BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 2188
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: lowenthal
VERSION: 3/27/12
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 19, 2012
SUBJECT:
Commercial driver's licenses
DESCRIPTION:
This bill brings the state's commercial driver's license (CDL)
program into compliance with federal CDL regulations.
ANALYSIS:
Federal law provides standards for the safety of commercial
motor vehicles and truck drivers through regulations that the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) promulgates.
FMCSA requires states to be substantially compliant with
federal regulations and conducts periodic audits of state
statutes in order to ensure compliance. If FMCSA determines
during its audit process that a state is not in substantial
compliance, the state is at risk of decertification, which means
the state can no longer issue or renew CDLs. Further, a
decertified state may lose federal-aid highway funds and other
federal grants. Due to recent changes in FMCSA regulations, an
audit of California's CDL program found minor amendments the
state needs to make in order to bring California law into
compliance with those regulations.
This bill brings the state's CDL program into compliance with
federal CDL regulations by making the following changes:
Specifically prohibiting a driver of a vehicle designed to
either transport 16 or more passengers or transport hazardous
materials from failing or refusing to comply with a lawful
out-of-service order issued by CHP.
As of December 31, 2014, eliminating the requirement that a
driver with a CDL carry a medical examiner's certificate if
the driver submitted the required medical information in
accordance with federal regulations.
AB 2188 (LOWENTHAL) Page 2
Explicitly allowing the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
accept a federal waiver of one or more physical qualification
standards, such as for vision or diabetes, when issuing a CDL.
Allowing DMV to issue a restricted passenger car or motorcycle
driver's license to a CDL holder who was not operating a
commercial vehicle when arrested for driving under the
influence, enabling the CDL holder to drive in limited ways
while his CDL is suspended.
Defining the act of driving a commercial vehicle while using
an electronic wireless communication device to write, send, or
read a text-based communication as a serious traffic
violation, which means it can result in the disqualification
of the commercial driving privilege.
Exempting from all CDL requirements and sanctions, when
operating motor vehicles for military purposes, active duty
members of the US Armed Forces, members of military reserves,
National Guard members when on active duty, and active duty
personnel of the US Coast Guard.
Requiring DMV to impose a suspension, revocation, or
disqualification action on any person's commercial driving
privilege upon receiving notification of an administrative
action or conviction of that person in another US state,
Puerto Rico, or Canada for violations that would result in
such action.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill makes conforming
changes to the state's CDL program to ensure continued
compliance with federal law. The state's failure to conform
to the federal regulations could result in federal sanctions
and the potential loss of up to hundreds of millions of
federal tax dollars for transportation purposes. The author
contends that this bill is limited in scope to these
non-controversial changes in order to ensure passage of the
bill and eliminate the risk of the state's decertification by
the federal government.
2.Out-of-service orders . Under existing law, it is unlawful to
fail or refuse to comply with a lawful out-of-service order
issued by an authorized enforcement officer. An
AB 2188 (LOWENTHAL) Page 3
out-of-service order is a declaration that a driver,
commercial motor vehicle, or motor carrier operation can no
longer operate until the driver or vehicle owner addresses
some particular violation. For example, officers issue most
of these orders at truck weigh stations, and the orders are
generally related to minor infractions such as excessive load
weight or violation of driver rest requirements. In these
cases, the officer takes the commercial vehicle out of service
at the truck weigh station, and either the truck or the driver
(depending on the violation) is not allowed to leave the
station and continue down the road until the issue is
addressed.
According to the federal audit, the out-of-service changes
this bill makes are necessary in order to enable law
enforcement to differentiate between various out-of-service
offenses, which in turn enable DMV to impose enhanced
penalties when federal regulations require them.
3.Support if amended . In a letter to the author dated April 11,
2012, the California Chiropractic Association proposes to
support this bill if the author agrees to amend it to include
doctors of chiropractic to the list of health care providers
authorized to perform the physical examination required to
obtain a certificate to drive schoolbus-type vehicles.
According to the letter, this amendment is consistent with
federal law and other sections of state law. Notwithstanding
the merits of this proposed amendment, the author's office has
expressed concerns with including it in the bill because it is
not consistent with her intention to put forth a
non-controversial federal conformity bill.
4.Chaptering amendments . This bill has chaptering conflicts
with two other bills, SB 1310 and AB 2695. Should these bills
continue to move through the Legislature, the author will need
to resolve these conflicts at some point.
5.Technical amendments .
Page 13, line 4, strike "not" and add "other than a
commercial vehicle as"
Page 14, line 4, strike "or hire" and add "hire,
knowingly permit, or authorize"
Page 14, line 5, strike "nor shall he or she knowingly
permit or authorize the driver of a motor vehicle"
Page 14, line 7, strike "by any person"
AB 2188 (LOWENTHAL) Page 4
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 73 - 0
Appr: 17 - 0
Trans: 14 - 0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 13,
2012)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.