifications and
symbols for signs, markers, and traffic control devices to
control and warn other road users of OHV traffic.
Require that OHVs subject to the pilot project meet the
safety requirements in state and federal law and that their
operators comply with all provisions of the California
Vehicle Code, including possessing a valid driver's
license, obeying speed laws, possessing evidence of
insurance, and wearing a helmet while on a motorcycle.
Maintain the prohibition on OHVs being operated on a
road after dark.
Limit OHVs and regular traffic from traveling faster
than 35 miles per hour on roads designated for combined use
AB 628 (CONWAY) Page 3
under the pilot project.
1.Requires the County of Inyo, by January 1, 2016, and in
consultation with the CHP, Caltrans, and the California
Department of Parks and Recreation, to prepare and submit to
the Legislature a report evaluating the pilot project,
including identifying the designated road segments and
examining the safety and effectiveness of the pilot project.
2.Sunsets the pilot project on January 1, 2017.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author points out that the vast majority of Inyo
County is national parks and other publicly owned land with
only 1.6 percent of the county in private ownership. She
introduced this bill to create a better linked trail system in
the county that will assist land managers in keeping OHVs out
of places where their use cannot be tolerated and provide an
economic base to the economy of the small communities within
that county. The author asserts that the OHV trails for this
linked system currently exist so no new infrastructure is
necessary. Inyo County could enjoy many positive impacts if
it had more flexibility on combined use highway restrictions.
The author states that Inyo County is a land designated for
recreation and the three mile cap is too rigid.
2.Arguments in opposition . The Sierra Club writes, on behalf of
the opponents listed below, that this is a poorly thought out
bill that would benefit one minority segment of recreational
users to the detriment of all others, would harm the quality
of life for rural residents, and threatens natural and
cultural resources. Specifically, opponents note that the
state Department of Parks and Recreation's OHV program is
intended to balance OHV recreation with the protection of
natural and cultural resources by limiting OHVs to carefully
chosen areas and trails, but this bill threatens that balance
by allowing "special interests to designate county roads for
OHV use."
3.Previous legislation . Last year, AB 2338 (Conway), which
passed this committee on a 6-0 vote on June 22 last year,
would have exempted a county road segment located in an
unincorporated area of the County of Inyo from the limit that
it be no more than three miles in length in order to be
designated for combined use. Under that bill, the
AB 628 (CONWAY) Page 4
Commissioner of the CHP could have deemed that a particular
designation of longer than three miles would create a
potential traffic safety hazard and thereby overridden the
exemption. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2338 because it
would have exposed "the state to liability issues if the CHP
allows joint use by off-highway vehicles and vehicles on roads
in Inyo County and an accident occurs. This liability could
result in significant costs to the state."
4.Technical amendments .
On page 4, line 15, delete "of the quorum"
On page 5, line 1, delete "trail" and insert "road"
1.Double referral . The Rules Committee referred this bill to
both the Transportation and Housing Committee and to the
Natural Resources and Water Committee. Therefore, should this
bill pass this committee, it will be referred to the Senate
Natural Resources and Water Committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 54-10
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 8-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 15,
2011)
SUPPORT: Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors
Bureau
Bishop Lions Club
City of Bishop
Friends of the High Lakes
Inyo County
Sneakers Motorcycle Club
93 individuals
OPPOSED: Sierra Club California
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Wilderness Society
Desert Protection Council
Center for Biological Diversity
Defenders of Wildlife
California Native Plant Society
Friends of Hope Valley
Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
AB 628 (CONWAY) Page 5
Planning and Conservation League
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility