BILL ANALYSIS
AB 636
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 636 (Jones) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
SUBJECT : Charter-party carriers.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) to permanently revoke the authority of a charter-party
carrier if the carrier knowingly employs a non-licensed or
inappropriately licensed driver, and requires a California
Highway Patrol (CHP) officer to impound the bus if driven by a
non-licensed driver.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits a charter-party carrier from engaging in
transportation services subject to regulation by the PUC
without obtaining a specified certificate or permit from the
PUC.
2)Permits the PUC to cancel, revoke, or suspend any operating
permit or certificate upon specified violations.
3)Permits the PUC to levy a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for
the specified violations, as an alternative to canceling,
revoking, or suspending the permit or certificate.
4)Provides that whenever the PUC suspends the certificate or
permit of any charter-party carrier for failure to maintain
any vehicle or failure to enroll all drivers in a specified
system, the PUC shall hold a hearing within a reasonable time,
not to exceed 21 days.
5)Provides that a peace officer may impound a vehicle when a
person is arrested for noncompliance with current law or a PUC
order, decision, rule, or regulation involving the operation
of a charter-party carrier without a valid certificate or
permit at a public airport, within 100 feet of a public
airport, or within two miles of the international border
between the United States and Mexico.
THIS BILL :
AB 636
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1)Permanently revokes a person's ability to attain a license to
drive a bus of any kind, if that person drives a bus for a
charter-party carrier without the proper driver's license,
endorsement, or certificate.
2)Requires the PUC to permanently revoke the authority of a
charter-party carrier that operates a bus without having been
issued a proper permit from the PUC who knowingly employs a
bus driver who has not been issued the required license,
endorsement, or certificate.
3)Requires a CHP officer to impound a bus for 30 days when the
officer stops or inspects a charter-party carrier that is
operating the bus without having been issued the proper permit
from the PUC and being driven by a driver to whom an
appropriate license, endorsement, or certificate has not been
issued.
4)Provides a charter-party carrier a right to an expedited
hearing by the PUC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the purpose of this bill is
to implement stronger deterrents for charter buses that pose
great harm to passengers. Following an October 5, 2008 bus
crash, investigative reports revealed the dangers of the growing
underground rogue bus operations. Fly-by-night charter bus
companies have sprung up which operate with a complete disregard
for the rules and regulations required of them. Based on the
suspected number of carriers operating without a license and the
number of accidents and incidents that result from these
violations, it is clear that current penalties are not hindering
these carriers from operating.
1) What is a charter-party carrier : Charter-party carriers
furnish limousines-for-hire or passenger charter transportation
service in motor vehicles. Charter-party carriers do not
include vehicles on a set schedule or between fixed termini,
taxi cabs, car rentals, or a city bus. Typical charter party
carriers provide different sized vehicles to take a scheduled
group of people to another location and/or back. The group
would usually reserve the vehicle as a group, and would not
reserve a "seat" individually.
AB 636
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Current law requires charter-party carriers to possess a
certificate to operate, provided by the PUC. The intent is to
secure adequate and dependable transportation by carriers
operating upon the public highways, and to promote carrier and
public safety through its safety enforcement regulations.
2) One strike and you're out : The California Bus Association
(CBA), the sponsors of this bill, recommended a "one-strike and
you're out" approach. The CBA states that due to the number of
carriers and drivers without certification or license, either
found upon inspection or investigation following an incident,
current penalties do not hinder such carriers and drivers from
starting and/or continuing operation.
This bill will increase the seriousness of penalties to ensure
that carriers without the required certificate will, upon first
violation, not be allowed to operate in the state again. The
same "one strike and you're out" approach will be applied to
drivers found to be driving a carrier without the proper license
or endorsement. This approach may seem extremely punitive if
the driver did not have a license for a seemingly benign reason,
such as he or she possessed a bus driver's license in a
neighboring state and did not yet get a license for California.
This committee may wish to provide the PUC the flexibility to
review a case of a revoked license to determine the
appropriateness of the permanent revocation.
This bill does not address appropriate recourse if a carrier
with a revoked license can become recertified under a different
legal entity. For example, the principals in a corporation or
limited liability company whose permit is revoked might apply
for a permit under some other entity. The author may wish to
address this issue in the bill, or work with PUC staff to
address this issue.
3) Public Safety : The author cites two major incidents where
the charter-party carrier was in violation of the law.
On October 5, 2008, a bus crashed on its way to a casino in
Colusa County. The crash killed 10 and injured nearly 40
others. The investigation report revealed that the bus driver
did not have the proper "P" endorsement from the Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV), and the bus company was currently filed
with DMV as "non-operational."
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On October 31, 2008, a charter bus carrying the Alameda High
School varsity football team crashed in Pinole. There were no
major injuries, but the CHP determined later that the driver did
not hold the proper license and the bus itself had not been
registered with CHP since 2005.
The author notes six other incidences where buses and/or
operators did not possess the appropriate licenses,
endorsements, or certificates. Some had mechanical violations.
RELATED LEGISLATION :
AB 951 (Lieu) increases the range of fines the PUC can impose on
charter-party carriers who do not comply with laws and PUC
rules.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California Bus Association (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Gina Adams / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083