BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 341| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 341 Author: Lowenthal (D) Amended: 6/21/11 Vote: 21 SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-1, 3/29/11 AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio, Simitian NOES: Harman SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 SENATE FLOOR : 37-2, 4/25/11 AYES: Alquist, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee NOES: Anderson, La Malfa NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-5, 7/14/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Construction vehicles: backup alarms SOURCE : California Construction and Industrial Materials Association DIGEST : This bill requires that specified construction CONTINUED SB 341 Page 2 vehicles, as defined, operated in construction and mining sites be equipped with an automatic alarm that sounds when the vehicle backs up. Assembly Amendments change the type of vehicles this bill applies to from commercial vehicles to construction vehicles, and provide a definition of construction vehicles. ANALYSIS : Existing law requires that vehicles be equipped with specified equipment for safety reasons, such as a horn, various lights and mirrors, and a windshield defroster. Among the equipment requirements in state law, each garbage truck must be equipped with an automatic backup alarm that sounds when the garbage truck is backing, whether that occurs because it is operating in reverse or it is in another gear but rolls backwards. This alarm must be audible at a distance of 100 feet. The Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) safety orders (i.e., state regulations) governing construction employment sites require that vehicles at these sites capable of hauling 2.5 or more cubic yards of dirt, rock, concrete, or other construction material must be equipped with an automatic backup alarm that is audible from 200 feet or a functional equivalent to backup alarm. This bill: 1. Requires that construction vehicles having a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds or more that work in construction or mining sites must be equipped with an alarm that sounds automatically on backing and can be heard from a distance of 200 feet. 2. Defines "construction vehicle" to include, but is not limited to, all of the following: A. A vehicle designed to transport concrete, cement, clay, limestone, aggregate material, or other similar construction or industrial material, including a transfer truck or a tractor trailer combination used exclusively to pull bottom dump, end dump, or side CONTINUED SB 341 Page 3 dump trailers. B. A vehicle that is a concrete mixer truck, a truck with a concrete placing boom, a water tank truck, a single engine crane with a load rating of 35 tons or more, or a tractor that exclusively pulls a low-boy trailer. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 8/8/11) California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (source) Associated General Contractors Basic Resources, Inc. California Dump Truck Owners Association California Teamsters Public Affairs Council Cemex Diversified Minerals Inc. Elements Specialties Graniterock Holliday Rock Company Knife River Corporation LeHigh Hanson Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 Specialty Minerals Inc. Vulcan Materials Company Werner Corporation West Coast Aggregates, Inc. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office notes that trucks traveling through aggregate plants or construction sites pose occupational safety challenges due to their numbers, mobility, and traffic patterns, changes in driver and tractor-trailer combinations, and separate ownership and operation. While most dump trucks have working backup alarms and aggregate and construction sites enforce Cal/OSHA alarm requirements, the author asserts that it remains a challenge to ensure that every truck has a working alarm, given the number of trucks and frequency of changes. CONTINUED SB 341 Page 4 The author's office further points to the additional public safety concern that while operating on public roads or in areas outside of those covered by the Cal/OSHA safety order, dump trucks and other construction site vehicles are not required to have backup alarms. According to the author's office, this bill was introduced to close a safety gap the proponents perceive in current law regarding backup alarms. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-5, 7/14/11 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Grove, Jones, Knight, Logue, Morrell NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines, Gorell, Mitchell RJG:mw 8/8/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED