BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1128
                                                                  Page  1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1128 (Furutani)
          As Amended  July 5, 2011
          Majority vote
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |ASSEMBLY:  |75-0 |(May 26, 2011)  |SENATE: |37-0 |(August 22,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2011)          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
            
           Original Committee Reference:   TRANS.  

           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.  

           The Senate amendments  :  

           1)Declare legislative intent that the City of Carson adopt an 
            ordinance or resolution authorizing overweight truck use on 
            local streets and roads designated in this bill.  

          2)Extend the local roadway segment to be used by overweight 
            trucks.  

          3)Prohibit permitted overweight vehicles from operating outside 
            of the corridors designated in this bill and specifies that 
            doing so would result in revocation of the permit.  

           EXISTING LAW  :  

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

          2)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,









                                                                  AB 1128
                                                                  Page  2

             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 
            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.  

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill was substantially similar 
          to the version passed by the Senate.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee, the only state highway affected by this bill is a 
          stretch of Pacific Coast Highway about one-third of a mile in 
          length.  The increase in heavy vehicle traffic will cause the 
          roadway to deteriorate much more quickly that it would under the 
          weight of the types of vehicles to which the roadway would 
          otherwise be limited.  However, Caltrans reports the maintenance 
          costs for the roadway to be absorbable.  

           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 








                                                                  AB 1128
                                                                  Page  3

          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.  

          This bill states the intent of the Legislature is that the City 
          of Carson will pass a conforming ordinance or resolution 
          designating the various roadways described in this bill as 
          overweight vehicles corridors.  

          The bill also expressly provides that any applicant or holder of 
          an overweight vehicle permit who operates outside of the 
          designated corridors or in a manner not otherwise identified in 
          this bill would have his or her permit revoked.  

          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.   
           
          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.  









                                                                  AB 1128
                                                                  Page  4

          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.  
           

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


                                                               FN: 0001649