BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 628| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 628 Author: Conway (R) Amended: 8/30/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/21/11 AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Huff, Lowenthal, Rubio, Simitian NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman, Kehoe, Pavley SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMM. : 7-2, 6/28/11 AYES: La Malfa, Cannella, Fuller, Kehoe, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk NOES: Pavley, Evans SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-10, 5/31/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Off-highway vehicle: County of Inyo SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill authorizes the County of Inyo to establish a pilot project that sunset 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. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/30/11 ensure that the State of California is indemnified in instances where the County of CONTINUED AB 628 Page 2 Inyo permits off-highway vehicles to be driven on stat highways. 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. 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 allows Inyo County (County) to develop a pilot project in which segments of highways can be designated for combined-use to link existing OHV trails and trailheads, and to link OHV recreational-use areas with necessary CONTINUED AB 628 Page 3 service and lodging facilities so long as each segment does not exceed 10-miles each. Specifically, this bill: 1. Requires the County to prescribe a procedure to designate combined-use highways. The procedure must be approved by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors. 2. Requires the County prescribe a procedure to remove a combined-use designation, including a designation that is removed as a result of the conclusion of the pilot program. 3. Requires the County to establish uniform specifications and symbols for signs, markers, and traffic control devices to control OHVs on combined-used highways including signs to designate right-of-way, warning signs, and maximum speed. 4. Prohibits speeds greater than 35 miles per hour on combined-used highways by OHVs. 5. Requires the CHP to find that the designated combined-use highways do not create a potential safety hazard before the county designates a road segment for combined use. 6. Requires the County include an opportunity for public comment at a public hearing in order to evaluate the pilot program. 7. Allows the pilot program to include use of a state highway, subject to approval by Department of Transportation, or any crossing of a highway pursuant to current law. 8. Specifies, that by selecting and designating a highway for combined use, the County agree to defend and indemnify the state against any and all claims for any safety-related losses or injuries resulting from use by OHVs of a highway designated as a combined use highway by the County. 9. Requires the county, in consultation with the CHP, Department of Transportation, and the Department of CONTINUED AB 628 Page 4 Parks and Recreation shall prepare and submit a report to the Legislature evaluating the pilot project by January 1, 2016. The report must include (a) a description of the combined-use highways, (b) an evaluation of the overall safety and effectiveness of the pilot project including its impact on traffic flows, safety, off-highway vehicle usage on existing trails, incursions into areas not designated for off-highway vehicle usage, and nonmotorized recreation, and (c) a description of the public comments received at a public hearing held by the county in regards to an evaluation of the pilot program. 10.Sunsets this pilot project on January 1, 2017. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/11) Big Pine Shell Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau Bishop Lions Club City of Bishop Eastern Sierra Propane Friends of Independence Lake Friends of the High Lakes Golden State Cycle Hi-Country Market and Hardware Inyo County Board of Supervisors Regional Council of Rural Counties OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/1/11) California Native Plant Society Center for Biological Diversity Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation Defenders of Wildlife Desert Protective Council Friends of Hope Valley Natural Resources Defense Council Planning and Conservation League Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Sierra Club California CONTINUED AB 628 Page 5 The Wilderness Society ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office 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. The author's office 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's office 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's office states that Inyo County is a land designated for recreation and the three mile cap is too rigid. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Sierra Club states that this is a poorly thought out bill that benefits 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. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-10, 5/31/11 AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Blumenfield, Bradford, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Conway, Cook, Davis, Donnelly, Fletcher, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Mitchell, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, John A. Pérez NOES: Ammiano, Feuer, Fong, Hayashi, Huffman, Ma, Skinner, CONTINUED AB 628 Page 6 Swanson, Wieckowski, Yamada NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Block, Bonilla, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Chesbro, Dickinson, Eng, Furutani, Gorell, Hueso, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Monning, Williams JJA:do 9/1/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED