BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1128| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ CONSENT Bill No: AB 1128 Author: Furutani (D), et al. Amended: 7/5/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM : 9-0, 06/28/11 AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio, Simitian SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 05/26/11 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Terminal Island Freeway: special permits SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Department of Transportation to issue permits allowing vehicles that exceed the weight limit to travel on a section of State Highway Route 1. ANALYSIS : Existing law generally limits vehicles and vehicle combinations, such as tractor-trailer combinations, to a gross weight of no more than 80,000 pounds. The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) or a local authority, at its discretion, may issue a permit to transport an oversized or overweight load on highways under its control. CONTINUED AB 1128 Page 2 In addition, existing law authorizes Caltrans to issue a special permit to the operator of a vehicle that exceeds the maximum gross weight limits to travel on a specified 3.66 mile section of the Terminal Island Freeway (State Route (SR) 47 and SR 103) and a 2.1 mile section of SR 1. Before Caltrans can issue such a permit, both the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles must adopt related resolutions or ordinances allowing these vehicles on specified local roads. The permitted vehicles must: Be used to transport intermodal cargo containers that are moving international commerce. Not exceed a gross weight of 95,000 pounds. Meet weight limits that Caltrans determines. Vehicles for which Caltrans issues a permit may not transport hazardous materials, must display a Caltrans-issued indicia indicating its permitted status, and must carry a copy of the permit at all times, which the operator must furnish upon request from an employee of Caltrans or the California Highway Patrol (CHP). This bill extends by 0.3 miles the portion of SR 1 for which Caltrans may issue these overweight permits, provided that the City of Carson adopts a related resolution or ordinance permitting these vehicles to travel on local roads as well. This would allow a permitted overweight vehicle travel on a 2.4 section of SR 1. Specifies the bill does not allow an applicant or permit holder to operate a vehicle that exceeds the weight limit outside the designated corridor. Comments The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles rank among the busiest 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 a weight exemption on specified state highways near the port. AB 2438 (Karnette), Chapter 1037, Statutes of 1993, granted that exemption for a limited time, and SB 2072 (Karnette), Chapter 229, Statutes of CONTINUED AB 1128 Page 3 2002, made it permanent. The port contended when AB 2438 was pending that the situation at the ports necessitated allowing heavier vehicles to use state highways and local roads to enhance the growth and efficiency of both ports. The City of Long Beach further asserted then that without this exemption cargo could be diverted to other ports. The exemption that AB 2438 created allows vehicles carrying overweight cargo containers to travel on a combined 5.8 miles of the Terminal Island Freeway and SR 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) to reach warehouse facilities around the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles, and Terminal Island. Shippers store goods that come through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach at these nearby warehouses, which trucks reach via the current overweight corridor, but the proponents note that warehouses outside of this route are not fully utilized. The author introduced this legislation to allow overweight vehicles carrying port cargo to use additional roadway segments in and around the City of Carson to reach these underused warehouses. To accomplish this, this bill would authorize Caltrans to increase the distance that overweight vehicles can travel on a relatively small section of State Highway Route 1, upon the adoption of an ordinance or resolution by the City of Carson designating the related local routes within that city. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/11/11) California Association of Port Authorities Carson Chamber of Commerce City of Carson City of Los Angeles Desert Express FCL Logistics, LTD. International Warehouse Logistics Association Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn Los Angeles County Business Federation CONTINUED AB 1128 Page 4 Price Transfer, Inc. Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce The Port of Los Angeles ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 05/26/11 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Cedillo, Davis, Gorell, Jones JJA:nl 7/12/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED