BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1318
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: T&H COMM
VERSION: 4/14/10
Analysis by: Tracey Hurd-Parker
FISCAL:yes
Hearing date: April 20, 2010
SUBJECT:
2010 transportation omnibus bill
DESCRIPTION:
This bill makes non-controversial changes to sections of law
relating to transportation and housing.
ANALYSIS:
According to the Legislative Analyst, the cost of producing a
bill in 2001-02 was $17,890. By combining multiple matters into
one bill, the Legislature can make minor changes to law in the
most cost-effective manner.
This committee has adopted a committee policy regarding
committee omnibus bills. The policy requires that:
The proponent of an item provide sufficient background
material to the committee for the item to be described to
other legislative staff and stakeholders;
The committee staff provide a summary of the item and the
actual legislative language to all relevant majority and
minority consultants in both the Senate and Assembly and to
known or presumed interested parties prior to including an
item within the omnibus committee bill; and
The item be omitted from or amended out of the bill if it
encounters any opposition and the proponent cannot work out a
solution with the opposition.
This bill includes the following provisions. The sponsor of
each provision is noted in brackets.
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 2
1.Repeal an outdated section. Current law requires the
California Transportation Commission to report to the
Legislature on or before February 1, 1999, and on or before
February 1, 2001, assessing the relative success of the
provisions of Senate Bill 45 in achieving the Legislature's
intent for reform of the state transportation improvement
program, and assessing program delivery, expenditure of funds
at both regional and statewide levels, and program
performance. This section also sets out various requirements
for the 1998 State Transportation Improvement Program. These
dates have long passed, and the 1998 STIP has long since been
superseded. The bill repeals this outdated section. [Mark
Stivers, Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
2.SANDAG reporting requirements. In 2002 and 2003, the
Legislature enacted bills (SB 1703 of 2002 and AB 361 of 2003)
that consolidated various transit agencies in San Diego County
and required SANDAG to report on the consolidation. The
consolidation is now complete and SANDAG would like to stop
sending the reports to save money. The bill repeals this
reporting requirement. [Cheryl Loader, Senator Kehoe]
3.Definition of utility trailer. The Vehicle Code used to
contain a definition of utility trailer. That definition was
inadvertently deleted in 2001, creating ambiguity elsewhere in
the Vehicle Code where the term is used. The CHP has received
numerous requests from enforcement personnel and the public
for a definition, because this term is used in various
statutes. For example, Section 34601 VC provides an exemption
from the definition of "commercial motor vehicle" for certain
motor trucks towing a utility trailer. In addition, the term
is used in conjunction with other safety related statutes
relating to trailer brake requirements, motor carrier permit
requirements, applicability of safety inspection programs
(i.e. BIT), and registration. The bill adds a definition of
"utility trailer" to the Vehicle Code. [Avery Browne,
California Highway Patrol]
4.Out of service orders. AB 3049 (2004) amended Vehicle Code
Section 2800 to allow enforcement officers to take enforcement
action against a driver or motor carrier (MC) that violated
any Out-Of-Service (OOS) order issued in compliance with
federal regulations. This section was amended again by AB
3011 in (2006) to include OOS orders issued by foreign
jurisdictions. However, a last minute amendment re-instated
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 3
Sections 395.13 (Authority to Declare Drivers Out of Service)
and 396.9 (Inspection of Motor Vehicles and Intermodal
Equipment in Operations) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations. This limited law enforcement's ability to take
appropriate enforcement action against a driver or MC for
violating only hours of service and inspection/maintenance
requirements. California law enforcement currently cannot
take appropriate enforcement action for violating OOS orders
for driver's license, operating authority, insurance, and
registration requirements. Under federal regulations
California must have and enforce laws and/or regulations
applicable to drivers of commercial motor vehicles and their
employers, which meet the minimum federal requirements. The
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) audits
California every three years, and the federal government may
withhold highway funding if California is found in
non-compliance. In addition, the state could be de-certified
from issuing, renewing, upgrading, or transferring commercial
driver licenses. The November 2008 Commercial Driver License
audit conducted by FMCSA contained a finding against the state
concerning limited OOS language in Vehicle Code Section 2800.
The bill allows law enforcement to enforce out-of-service
orders for a greater range of offenses. [Avery Browne,
California Highway Patrol]
5.License plate mounting. There is no requirement under current
law for license plates to be mounted parallel to the ground
with the characters upright. Motorcycles frequently have
license plates displayed sideways or perpendicular to the
intended display position. The bill requires license plates
to be mounted parallel with the ground so that the characters
are upright. [Avery Browne, California Highway Patrol]
6.Regulations for the transport of hazardous materials. As a
signatory to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA),
the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) adopts federal
regulation relating to the transport of hazardous material.
Caltrans is currently working from outdated federal
regulations adopted on October 1, 1999, and is therefore out
of compliance with the CVSA requirements and cannot legally
require a driver to present a federal "Safety Permit"
(Hazardous Material License). Caltrans commercial enforcement
personnel must know the October 1, 1999, regulations and the
current federal Hazardous Material regulations, so that
enforcement personnel do not cite a 1999 violation which no
longer exists. Additionally, enforcement personnel cannot
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 4
cite for a violation that was not in the 1999 federal
regulations; they can only document the violation in the body
of an inspection report. This bill requires Caltrans to
enforce the current version of federal regulations relating to
the transport of hazardous materials. [Avery Browne,
California Highway Patrol]
7.Correcting a cross-reference relating to ambulance drivers.
Current law establishes the pull-notice system, which provides
the employer of a driver who drives a specified type of
vehicle, including hazardous materials and passenger vehicles,
with a report showing the driver's current public record and
any subsequent convictions, driver's license revocations,
failures to appear, accidents, driver's license suspensions,
driver's license revocations, or any other actions taken
against the driving privilege. With respect to ambulance
drivers, current law cross-references the incorrect section.
The bill corrects the mistaken cross-reference. [Avery
Browne, California Highway Patrol]
8.Correcting a cross-reference relating to transport of
radioactive materials. Current law prohibits a person from
knowingly directing the operation of a vehicle transporting
fissile class III shipments or large quantity radioactive
materials by an individual who does not possess a license of
the appropriate class with a radioactive materials driver's
certificate, authorizing that transportation, attached to the
licenses. This section currently references an incorrect
federal regulation. The bill corrects this cross-reference.
[Avery Browne, California Highway Patrol]
9.Cross referencing a definition. Current law references the
wrong paragraph and subsection within the statute that
requires the driver of specified vehicles to stop before
crossing a railroad grade crossing. The bill corrects the
erroneous cross-reference. [Avery Browne, California Highway
Patrol]
10. Reorganizing headlamp law. In California's current
headlamp law, paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) is the
equipment requirement, a correctable violation. Paragraph (2)
is the operation requirement, a moving violation. A technical
problem exists with the DMV's computer system. That system
does not discern code sections beyond the sixth character.
The use of paragraphs (1) and (2) in subdivision (a) of this
section requires the use of seven characters. The bill
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 5
reorganizes the existing provisions so that paragraphs are not
used in any of the subdivisions. [Avery Browne, California
Highway Patrol]
11. Reorganizing vehicle lighting law. Current law, pertaining
to the unlawful sale and use of vehicle lighting equipment and
safety glazing material is classified as a correctable
violation. However, the act of selling unlawful equipment
cannot be corrected and should, therefore, not be a
correctable violation. The bill divides the current section
into two subdivisions. Subdivision (a) would pertain to the
sale, or offer for sale, of specified prohibited items for use
upon, or as part of the equipment of, a vehicle. This
subdivision would not be correctable. Subdivision (b) would
pertain to the use of the same prohibited items upon, or as
part of the equipment of, a vehicle. The provisions of this
subdivision would remain correctable. [Avery Browne,
California Highway Patrol]
12. Airbrake pressure gauges. Current law requires airbrake
gauges to be visible to the driver at all times. Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require that the airbrake
pressure gauge be readily visible to a person when seated in
the driving position. The standard does not require the gauge
to be visible to the driver at all times. Therefore, state
law is in conflict with the federal standard. The bill
conforms state law to the federal standard. [Avery Browne,
California Highway Patrol]
13. Commercial motor vehicle load securement. The bill makes
minor, conforming language changes pertaining to commercial
motor vehicle load securement. [Avery Browne, California
Highway Patrol]
14.Foreign motor carriers. Current law provides regulations for
foreign motor carriers. Specifically, the law provides
specific prohibitions applicable to those foreign motor
carriers required to have a certificate of registration issued
by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT).
The current language does not correctly cite the regulations
for Mexican motor carriers which are part of the USDOT's
demonstration project. The bill includes the appropriate
sections for referencing Mexican motor carriers. [Avery
Browne, California Highway Patrol]
15.Disabled parking placards. Current law requires that drivers
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 6
using a disabled parking placard suspend the placard from the
rearview mirror or, if there is no rearview mirror, display it
on the dashboard. In some new luxury cars, Volvos being one
example, have sharply angled and tinted glass behind the
rearview mirror, making it difficult for a parking enforcement
officer to see a placard suspended from the mirror and
subjecting drivers to erroneous citations. To address this
problem, some of these manufacturers have installed a clear
plastic clip along the driver's side of the front window, and
their owner's manuals suggest that the driver should place any
disabled placard in that clip to make it clearly visible to
parking enforcement officers, but current law does not
recognize this manner as a legal placement of the placard.
The bill allows a driver to display a disabled placard by
inserting it in a clip installed by the manufacturer for that
purpose. [Elise Thurau, Senator Pavley's Office, on behalf of
a constituent]
16.Clarifying change to the AC Transit board compensation
provisions. In 2007, AC Transit sponsored AB 490 (Chapter
213, Statutes of 2007), which increased the compensation level
for board members from $500 per month to $1,000 per month if
specified attendance requirements are met. The bill was
intended to mirror the law which governs the compensation for
BART Board members. BART and AC Transit are the only transit
districts in California with independently elected boards.
Unfortunately, AC Transit has discovered that its section
requires attendance at all scheduled meetings, not just
scheduled regular meetings as the BART's law refers to. At
times it is necessary to schedule special board meetings to
address emergencies or other urgent issues. The omission of
the word "regular" in AC Transit's section has resulted in
board members being penalized for missing a special meeting
that is scheduled at time when the board member is unable to
attend. The bill allows AC Transit board members to receive
their monthly stipends for attending all scheduled regular
meetings. [Steve Wallauch; Suter, Wallauch, Corbett &
Associates]
17.TDA expenditures by the Imperial County Transportation
Commission. In 2009, the Legislature enacted SB 607
(Ducheny), Chapter 56, creating the Imperial County
Transportation Commission (ICTC). As currently written, the
law allows ICTC to use up to 3 percent of the Transportation
Development Act (TDA) revenue to which it is entitled for
carrying out its responsibilities. ICTC would like to limit
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 7
the expenditure of the 3 percent funds to its planning and
programming responsibilities. This limitation is similar to
that imposed by statute on the other county transportation
commissions in Southern California. The bill limits ICTC to
spending 3 percent of TDA revenues on planning and programming
responsibilities. [Art Bauer, Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee]
18.Bicycles passing on the right. The central principle
governing one road user overtaking another is to always pass
on the left, when safe and as permitted. Some exceptions to
this rule in current statute refer only to a "driver of a
motor vehicle." This language can be interpreted to mean that
bicycle traffic does not enjoy exceptions to the general
prohibition of passing on the right, even for safe, reasonable
and otherwise legal movements. Given that the Vehicle Code
establishes the general equivalence of rights and
responsibilities for drivers and bicyclists, it is appropriate
to clarify the ability of bicyclists to pass on the right in
specified situations. The bill clarifies that bicyclists may
pass on the right under the same conditions as motorists.
[Andy Thornley, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition]
19.Map name change. California's speed trap law refers to
"federal aid system maps." According to Caltrans, the general
public and California Highway Patrol are confused over where
these maps are available. These maps are obsolete and have
been replaced by the California Road System maps. The bill
updates the reference to the map. [Richard Harman, Caltrans]
20.Relinquishment clean up. Each route in the State Highway
System (SHS) is specifically identified and described in
statute. Frequently, local jurisdictions seek to acquire
portions of state highway within their jurisdiction in order
to install traffic calming features or to make other design
changes that are inconsistent with SHS standards. Typically,
Caltrans will agree to relinquish a portion of state highway
to a local jurisdiction, provided that the segment of highway
does not serve as a primary role in supporting interregional
travel.
Once Caltrans and the local agency agree on terms of the
relinquishment, the agreement must be approved by the
California Transportation Commission (CTC) before it can be
finalized. Once the agreement receives CTC approval, it can
be recorded. Following the recording of the relinquishment,
SB 1318 (T&H COMM) Page 8
the route description in the Streets and Highways Code needs
to be amended and to include standard boiler plate language.
Some old relinquishment statutes do not conform to the
standard format. The bill cleans up a number of old
relinquishment statutes so that they conform to the standard
format. [Richard Harman, Caltrans]
21.Obsolete code reference elimination. Public Utilities Code
Section 21669.6 includes a reference to a section that no
longer exists. The bill deletes the obsolete cross reference.
[Richard Harman, Caltrans]
22.Social security number security change. Current law requires
contractors to submit payroll records to Caltrans that include
employees' full social security numbers. The proposed
amendments require contractors to provide only the last four
digits of employees' social security numbers. [Richard
Harman, Caltrans]
23.Technical amendments to the Transportation Development Act
(TDA). The TDA currently refers to the Los Angeles County
Transportation Commission, which has been superseded by the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The
bill updates these references in the TDA. [Richard Harman,
Caltrans]
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill . The Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee is authoring this bill as a means of combining
multiple, non-controversial changes to statutes into one bill,
so that the Legislature can make minor amendments in a
cost-effective manner. Consistent with the committee policy on
committee omnibus bills, there is no known opposition to any
item in the bill, and if concerns arise that cannot be resolved,
the provision of concern will be deleted from the bill.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 14, 2010)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.