Amended in Assembly March 28, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2438


Introduced by Assembly Member Lowenthal

February 21, 2014


An act to amend Sectionbegin delete 34501end deletebegin insert 12804.11end insert of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2438, as amended, Lowenthal. begin deleteCommercial motor vehicles: safe operation. end deletebegin insertVehicles: firefighter endorsements.end insert

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Existing law provides that in order to operate firefighting equipment, a driver is required to (1) obtain and maintain a firefighter endorsement issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles and obtain and maintain a restricted class A license, a noncommercial class B license, or a class C license, as specified, or (2) obtain and maintain a class A or B license, as specified, for the size and configuration of the firefighting equipment operated. To qualify for a firefighter endorsement, existing law requires a driver to provide to the Department of Motor Vehicles proof of current employment as a firefighter or volunteer firefighter and evidence of fire equipment operation training that includes directly supervised behind-the-wheel driver training.

end insert
begin insert

Existing law requires a person conducting the driver training described above to be registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal or to meet certain other requirements. Among those other requirements, existing law requires the person to possess a minimum of 5 years of fire service experience as an emergency vehicle operator, as specified, and to possess a valid class A or B license or a class A or B license restricted to the operation of firefighting equipment.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would revise the licensing requirement described above for a person who conducts driver training to include a person who possesses a class C license with a firefighter endorsement.

end insert
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Existing law requires the Department of the California Highway Patrol to adopt reasonable rules and regulations that, in the judgment of the department, are designed to promote the safe operation of specified commercial vehicles, regarding, among other things, inspection and maintenance of vehicles.

end delete
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This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 12804.11 of the end insertbegin insertVehicle Codeend insertbegin insert is amended
2to read:end insert

3

12804.11.  

(a) To operate firefighting equipment, a driver,
4including a tiller operator, is required to do either of the following:

5(1) Obtain and maintain a firefighter endorsement issued by the
6department and obtain and maintain a class C license as described
7in Section 12804.9, a restricted class A license as described in
8Section 12804.12, or a noncommercial class B license as described
9in Section 12804.10.

10(2) Obtain and maintain a class A or B license as described in
11Section 12804.9 and, as appropriate, for the size and configuration
12of the firefighting equipment operated.

13(b) To qualify for a firefighter endorsement the driver shall do
14 all of the following:

15(1) (A) Provide to the department proof of current employment
16as a firefighter or registration as a volunteer firefighter with a fire
17department and evidence of fire equipment operation training by
18providing a letter or other indication from the chief of the fire
19department or his or her designee.

20(B) For purposes of this section, evidence of fire equipment
21operation training means the applicant has successfully completed
22Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A taught by an instructor
23registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal or fire
24department driver training that meets all of the following
25requirements:

P3    1(i) Meets or exceeds the standards outlined in NFPA 1002,
2Chapter 4 (2008 version) or the Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator
31A course adopted by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

4(ii) Prepares the applicant to safely operate the department’s
5fire equipment that the applicant will be authorized to operate.

6(iii) Includes a classroom (cognitive) portion of at least 16 hours.

7(iv) Includes a manipulative portion of at least 14 hours, which
8includes directly supervised behind-the-wheel driver training.

9(C) Driver training shall be conducted by a person who is
10registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to instruct a
11Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A course or a person who meets
12all of the following criteria:

13(i) Possesses a minimum of five years of fire service experience
14as an emergency vehicle operator, three of which must be at the
15rank of engineer or higher.

16(ii) Possesses a valid California class A or B license or a class
17A or B license restricted to the operation of firefighting equipment
18begin insert or a class C license with a firefighter endorsementend insert.

19(iii) Is certified as a qualified training instructor or training
20officer by the State of California, the federal government, or a
21county training officers’ association.

22(2) Pass the written firefighter examination developed by the
23department with the cooperation of the Office of the State Fire
24Marshal.

25(3) Upon application and every two years thereafter, submit
26medical information on a form approved by the department.

27(c) There shall be no additional charge for adding a firefighter
28endorsement to an original license or when renewing a license. To
29add a firefighter endorsement to an existing license when not
30renewing the license, the applicant shall pay the fee for a duplicate
31license pursuant to Section 14901.

32(d) (1) A driver of firefighting equipment is subject to the
33requirements of subdivision (a) if both of the following conditions
34exist:

35(A) The equipment is operated by a person employed as a
36firefighter by a federal or state agency, by a regularly organized
37fire department of a city, county, city and county, or district, or by
38a tribal fire department or registered as a volunteer member of a
39regularly organized fire department having official recognition of
P4    1the city, county, city and county, or district in which the department
2is located, or of a tribal fire department.

3(B) The motor vehicle is used to travel to and from the scene
4of an emergency situation, or to transport equipment used in the
5control of an emergency situation, and which is owned, leased, or
6rented by, or under the exclusive control of, a federal or state
7agency, a regularly organized fire department of a city, county,
8city and county, or district, a volunteer fire department having
9official recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district
10in which the department is located, or a tribal fire department.

11(2) A driver of firefighting equipment is not required to obtain
12and maintain a firefighter endorsement pursuant to paragraph (1)
13of subdivision (a) if the driver is operating the firefighting
14equipment for training purposes, during a nonemergency, while
15under the direct supervision of a fire department employee who is
16properly licensed to operate the equipment and is authorized by
17the fire department to provide training.

18(e) For purposes of this section, a tiller operator is the driver of
19the rear free-axle portion of a ladder truck.

20(f) For purposes of this section, “firefighting equipment” means
21a motor vehicle, that meets the definition of a class A or class B
22vehicle described in subdivision (b) of Section 12804.9, that is
23used to travel to and from the scene of an emergency situation, or
24to transport equipment used in the control of an emergency
25situation, and that is owned, leased, or rented by, or under the
26exclusive control of, a federal or state agency, a regularly organized
27fire department of a city, county, city and county, or district, or a
28volunteer fire department having official recognition of the city,
29county, city and county, or district in which the department is
30located.

31(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), a regularly
32organized fire department, having official recognition of the city,
33county, city and county, or district in which the department is
34 located, may require an employee or a volunteer of the fire
35department who is a driver or operator of firefighting equipment
36to hold a class A or B license.

37(h) This section applies to a person hired by a fire department,
38or to a person renewing a driver’s license, on or after January 1,
392011.

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P5    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 34501 of the Vehicle Code is amended to
2read:

3

34501.  

(a) (1) (A) The department shall adopt reasonable
4rules and regulations that, in the judgment of the department, are
5designed to promote the safe operation of the vehicles described
6in Section 34500, regarding, but not limited to, controlled
7substances and alcohol testing of drivers by motor carriers, hours
8of service of drivers, equipment, fuel containers, fueling operations,
9inspection, maintenance, recordkeeping, accident reports, and
10drawbridges. The rules and regulations shall not be applicable to
11schoolbuses, which shall be subject to rules and regulations adopted
12pursuant to Section 34501.5.

13(B) The rules and regulations shall exempt local law
14enforcement agencies, within a single county, engaged in the
15transportation of inmates or prisoners when those agencies maintain
16other motor vehicle operations records that furnish hours of service
17information on drivers who are in substantial compliance with the
18rules and regulations. This exemption does not apply to a local
19law enforcement agency engaged in the transportation of inmates
20or prisoners outside the county in which the agency is located if
21that agency would otherwise be required, by existing law, to
22maintain driving logs.

23(2) The department may adopt rules and regulations relating to
24commercial vehicle safety inspection and out-of-service criteria.
25In adopting the rules and regulations, the commissioner may
26consider the commercial vehicle safety inspection and
27out-of-service criteria adopted by organizations such as the
28Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance , other intergovernmental
29safety group, or the United States Department of Transportation.
30The commissioner may provide departmental representatives to
31that alliance or other organization for the purpose of promoting
32the continued improvement and refinement of compatible
33 nationwide commercial vehicle safety inspection and out-of-service
34criteria.

35(3) The commissioner shall appoint a committee of 15 members,
36consisting of representatives of industry subject to the regulations
37to be adopted pursuant to this section, to act in an advisory capacity
38to the department, and the department shall cooperate and confer
39with the advisory committee so appointed. The commissioner shall
40appoint a separate committee to advise the department on rules
P6    1and regulations concerning wheelchair lifts for installation and use
2on buses, consisting of persons who use the wheelchair lifts,
3representatives of transit districts, representatives of designers or
4manufacturers of wheelchairs and wheelchair lifts, and
5representatives of the Department of Transportation.

6(4) The department may inspect any vehicles in maintenance
7facilities or terminals, as well as any records relating to the dispatch
8of vehicles or drivers and the pay of drivers, to assure compliance
9with this code and regulations adopted pursuant to this section.

10(b) The department, using the definitions adopted pursuant to
11Section 2402.7, shall adopt regulations for the transportation of
12hazardous materials in this state, except the transportation of
13materials that are subject to other provisions of this code, that the
14department determines are reasonably necessary to ensure the
15safety of persons and property using the highways. The regulations
16may include provisions governing the filling, marking, packing,
17labeling, and assembly of, and containers that may be used for,
18 hazardous materials shipments, and the manner by which the
19shipper attests that the shipments are correctly identified and in
20proper condition for transport.

21(c) At least once every 13 months, the department shall inspect
22every maintenance facility or terminal of any person who at any
23time operates any bus. If the bus operation includes more than 100
24buses, the inspection shall be without prior notice.

25(d) The commissioner shall adopt and enforce regulations that
26will make the public or private users of any bus aware of the
27operator’s last safety rating.

28(e) It is unlawful and constitutes a misdemeanor for a person to
29operate any bus without the inspection specified in subdivision (c)
30having been conducted.

31(f) The department may adopt regulations restricting or
32prohibiting the movement of any vehicle from a maintenance
33facility or terminal if the vehicle is found in violation of this code
34or regulations adopted pursuant to this section.

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