BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 463
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 6, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                     AB 463 (Tran) - As Amended:  April 22, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                               
          TransportationVote:13-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill clarifies that the Department of the California  
          Highway Patrol (CHP) is not prohibited from issuing a new or  
          initial license to a motor carrier that had received, but then  
          corrected, an unsatisfactory rating within the past three years.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minimal costs to CHP to revise regulations.

           COMMENTS  

           Rationale  . This bill is intended to address concerns that have  
            arisen due to regulations adopted by CHP in response to  
            recently enacted legislation.   Assembly Bill 1612 (Nava),  
            Chapter 514/2007 tightened license and inspection restrictions  
            placed on hazardous materials transporters.

          A provision of the bill prohibited the issuance of a hazardous  
            materials license unless the terminal from which the carrier  
            operates had been inspected. In response to concerns that CHP  
            could fall behind in its inspections, and, as a result, motor  
            carriers would be unable to secure a hazardous materials  
            license, amendments were added to the bill that allowed the  
            CHP to issue temporary licenses while the inspections were  
            pending.

          To ensure that temporary licenses were not issued to  
            con-compliant carriers, the bill also contained a provision  
            prohibiting issuance of temporary licenses to those that had  
            received unsatisfactory ratings within the past three years.   








                                                                  AB 463
                                                                  Page  2

            While the intent of the bill was apparently to prevent  
            issuances of temporary licenses to carriers with  uncorrected   
            deficiencies, recently adopted CHP regulations also prohibit  
            the granting of licenses to carriers that had received an  
            unsatisfactory rating but subsequently corrected the problem  
            and received a satisfactory rating upon re-inspection. This  
            bill overrides those regulations and limits the prohibition to  
            carriers that have not regained satisfactory ratings. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081