BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 812
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 812
(Hill) - As Amended June 29, 2016
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|Policy |Transportation |Vote:|15 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill imposes additional, performance-based inspection
requirements on tour buses operated by passenger stage
corporations (PSCs) and charter party carriers (CPCs).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), upon the
recommendation of the CHP and pending an administrative
hearing, to suspend the permit or certificate of a PSC or CPC
for receiving an unsatisfactory compliance rating in three
consecutive CHP terminal inspections.
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2)Provides that a maintenance facility or terminal of a tour bus
operator receiving two or more consecutive satisfactory CHP
inspection ratings shall be inspected at least once every 26
months, instead of at least once every 13 months.
3)Provides that a maintenance facility or terminal of a tour bus
operator that received an unsatisfactory CHP inspection rating
shall be inspected every six months until the operator
achieves a satisfactory rating during a regular terminal
inspection.
4)Requires a tour bus older than two years and newly acquired by
a CPC or PSC, which has received an unsatisfactory rating and
is being inspected every six months, to be inspected by CHP
prior to being operated.
5)Requires the CHP, when a tour bus is issued an out-of-service
order pursuant to a field inspection, to inspect the
operator's terminal or maintenance facility within 90 days.
6)Requires CHP to recommend to the PUC or the U.S. Department of
Transportation, as appropriate, that a tour bus or modified
limousine carrier's operating authority be suspended, denied,
or revoked upon three consecutive unsatisfactory inspection
ratings.
7)Requires CHP to order a tour bus out of service upon a
determination that the tour bus has multiple safety violations
that could constitute an imminent danger to public safety, and
prohibits the tour bus from being operated until corrections
to the violations are verified by a subsequent CHP inspection
within five business days.
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8)Requires at least 10% of the inspections CHP conducts each
year to be unannounced surprise inspections, prioritized
toward companies that are non-compliant, have a history of
non-compliance with safety laws or regulations, or have
received unsatisfactory ratings.
9)Requires CHP, by January 1, 2018, to adopt regulations
modifying its existing tour bus terminal inspection program
per the above, and requires the CHP to conduct a follow-up
inspection to an unsatisfactory rating between 30 to 90 days
after the initial inspection.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)CHP. The CHP will incur significant unknown costs for
additional annual surprise bus inspections, inspection of
additional buses when initially put in service, inspection of
buses before returning to service after failing inspection,
and more frequent re-inspection of terminals that receive
unsatisfactory ratings. These additional costs will be
somewhat offset by reduced inspections of carriers receiving
satisfactory ratings. Based on current annual inspection costs
of $1.3 million for about 5,200 tour bus inspections, assuming
a 30% to 50% increase in inspections, costs would increase by
$400,000 to $600,000 annually. These costs should decline
over time assuming more operators receive satisfactory ratings
and would thus be subject to less frequent inspections. There
will be additional one-time costs of several hundred thousand
dollars to train and equip new inspectors. [Motor Vehicle
Account]
It should be noted that current annual inspection fee revenues
are only about $200,000, far less than the current inspection
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costs, even absent the additional costs stemming from this
bill. It is unclear why this regulatory activity should be so
highly subsidized rather than be self-supporting. It is
staff's understanding that the author is working to resolve
this issue.
2)PUC. Ongoing special fund costs of approximately $330,000 for
an administrative law judge and an attorney for conducting
additional formal hearings in carrier permit revocation cases,
and for associated litigation. [Transportation Reimbursement
Account]
COMMENTS:
1)Background. PSCs provide transportation to the general public
on an individual fare basis, such as scheduled bus operators,
which are buses that operate on a fixed route and scheduled
services, or airport shuttles, which operate on an on-call
door-to-door share the ride service.
CPC is a charter vehicle, on a pre-arranged basis, for the
exclusive use of an individual or group. Charges are based on
the mileage or time of use, or a combination of both. The PUC
does not regulate the fees charged by CPCs. Types of CPCs
include limousines, tour buses, sightseeing services, and
charter and party buses.
Current law generally vests the PUC with the responsibility to
regulate CPCs and PSCs. Tour buses operated by CPCs and PSCs
are required to be inspected every 13 months by the CHP and
every 45 days by the tour bus operator. The findings of the
inspections carried out by the CHP are reported to the PUC,
and tour buses may not legally operate unless the bus
operator's terminal and maintenance facilities have been
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inspected. Terminal inspections typically include inspections
of a vehicle's registration, the driver's licensure, and the
condition of the vehicles. Due to the size of tour bus fleets,
the CHP only inspects a representative sample of each
carrier's fleet in the annual inspection. According to some
estimates, the CHP inspects less than 1/3 of all buses,
leaving some buses uninspected.
2)Purpose. The author introduced this bill in response to a tour
bus crash in San Francisco in November 2015 that injured 20
people. While the crash was found to be the result of driver
error, according to the author, the vehicle had never been
inspected by CHP and was not properly registered with CPUC. A
subsequent surprise inspection of the carrier's fleet resulted
in the discovery of numerous safety violations that had not
been discovered in previous scheduled inspections. This bill
restructures CHP's tour bus inspection program as a
performance-based program, with additional inspections
targeting carriers with repeated violations and less frequent
inspections for carriers who consistently demonstrate
compliance.
3)Related Legislation. AB 1574 (Chiu), pending in Senate
Appropriatons, requires the PUC to verify with the DMV that
the buses, limousines, and modified limousines used by a PSC
or CPC have been reported and met safety requirements.
AB 1677 (Ting), also pending in Senate Appropriations,
requires the CHP to develop protocols for additional
inspection of tour buses by the CHP when requested and
reimbursed by local governments.
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Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081