BILL NUMBER: AB 2438 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lowenthal
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 34501 12804.11
of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2438, as amended, Lowenthal. Commercial motor
vehicles: safe operation. Vehicles: firefighter
endorsements.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12804.11 of the
Vehicle Code is amended to read:
12804.11. (a) To operate firefighting equipment, a driver,
including a tiller operator, is required to do either of the
following:
(1) Obtain and maintain a firefighter endorsement issued by the
department and obtain and maintain a class C license as described in
Section 12804.9, a restricted class A license as described in Section
12804.12, or a noncommercial class B license as described in Section
12804.10.
(2) Obtain and maintain a class A or B license as described in
Section 12804.9 and, as appropriate, for the size and configuration
of the firefighting equipment operated.
(b) To qualify for a firefighter endorsement the driver shall do
all of the following:
(1) (A) Provide to the department proof of current employment as a
firefighter or registration as a volunteer firefighter with a fire
department and evidence of fire equipment operation training by
providing a letter or other indication from the chief of the fire
department or his or her designee.
(B) For purposes of this section, evidence of fire equipment
operation training means the applicant has successfully completed
Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A taught by an instructor registered
with the Office of the State Fire Marshal or fire department driver
training that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) Meets or exceeds the standards outlined in NFPA 1002, Chapter
4 (2008 version) or the Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A course
adopted by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
(ii) Prepares the applicant to safely operate the department's
fire equipment that the applicant will be authorized to operate.
(iii) Includes a classroom (cognitive) portion of at least 16
hours.
(iv) Includes a manipulative portion of at least 14 hours, which
includes directly supervised behind-the-wheel driver training.
(C) Driver training shall be conducted by a person who is
registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to instruct a
Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A course or a person who meets all of
the following criteria:
(i) Possesses a minimum of five years of fire service experience
as an emergency vehicle operator, three of which must be at the rank
of engineer or higher.
(ii) Possesses a valid California class A or B license or a class
A or B license restricted to the operation of firefighting equipment
or a class C license with a firefighter endorsement .
(iii) Is certified as a qualified training instructor or training
officer by the State of California, the federal government, or a
county training officers' association.
(2) Pass the written firefighter examination developed by the
department with the cooperation of the Office of the State Fire
Marshal.
(3) Upon application and every two years thereafter, submit
medical information on a form approved by the department.
(c) There shall be no additional charge for adding a firefighter
endorsement to an original license or when renewing a license. To add
a firefighter endorsement to an existing license when not renewing
the license, the applicant shall pay the fee for a duplicate license
pursuant to Section 14901.
(d) (1) A driver of firefighting equipment is subject to the
requirements of subdivision (a) if both of the following conditions
exist:
(A) The equipment is operated by a person employed as a
firefighter by a federal or state agency, by a regularly organized
fire department of a city, county, city and county, or district, or
by a tribal fire department or registered as a volunteer member of a
regularly organized fire department having official recognition of
the city, county, city and county, or district in which the
department is located, or of a tribal fire department.
(B) The motor vehicle is used to travel to and from the scene of
an emergency situation, or to transport equipment used in the control
of an emergency situation, and which is owned, leased, or rented by,
or under the exclusive control of, a federal or state agency, a
regularly organized fire department of a city, county, city and
county, or district, a volunteer fire department having official
recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district in
which the department is located, or a tribal fire department.
(2) A driver of firefighting equipment is not required to obtain
and maintain a firefighter endorsement pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) if the driver is operating the firefighting equipment
for training purposes, during a nonemergency, while under the direct
supervision of a fire department employee who is properly licensed
to operate the equipment and is authorized by the fire department to
provide training.
(e) For purposes of this section, a tiller operator is the driver
of the rear free-axle portion of a ladder truck.
(f) For purposes of this section, "firefighting equipment" means a
motor vehicle, that meets the definition of a class A or class B
vehicle described in subdivision (b) of Section 12804.9, that is used
to travel to and from the scene of an emergency situation, or to
transport equipment used in the control of an emergency situation,
and that is owned, leased, or rented by, or under the exclusive
control of, a federal or state agency, a regularly organized fire
department of a city, county, city and county, or district, or a
volunteer fire department having official recognition of the city,
county, city and county, or district in which the department is
located.
(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), a regularly
organized fire department, having official recognition of the city,
county, city and county, or district in which the department is
located, may require an employee or a volunteer of the fire
department who is a driver or operator of firefighting equipment to
hold a class A or B license.
(h) This section applies to a person hired by a fire department,
or to a person renewing a driver's license, on or after January 1,
2011.
SECTION 1. Section 34501 of the Vehicle Code is
amended to read:
34501. (a) (1) (A) The department shall adopt reasonable rules
and regulations that, in the judgment of the department, are designed
to promote the safe operation of the vehicles described in Section
34500, regarding, but not limited to, controlled substances and
alcohol testing of drivers by motor carriers, hours of service of
drivers, equipment, fuel containers, fueling operations, inspection,
maintenance, recordkeeping, accident reports, and drawbridges. The
rules and regulations shall not be applicable to schoolbuses, which
shall be subject to rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Section
34501.5.
(B) The rules and regulations shall exempt local law enforcement
agencies, within a single county, engaged in the transportation of
inmates or prisoners when those agencies maintain other motor vehicle
operations records that furnish hours of service information on
drivers who are in substantial compliance with the rules and
regulations. This exemption does not apply to a local law enforcement
agency engaged in the transportation of inmates or prisoners outside
the county in which the agency is located if that agency would
otherwise be required, by existing law, to maintain driving logs.
(2) The department may adopt rules and regulations relating to
commercial vehicle safety inspection and out-of-service criteria. In
adopting the rules and regulations, the commissioner may consider the
commercial vehicle safety inspection and out-of-service criteria
adopted by organizations such as the Commercial Vehicle Safety
Alliance , other intergovernmental safety group, or the United States
Department of Transportation. The commissioner may provide
departmental representatives to that alliance or other organization
for the purpose of promoting the continued improvement and refinement
of compatible nationwide commercial vehicle safety inspection and
out-of-service criteria.
(3) The commissioner shall appoint a committee of 15 members,
consisting of representatives of industry subject to the regulations
to be adopted pursuant to this section, to act in an advisory
capacity to the department, and the department shall cooperate and
confer with the advisory committee so appointed. The commissioner
shall appoint a separate committee to advise the department on rules
and regulations concerning wheelchair lifts for installation and use
on buses, consisting of persons who use the wheelchair lifts,
representatives of transit districts, representatives of designers or
manufacturers of wheelchairs and wheelchair lifts, and
representatives of the Department of Transportation.
(4) The department may inspect any vehicles in maintenance
facilities or terminals, as well as any records relating to the
dispatch of vehicles or drivers and the pay of drivers, to assure
compliance with this code and regulations adopted pursuant to this
section.
(b) The department, using the definitions adopted pursuant to
Section 2402.7, shall adopt regulations for the transportation of
hazardous materials in this state, except the transportation of
materials that are subject to other provisions of this code, that the
department determines are reasonably necessary to ensure the safety
of persons and property using the highways. The regulations may
include provisions governing the filling, marking, packing, labeling,
and assembly of, and containers that may be used for, hazardous
materials shipments, and the manner by which the shipper attests that
the shipments are correctly identified and in proper condition for
transport.
(c) At least once every 13 months, the department shall inspect
every maintenance facility or terminal of any person who at any time
operates any bus. If the bus operation includes more than 100 buses,
the inspection shall be without prior notice.
(d) The commissioner shall adopt and enforce regulations that will
make the public or private users of any bus aware of the operator's
last safety rating.
(e) It is unlawful and constitutes a misdemeanor for a person to
operate any bus without the inspection specified in subdivision (c)
having been conducted.
(f) The department may adopt regulations restricting or
prohibiting the movement of any vehicle from a maintenance facility
or terminal if the vehicle is found in violation of this code or
regulations adopted pursuant to this section.