BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 628|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 628
Author: Conway (R)
Amended: 8/18/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/21/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Huff, Lowenthal, Rubio, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman, Kehoe, Pavley
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMM. : 7-2, 6/28/11
AYES: La Malfa, Cannella, Fuller, Kehoe, Padilla,
Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Pavley, Evans
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-10, 5/31/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Off-highway vehicle: County of Inyo
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the County of Inyo to
establish a pilot project that sunset on January 1, 2017,
under which it may designate segments of its county roads
that are greater than three miles in length for combined
use by cars and off-highway vehicles.
ANALYSIS : Existing law prohibits an off-highway motor
vehicle (OHV) from being driven upon any public highway or
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street, except to cross a highway or when a highway is
closed due to snow. Existing law, however, also allows a
local authority, the federal government, or the Department
of Parks and Recreation to permit both OHVs and motor
vehicles on road segments of up to three miles in length
under its jurisdiction, if all of the following conditions
are met:
The segment connects OHV trails, connects an OHV
recreational use area and necessary services, or connects
an OHV recreational use area to lodging facilities.
The local authority finds that the road segment is
designed and constructed to safely permit the use of
regular vehicular traffic and the driving of OHVs.
The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
declares that allowing combined use on the road segment
would not create a potential traffic safety hazard.
The local authority adopts a resolution or ordinance
authorizing the combined use and prescribing rules and
regulations governing that combined use.
The local authority erects signs on and along the road
indicating combined use.
Drivers of OHVs that are operated on the road pursuant to a
local authority's combined use authorization must comply
with all provisions of the California Vehicle Code,
including possessing a valid driver's license, obeying
speed laws, possessing evidence of insurance, and wearing a
helmet while on a motorcycle. In no case, however, may an
OHV be operated on a road after dark.
This bill allows Inyo County (County) to develop a pilot
project in which segments of highways can be designated for
combined-use to link existing OHV trails and trailheads,
and to link OHV recreational-use areas with necessary
service and lodging facilities so long as each segment does
not exceed 10-miles each. Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires the County to prescribe a procedure to
designate combined-use highways. The procedure must be
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approved by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors.
2. Requires the County prescribe a procedure to remove a
combined-use designation, including a designation that
is removed as a result of the conclusion of the pilot
program.
3. Requires the County to establish uniform specifications
and symbols for signs, markers, and traffic control
devices to control OHVs on combined-used highways
including signs to designate right-of-way, warning
signs, and maximum speed.
4. Prohibits speeds greater than 35 miles per hour on
combined-used highways by OHVs.
5. Requires the CHP to find that the designated
combined-use highways do not create a potential safety
hazard before the county designates a road segment for
combined use.
6. Requires the County include an opportunity for public
comment at a public hearing in order to evaluate the
pilot program.
7. Allows the pilot program to include use of a state
highway, or any crossing of a highway, subject to
approval by Department of Transportation.
8. Specifies, that by selecting and designating a county
highway for combined use, the County agree to defend and
indemnify the state against any and all claims for any
safety-related losses or injuries resulting from use by
OHVs of a county highway designated as a combined use
highway by the County.
9. Requires the county, in consultation with the CHP,
Department of Transportation, and the Department of
Parks and Recreation shall prepare and submit a report
to the Legislature evaluating the pilot project by
January 1, 2016. The report must include (a) a
description of the combined-use highways, (b) an
evaluation of the overall safety and effectiveness of
the pilot project including its impact on traffic flows,
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safety, off-highway vehicle usage on existing trails,
incursions into areas not designated for off-highway
vehicle usage, and nonmotorized recreation, and (c) a
description of the public comments received at a public
hearing held by the county in regards to an evaluation
of the pilot program.
10.Sunsets this pilot project on January 1, 2017.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Per Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee
analysis of 6/28/11) (Unable to reverify)
Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau
Bishop Lions Club
City of Bishop
Friends of the High Lakes
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Sheriff of Inyo County
OPPOSITION : (Per Senate Natural Resources & Water
Committee analysis of 6/28/11) (Unable to reverify)
California Native Plant Society
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
Community ORV Watch
Defenders of Wildlife
Desert Protection Council
Friends of Hope Valley
Morongo Basin Conservation Association, Inc.
Natural Resources Defense Council
ORV Watch Kern County
Planning and Conservation League
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Sierra Club California
The Wilderness Society
Western San Bernardino County Landowners' Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office points out
that the vast majority of Inyo County is national parks and
other publicly owned land with only 1.6 percent of the
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County in private ownership. The author's office
introduced this bill to create a better linked trail system
in the County that will assist land managers in keeping
OHVs out of places where their use cannot be tolerated and
provide an economic base to the economy of the small
communities within that county. The author's office
asserts that the OHV trails for this linked system
currently exist so no new infrastructure is necessary.
Inyo County could enjoy many positive impacts if it had
more flexibility on combined use highway restrictions. The
author's office states that Inyo County is a land
designated for recreation and the three mile cap is too
rigid.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Sierra Club writes, on
behalf of the opponents listed below, that this is a poorly
thought out bill that benefits one minority segment of
recreational users to the detriment of all others, would
harm the quality of life for rural residents, and threatens
natural and cultural resources. Specifically, opponents
note that the state Department of Parks and Recreation's
OHV program is intended to balance OHV recreation with the
protection of natural and cultural resources by limiting
OHVs to carefully chosen areas and trails, but this bill
threatens that balance by allowing "special interests to
designate county roads for OHV use."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-10, 5/31/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Cedillo, Conway, Cook, Davis, Donnelly, Fletcher,
Fuentes, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Hill, Huber, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue,
Mansoor, Miller, Mitchell, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, John A.
P�rez
NOES: Ammiano, Feuer, Fong, Hayashi, Huffman, Ma, Skinner,
Swanson, Wieckowski, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Block, Bonilla, Brownley,
Buchanan, Butler, Chesbro, Dickinson, Eng, Furutani,
Gorell, Hueso, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Monning,
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Williams
JJA:do 8/24/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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