BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1220
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: wolk
VERSION: 2/18/10
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: no
Hearing date: May 4, 2010 URGENCY: YES
SUBJECT:
Emergency vehicles: fire apparatus
DESCRIPTION:
This bill expands the list of vehicles exempt from size and
weight limits in state law to include vehicles that are used to
transport personnel and equipment under emergency conditions, to
support the suppression of fires, or to mitigate other hazardous
situations.
ANALYSIS:
Existing state law establishes maximum length, width, and weight
limits for a variety of vehicles and vehicle combinations on the
state's roads, as follows:
The total length of a combination of vehicles (tractor and
trailers) is limited to 65 feet;
Vehicle width is limited to 102 inches; and
Combinations of vehicles may not exceed a total weight of
80,000 pounds, while lower maximum weights apply for certain
vehicles based on their number of axles and the stances
between axles.
Existing law exempts authorized emergency vehicles, including
fire apparatuses, that a government agency owns and operates
from these limitations, but these vehicles, if they were
purchased on or after January 1, 1994, must comply with permit
requirements that the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
adopts. For purposes of this provision, existing law defines a
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"fire apparatus" as a vehicle or combination of vehicles
designed, maintained, and used exclusively for the suppression
of fires or for fire prevention activities, including vehicles
used for transporting water or other fire suppression materials.
Existing law specifically excludes from the definition of "fire
apparatus" vehicles used in hazardous materials response,
dedicated rescue vehicles, command post communications vehicles,
passenger vehicles, buses, mobile kitchens, mobile sanitation
facilities, and heavy equipment transport vehicles.
This bill deletes the existing definition of a fire apparatus
and instead defines it as "a vehicle designed to be used under
emergency conditions to transport personnel and equipment, or to
support the suppression of fires or mitigation of other
hazardous situations, consistent with Standard 1901 of the
National Fire Protection Association."
This bill is an urgency measure.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author asserts that the existing definition of
"fire apparatus" became obsolete after, in response to the
events of September 11, 2001, the federal Office of Homeland
Security developed a local response strategy that included the
use of emergency response vehicles that are not traditionally
considered to be "designed primarily for fire suppression."
Such vehicles include hazardous materials vehicles and urban
search and rescue vehicles among others. Many of these new and
necessary vehicles do not meet California's definition of
"fire apparatus" due to their size and weight. Not only does
this hinder local agencies' ability to lawfully respond to
emergency situations, but it also impairs California's ability
to utilize federal grant money to purchase necessary vehicles
because many of them are illegal under California's weight
law.
The author notes that Caltrans is in the final stages of
updating its regulations to address the recommendations of the
federal Office of Homeland Security as well as the National
Fire Protection Association. Proponents assert that Caltrans
cannot make this final change in its regulations until the
statutory definition is changed. The author introduced this
bill to accomplish this statutory change, so that the
SB 1220 (WOLK) Page 3
definition of "fire apparatus" more adequately reflects those
types of vehicles that California's fire service agencies use
under emergency conditions.
2.National Fire Protection Association . The National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) is a private, membership
organization founded in 1896 to promote the science and
improve the methods of fire protection and prevention,
electrical safety, and other related safety goals; to obtain
and circulate information and promote education and research
on these subjects; and to secure the cooperation of its
members and the public in establishing proper safeguards
against loss of life and property. Among its primary
functions, NFPA develops, publishes, and disseminates more
than 300 consensus codes and standards intended to minimize
the possibility and effects of fire and other risks, including
Standard 1901 which prescribes the attributes of various fire
apparatuses.
3.Ever bigger, ever better ? Oversized vehicles damage roadways
and create hazards of their own. For these reasons, these
vehicles are either prohibited on public roads or travel there
under special permits from Caltrans or the local
transportation authority. This bill exempts additional
vehicles from these permit requirements and thus allows more
oversized vehicles on public roads that would otherwise
violate the vehicle size and weight limits in state statute.
In response to requests from fire departments, local planning
officials sometimes increase the width of local streets to
accommodate these ever-larger emergency vehicles. This may be
of help when an emergency occurs, but the ever wider streets
cause other problems, including higher vehicle speeds that
create unsafe conditions for drivers and their passengers,
pedestrians, and others using the streets or living nearby. In
older neighborhoods, emergency vehicles that grow ever larger
become increasingly unwieldy. It may be, therefore,
appropriate to ask if the vehicles themselves could be better
designed to fit the environment in which emergencies may
occur.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 28, 2010)
SUPPORT: California Fire Chiefs Association (sponsor)
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Fire Districts Association of California
(sponsor)
Alpine Fire Protection District
City of Napa Fire Department
Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District
Scotts Valley Fire Protection District
OPPOSED: None received.