Bill Text: CA AB2731 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Vehicles: Terminal Island Freeway: special permits.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - Died on inactive file. [AB2731 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2731-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2731 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 8, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member O'Donnell
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 35700.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2731, as amended, O'Donnell. Vehicles: Terminal Island Freeway:
special permits.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation, upon
adoption of an ordinance or resolution by the City of Carson, the
City of Long Beach, and the City of Los Angeles, to issue a special
permit to the operator of a vehicle, combination of vehicles, or
mobile equipment, permitting the operation and movement of the
vehicle, combination, or equipment, and its load, on specified routes
in those cities if the vehicle, combination, or equipment meets
specified criteria. Under existing law, those criteria include that
the vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment is used to
transport intermodal cargo containers that are moving in
international commerce, and that the maximum gross weight of the
vehicles and loads not exceed 95,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
This bill would require the above-mentioned ordinance or
resolution to conform with the weight limits determined by the
Department of Transportation. the City of Carson, the
City of Long Beach, and the City of Los Angeles to use and enforce
the axle and gross vehicle weight limits used by the Department of
Transportation for a permitted vehicle, combination of vehicles, or
mobile equipment operating or moving on the above-described routes by
individual, and not combined, axle group calculations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Heavy container corridors connect the Ports of Los Angeles and
Long Beach to warehouses and distribution centers throughout the
port area.
(b) These corridors allow port customers to move certain types of
heavy cargo, such as agricultural goods, and from the port complex,
which enhance the competitiveness of the two ports.
(c) These specially designated corridors include streets located
in the Cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Carson, as well as
California state routes. Overweight trucks that have a gross vehicle
weight in excess of 80,000 pounds, but no more than 95,000 pounds,
are allowed to operate on heavy container corridors upon issuance of
permits from their respective jurisdictions.
(d) The Cities of Long Beach and Carson share a common method of
determining whether a truck is overweight while traversing heavy
container corridors. However, the City of Los Angeles currently uses
a different method of determining whether a truck is overweight.
(e) This difference causes confusion, results in users of the
heavy container corridors in the City of Los Angeles to incur fines
and penalties, and incentivizes noncompliance with safety measures
required on the corridors.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act that
the Cities of Los Angeles, Carson, and Long Beach all utilize the
same methodology to enforce the weight limits established by permits
issued by the Department of Transportation for trucks traveling along
heavy container corridors.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 35700.5
of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
35700.5. (a) The Department of Transportation, upon adoption of
an ordinance or resolution that is in conformance with the provisions
of this section by the City of Carson, the City of Long Beach, and
the City of Los Angeles, covering designated routes, may issue a
special permit to the operator of a vehicle, combination of vehicles,
or mobile equipment, permitting the operation and movement of the
vehicle, combination, or equipment, and its load, on the 3.66-mile
portion of State Route 47 and State Route 103 known as the Terminal
Island Freeway, between Willow Street in the City of Long Beach and
Terminal Island in the City of Long Beach and the City of Los
Angeles, and on the 2.4-mile portion of State Highway Route 1, that
is between Sanford Avenue in the City of Los Angeles and Harbor
Avenue in the City of Long Beach, if the vehicle, combination, or
equipment meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment is
used to transport intermodal cargo containers that are moving in
international commerce.
(2) The vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment, in
combination with its load, has a maximum gross weight in excess of
the maximum gross weight limit of vehicles and loads specified in
this chapter, but does not exceed 95,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
(3) (A) The vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment
conforms to the axle weight limits specified in Section 35550.
(B) The vehicle, combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment
conforms to the axle weight limits in Section 35551, except as
specified in subparagraph (C).
(C) Vehicles, combinations of vehicles, or mobile equipment that
impose more than 80,000 pounds total gross weight on the highway by
any group of two or more consecutive axles, exceed 60 feet in length
between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutive axles,
or have more than six axles shall conform to weight limits that shall
be determined by the Department of Transportation.
(b) The permit issued by the Department of Transportation shall be
required to authorize the operation or movement of a vehicle,
combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment described in subdivision
(a). The permit shall not authorize the movement of hazardous
materials or hazardous wastes, as those terms are defined by local,
state, and federal law. The following criteria shall be included in
the application for the permit:
(1) A description of the loads and vehicles to be operated under
the permit.
(2) An agreement wherein each applicant agrees to be responsible
for all injuries to persons and for all damage to real or personal
property of the state and others directly caused by or resulting from
the operation of the applicant's vehicles or combination of vehicles
under the conditions of the permit. The applicant shall agree to
hold harmless and indemnify the state and all its agents for all
costs or claims arising out of or caused by the movement of vehicles
or combination of vehicles under the conditions of the permit.
(3) The applicant shall provide proof of financial responsibility
that covers the movement of the shipment as described in subdivision
(a). The insurance shall meet the minimum requirements established by
law.
(4) An agreement to carry a copy of the permit in the vehicle at
all times and furnish the copy upon request of an employee of the
Department of the California Highway Patrol or the Department of
Transportation.
(5) An agreement to place an indicia, developed by the Department
of Transportation, in consultation with the Department of the
California Highway Patrol, upon the vehicle identifying it as a
vehicle possibly operating under this section. The indicia shall be
displayed in the lower right area of the front windshield of the
power unit. The Department of Transportation may charge a fee to
cover the cost of producing and issuing this indicia.
(c) The permit issued pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be valid
for one year. The permit may be canceled by the Department of
Transportation for any of the following reasons:
(1) The failure of the applicant to maintain any of the conditions
required pursuant to subdivision (b).
(2) The failure of the applicant to maintain a satisfactory
rating, as required by Section 34501.12.
(3) A determination by the Department of Transportation that there
is sufficient cause to cancel the permit because the continued
movement of the applicant's vehicles under the permit would
jeopardize the safety of the motorists on the roadway or result in
undue damage to the highways listed in this section.
(d) This section does not authorize an applicant or holder of a
special permit under subdivision (a) to operate a vehicle or
combination of vehicles in excess of the maximum gross weight limit
of vehicles and loads specified in this chapter outside of the
designated corridors identified in subdivision (a). A violation of
this subdivision shall result in the revocation of the permit.
(e) The Department of Transportation may charge a fee to cover the
cost of issuing a permit pursuant to subdivision (a).
(f) Notwithstanding Section 35700 and Article 6 (commencing with
Section 35780), if the City of Carson, the City of
Long Beach, and the City of Los Angeles adopt an ordinance
or resolution, as described in subdivision (a), the ordinance or
resolution shall conform with the weight limits determined by the
Department of Transportation pursuant to this section.
shall use and enforce the axle and gross vehicle weight limits used
by the Department of Transportation for a permitted vehicle,
combination of vehicles, or mobile equipment operating or moving on a
route described in subdivision (a) by individual, and not combined,
axle group calculations.
