BILL NUMBER: AB 1243 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 34501 add and
repeal Section 34503.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1243, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal. Commercial motor
vehicles: safe operation. South East Los Angeles
County Commercial Vehicle Network Development and Advisory Committee.
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 and to adopt
procedures for the enforcement of these rules and regulations .
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these
provisions.
This bill would, until January 1, 2012, establish the South East
Los Angeles County Commercial Vehicle Network Development and
Advisory Committee in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
to develop a work program that will optimize the effectiveness and
efficiencies of the commercial vehicle enforcement network in South
East Los Angeles County through a multiagency collaborative effort
focused on addressing ongoing commercial vehicle enforcement issues
and to recognize the potential benefits from specified technologies.
The bill would require the committee to report annually on or
before December 31 of each year to the Governor, the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency, and the Assembly Committee on
Transportation and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing
on the progress made towards implementation of the recommendations
developed to improve commercial vehicle enforcement in South East Los
Angeles County pursuant to a specified list of 12 objectives, that
include, among other things, review of Vehicle Dimension-in-Motion
(VDIM) and Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) devices as a legal
enforcement tool.
The bill would require that the committee consist of 3 specified
members, that the members of the committee serve without
compensation, and that no state funds be used to compensate the
members for expenses incurred in the performance of their official
duties. The bill would also provide that the committee may accept
grants from federal or local public agencies or from private sources
in order to assist it in carrying out its duties and functions under
these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 34503.5 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
34503.5. (a) There is hereby established in the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency the South East Los Angeles County
Commercial Vehicle Network Development and Advisory Committee, which
shall be convened on or before April 1, 2010. The goal of the
committee is to develop a work program that will optimize the
effectiveness and efficiencies of the commercial vehicle enforcement
network in South East Los Angeles County through a multiagency
collaborative effort focused on addressing ongoing commercial vehicle
enforcement issues and to recognize the potential benefits from
emerging technologies. The activities of the council are intended to
contribute to maintaining the state's strategic advantage through
improved decisionmaking and prudent and adequate investment.
(b) The committee shall report annually on or before December 31
of each year to the Governor, the Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency, and the Assembly Committee on Transportation and the
Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing on the progress made
towards implementation of the recommendations developed to improve
the commercial vehicle enforcement in South East Los Angeles County
pursuant to the objectives set forth in subdivision (f).
(c) The committee shall consist of three members. The Secretary of
Business, Transportation and Housing shall appoint one member each
from nominations provided by the Gateway Cities Council of
Governments (COG), the Director of Transportation (Caltrans), and the
Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The Secretary
of Business, Transportation and Housing shall designate a chair and
vice chair.
(d) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, and
no state funds may be used to compensate the members for expenses
incurred in the performance of their official duties.
(e) The committee shall be responsible for development of a work
program and coordinating efforts of the participating agencies in
implementation efforts. The committee shall from time to time consult
stakeholders affected by the work plans as they are developed. The
stakeholders should include, at a minimum, representatives from
trucking organizations, labor organizations, businesses engaged in
commercial vehicle operations, and the San Pedro Bay Ports.
(f) The committee shall consider the following activities, which
address areas to be emphasized, including, but not be limited to,
major policy issues related to commercial vehicle enforcement:
(1) Evaluate the current commercial vehicle fine structure and the
relative distribution of the resulting revenues.
(2) Evaluate the potential to standardize fine structure and
process.
(3) Make recommendations as to whether it is desirable to relate
the level of fines to the level of damage to infrastructure and the
risk of harm to people.
(4) Review current statutory authority for rerouting vehicles.
(5) Review role of transponders or other technology devices in
relation to registration of commercial vehicles.
(6) Review Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) devices as a legal enforcement
tool.
(7) Review Vehicle Dimension-in-Motion (VDIM) devices as a legal
enforcement tool.
(8) Review Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) devices as a
legal enforcement tool.
(9) Review Automated Driver Identification (ADI) devices as a
legal enforcement tool.
(10) Review Automated Load Identification (ALI) devices as a legal
enforcement tool.
(11) Evaluate the siting of truck enforcement facilities in South
East Los Angeles County.
(12) Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages in the development
of automated systems for truck enforcement and inspection for South
East Los Angeles County.
(g) The committee shall provide a summary of its recommendations
regarding all action items to each member agency prior to submitting
the annual report required pursuant to subdivision (b).
(h) Initial tasks for the steering committee shall be the
development of a work program that results in the development of a
series of specific targeted actions in conformance with each of the
following four major action steps to address the areas to be
emphasized as specified in subdivision (f):
(1) Convening participants.
(2) Gathering and analyzing relevant data.
(3) Brainstorming of actions.
(4) Refinement of actions.
(i) The committee may accept grants from federal or local public
agencies or from private sources, in order to assist it in carrying
out its duties and functions under this section.
(j) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.
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 vehicles as 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, however, 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.