BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1128
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          Date of Hearing:   May 2, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
                               Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
                   AB 1128 (Furutani) - As Amended:  April 25, 2011

           SUBJECT  :  Vehicles: Terminal Island Freeway: special permits

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the California Department of Transportation 
          (Caltrans) to issue overweight truck permits on designated 
          roadways to allow for the movement shipping containers from the 
          Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles into the City of Carson.  

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Prescribes, according to state and federal law, maximum gross 
            weight limits for vehicles and vehicle combinations using 
            public highways.  

            Authorizes Caltrans to issue weight exemption permits to the 
            operator of vehicles and loads, as specified, on the following 
            roadways:  

             a)   On a 3.66-mile portion of State Route (SR) 47 and SR 103 
               known as Terminal Island Freeway, between Willow Street in 
               the City of Long Beach and Terminal Island in the City of 
               Long Beach and the City of Los Angeles; and,

             b)   On a 2.1-mile portion of SR 1 between Blinn Avenue in 
               the City of Los Angeles and Harbor Avenue in the City of 
               Long Beach.  

          1)Specifies that to obtain weight exemption permits from 
            Caltrans, the vehicle and its load must meet specified 
            criteria.  

          2)Prohibits Caltrans from issuing a weight exemption permit for 
            the movement of hazardous materials.  

          3)Requires that the weight exemption permit issued by Caltrans 
            contain certain criteria related to description of the load, 
            liability waivers, and proof insurance.  

          4)Requires overweight trucks to carry and display the weight 
            exemption permit and furnish a copy of the permit to the 








                                                                  AB 1128
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            California Highway Patrol (CHP) or Caltrans, upon request.  

          5)Specifies that weight exemption permits issued by Caltrans are 
            valid for one year and may be cancelled by Caltrans.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS:  

           The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are considered among the 
          most active port facilities in the world and no other commercial 
          facility in Southern California produces more vehicular traffic 
          congestion.  In light of these significant traffic congestion 
          issues, the City of Long Beach requested the weight exemption 
          authorized by AB 2438 (Karnette), Chapter 1037, Statutes of 
          1993, and later extended by SB 839 (Karnette), Chapter 358, 
          Statutes of 1997, contending that this unique situation 
          necessitated allowing heavier vehicles to use the roadways to 
          enhance the growth and efficiency of both Ports.  The City of 
          Long Beach further asserted that without this exemption cargo 
          could be diverted to other ports, both in California and in the 
          Pacific Northwest.  

          The author introduced this legislation to allow overweight 
          vehicles carrying port cargo to use additional roadway segments 
          in and around the City of Carson.  The author contends that by 
          doing so, underutilized warehouses in and around the City of 
          Carson can be accessed for port cargo storage.  To accomplish 
          this, this bill would authorize Caltrans to increase the 
          distance that overweight vehicles can travel on a relatively 
          small section of the Pacific Coast Highway, upon the adoption of 
          an ordinance or resolution by the City of Carson.  

          Increasing overweight truck use on the state highway system 
          would likely result in accelerated pavement degradation.  
          However, the cost of this degradation is outweighed by the 
          benefits of allowing overweight trucks to travel on an 
          additional, relatively short, segment of state highway.  

           Previous legislation :  AB 2438 (Karnette), Chapter 1037, 
          Statutes of 1993, authorized Caltrans, upon  ordinance or 
          resolution by the City of Long Beach and the City of Los Angeles 
          to issue a permit to certain overweight trucks carrying cargo 
          containers for use of the Terminal Island Freeway in Los Angeles 
          County, under certain conditions.   








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          SB 839 (Karnette), Chapter 358, Statutes of 1997, extended the 
          January 1, 1998 sunset to January 1, 2003, authorizing Caltrans, 
          upon the adoption of an ordinance or resolution by both the City 
          of Long Beach and the City of Los Angeles, to issue a special 
          permit to the operator of a vehicle that exceeds the maximum 
          gross weight limits.  

          SB 2072 (Karnette), Chapter 229, Statutes of 2002, extended 
          indefinitely the existing law allowing Caltrans, upon adoption 
          of conforming ordinances by the City of Long Beach and the City 
          of Los Angeles, for overweight vehicles.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          ACX Pacific Northwest, Inc.
          California Association of Port Authorities
          International Warehouse Logistics Association
          Los Angeles County Business Federation
          Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

           Opposition 
           
          None received
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :   Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319- 
          2093