BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1101
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          Date of Hearing:   January 13, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
                               Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
                   AB 1101 (Chesbro) - As Amended:  January 6, 2014
           
          SUBJECT  :  Vehicles: length exemption

           SUMMARY  :  Extends the vehicle length exemption for specified  
          livestock carriers on portions of State Route 101 (SR 101) in  
          Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino Counties from 2015 to 2020;  
          amends other, related provisions accordingly.   

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Provides, until January 1, 2015, that a vehicle length  
            exemption for cattle hauling trucks using SR 101 in Del Norte,  
            Humboldt, and Mendocino Counties is in effect provided the  
            travel is incidental to the shipment of livestock.  The  
            exemption does not apply to travel on the day prior to or the  
            day of any federally recognized holiday and applies only to  
            trucks meeting all of the following criteria:   

             a)   The length of the truck tractor and semitrailer shall  
               not exceed 70 feet;

             b)   The distance from kingpin to the rearmost axle (KP-RA)  
               does not exceed 43 feet; and,

             c)   The total length of the semitrailer does not exceed 48  
               feet.  

          1)Specifies that, if prior to January 1, 2012, the Director of  
            the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) determines that  
            the only adjustment to SR 101 to accommodate trucks sizes, as  
            specified in the exemption, is the removal of any tree with a  
            diameter of 42 inches or greater, measured outside the bark,  
            at 12 inches above the ground on the side adjacent to the  
            highest ground level, the Director shall notify the Secretary  
            of State.  

          2)Specifies that, prior to January 1, 2015, if the Director of  
            Caltrans determines that safety improvements to the specified  
            portion of SR 101 have resulted in reclassification of the  
            entire segment as a terminal access route, the Director shall  








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            notify the Secretary of State of that determination.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  The original sunset date of this exemption has been  
          extended multiple times in order to accommodate the transport of  
          livestock through this specific region.  SR 101 is the primary  
          north-south route serving the north coast of California and has  
          historically contained a number of tight curves that were  
          difficult for long truck-trailer combinations to maneuver  
          without crossing over the centerline of the highway.  In  
          addition to extending the sunset date, previous legislation also  
          required the California Highway Patrol (CHP), in consultation  
          with Caltrans, to report to the Legislature on the public safety  
          impacts of the exemption.  

          KP-RA length requirements for semitrailers that operate on the  
          state highway system have been extensively studied and evaluated  
          over time.  A kingpin is the main pin used to connect a  
          semitrailer to a truck tractor.  KP-RA distance determines the  
          width of the turning radius of a truck-trailer combination.   
          Generally, any increase in the wheelbase of any vehicle in a  
          combination of vehicles will result in the vehicle combination  
          using more of a road to complete a turn, thus potentially  
          encroaching into adjacent lanes, damaging curbs or road  
          fixtures, or compromising the safety of other motorists.  

          In order to accurately assess the impact of a semi-trailer with  
          a specific KP-RA on the state highway system, Caltrans utilizes  
          an off-tracking computer model program.  The off-tracking  
          computer model program provides the maximum swept width (msw)  
          for a vehicle through a turn.  An "msw" is defined as the  
          maximum lateral dimension between the path described by the  
          front axle wheel located on the outside of the curve and the  
          non-circular path on the rearmost axle wheel located on the  
          inside of a curve.  The turning characteristics of vehicle  
          combinations are quantifiable and can be used as a measure of  
          compatibility between vehicle size and roadway geometry.  

          In 1989 Caltrans conducted a study entitled "Truck  
          Kingpin-To-Rear Axle Length State Highway System Evaluation" as  
          required by SB 2232 (McCorquodale), Chapter 1378, Statutes of  
          1986.  In the study, Caltrans warned that out of the 15,166  
          total miles of state highway:









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          1)  22% (3,364 miles) could not accommodate trucks with 40 foot  
          KP-RA lengths.  

          2)  21% (3,185 miles) could not accommodate trucks with 38 foot  
          KP-RA lengths.  

          3)  18.6% (2,831) miles could not accommodate trucks with 30  
          foot KP-RA lengths.  

          The results of the Caltrans study identified three segments of  
          SR 101 in Mendocino and Humboldt counties as being inadequate to  
          accommodate a truck tractor and semitrailer combination with a  
          40-foot KP-RA length.  Since these restrictions have been  
          identified, Caltrans has been working on improving the road  
          conditions of these segments, totaling approximately 33.4 miles,  
          to allow longer truck tractor-semitrailer combinations to safely  
          operate within this region.  To date, projects on two of the  
          three segments have been completed including the Big Lagoon  
          Widening Project (completed February 2008) and the Confusion  
          Hill Realignment Project (completed October 2009).  

          The remaining section needing repair is a segment of SR 101  
          passing through Richardson Grove State Park.  This 1.1-mile  
          improvement project has been previously postponed due to a  
          number of environmental lawsuits.   However, Caltrans has either  
          prevailed or taken the appropriate actions in response to these  
          lawsuits and is gearing up to submit the final environmental  
          review.  Once work begins, which is projected to start sometime  
          during summer 2014, the Richardson Grove project is anticipated  
          to be completed within two years.  Once this project is  
          completed, the need for the exemption provided to licensed  
          carriers of livestock will no longer be required.  

          Lastly, in the most recent report issued by CHP to the  
          Legislature related to this exemption (issued January 2011), CHP  
          found that there have been no collisions or incidents related to  
          the truck length exemption within this region.  

           Author's amendment  :  The author intends to amend this bill to  
          allow the sunset to expire upon completion of the Richardson  
          Grove project.  Over the past 15 years, multiple bills have been  
          passed by the Legislature to extend and study this KP-RA  
          exemption.  Over this period, CHP has not reported on any major  
          accidents or incidents related to this exemption.  Accordingly,  
          with the final project expected to be completed within the next  








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          two years, this amendment will provide the assurance that the  
          exemption will remain in statute until no longer needed for this  
          region.  

          Due to legislative deadlines, the author intends to take these  
          amendments in the Appropriations Committee, assuming the bill  
          successfully passes out of this committee.  

           Previous legislation:  

          AB 349 (Chesbro), Chapter 172, Statutes of 2011, extended the  
          sunset date of the vehicle length exemption for livestock  
          carriers until January 1, 2015 in the counties of Humboldt, Del  
          Norte, and Mendocino.  

          SB 773 (Wiggins), Chapter 440, Statutes of 2007, expanded the  
          exemption to length limitations, until January 1, 2012, for  
          livestock carriers to semi-trailers up to 43 feet provided the  
          semi-trailer does not exceed a total of 48 feet.  

          SB 1224 (Chesbro), Chapter 449, Statutes of 2006, extended the  
          sunset date until 2012, and required CHP to continue the  
          comprehensive study of the effect of the exemption on public  
          safety and to make recommendations on future exemptions by  
          January 1, 2011.  

          SB 127 (Chesbro), Chapter 188, Statutes of 2003, extended the  
          sunset date until January 1, 2007, and required CHP to conduct a  
          third study on the safety impacts, which was issued on March 20,  
          2006.  

          AB 220 (Strom-Martin), Chapter 413, Statutes of 2001, continued  
          the exemption until January 1, 2004 and instructed the CHP to  
          conduct a second study on the possible safety impacts, which was  
          never issued.  

          AB 1474 (Cardoza), Chapter 911, Statutes of 1999, added one more  
          year to the exemption, and gave CHP until July 1, 2001 to  
          complete the study and report to the Legislature.  

          AB 2426 (Strom-Martin), Chapter 711, Statutes of 1998, created a  
          two-year exemption, until January 1, 2000, to permit livestock  
          carriers to travel on portions of SR 101 and required the CHP to  
          conduct a study on the possible safety impacts of the exemption.  
           








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           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          California Cattlemen's Association (Co-sponsor) 
          County of Humboldt (Co-sponsor) 
          Rural County Representative of California

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :   Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093