Bill Text: CA SB1345 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Vehicles: off-highway vehicle recreation: County of Inyo.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-08-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 217, Statutes of 2016. [SB1345 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB1345-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1345 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 217
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 26, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 26, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 16, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Berryhill
(Coauthor: Senator Gaines)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Dahle and Mathis)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 38026.1 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1345, Berryhill. Vehicles: off-highway vehicle recreation:
County of Inyo.
Existing law authorizes an off-highway motor vehicle that has been
issued a plate or device to be operated or driven upon a highway
under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes various public
entities, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, to designate a
highway, or portion thereof, for the combined use of regular
vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles if certain
requirements are met. Existing law prohibits a highway from being
designated for this combined use for a distance of more than 3 miles.
Existing law, until January 1, 2017, authorizes the County of Inyo
to establish a pilot project that would exempt specified
combined-use highways in the unincorporated area in the County of
Inyo from this prohibition to link together existing roads in the
unincorporated portion of the county to existing trails and
trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management or United States
Forest Service lands in order to provide a unified linkage of trail
systems for off-highway motor vehicles, as prescribed. Existing law
requires the County of Inyo, in consultation with the Department of
the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation, and
the Department of Parks and Recreation, to prepare and submit to the
Legislature a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot
project by January 1, 2016, as specified.
This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until
January 1, 2020, and would extend the reporting deadline until
January 1, 2019. For purposes of the pilot project described above,
the bill would prohibit a combined-use highway road segment from
exceeding 10 miles, except as specified.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
act to develop additional data to better evaluate whether a
combined-use highways system is workable in the County of Inyo. It is
further the intent of the Legislature that no General Fund moneys be
expended for the pilot project established by this act, and the
project will be revenue neutral to the state.
SEC. 2. Section 38026.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
38026.1. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (e), the County of
Inyo may establish a pilot project to designate combined-use
highways on unincorporated county roads in the county for no more
than 10 miles so that the combined-use highways can be used to link
existing off-highway motor vehicle trails and trailheads on federal
Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service lands, and
to link off-highway motor vehicle recreational-use areas with
necessary service and lodging facilities, in order to provide a
unified system of trails for off-highway motor vehicles, preserve
traffic safety, improve natural resource protection, reduce
off-highway vehicle trespass on private land, and minimize impacts on
county residents.
(b) A pilot project established pursuant to this section shall do
all of the following:
(1) Prescribe a procedure for highway, road, or route selection
and designation. The procedure shall be approved by a vote of a
majority of the county's board of supervisors.
(2) Prescribe a procedure for the county to remove a combined-use
designation, including a designation that is removed as a result of
the conclusion of the pilot program.
(3) In cooperation with the Department of Transportation,
establish uniform specifications and symbols for signs, markers, and
traffic control devices to control off-highway motor vehicles,
including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Devices to warn of dangerous conditions, obstacles, or
hazards.
(B) Designations of the right-of-way for regular vehicular traffic
and off-highway motor vehicles.
(C) A description of the nature and destination of the off-highway
motor vehicle trail.
(D) Warning signs for pedestrians and motorists of the presence of
off-highway motor vehicle traffic.
(4) Require that off-highway motor vehicles subject to the pilot
project meet the safety requirements of federal and state law
regarding proper drivers' licensing, helmet usage, and the
requirements pursuant to Section 38026.5.
(5) Prohibit off-highway motor vehicles from traveling faster than
35 miles per hour on highways designated under this section.
(6) (A) Prohibit a combined-use highway road segment designated
under this section from exceeding 10 miles.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), two or more combined-use
highway road segments may share a common starting point or ending
point and may partially overlap as long as the resulting network of
the highway road segments does not include more than three distinct
locations of shared starting or ending points, or both.
(7) Include an opportunity for public comment at a public hearing
held by the county in order to evaluate the pilot project.
(c) A pilot project established pursuant to this section may
include use of a state highway, subject to the approval of the
Department of Transportation, or any crossing of a highway designated
pursuant to Section 38025.
(d) (1) By selecting and designating a highway for combined use
pursuant to this section, the county agrees to defend and indemnify
the state against any and all claims, including legal defense and
liability arising from a claim, for any safety-related losses or
injuries arising or resulting from use by off-highway motor vehicles
of a highway designated as a combined-use highway by the county's
board of supervisors pursuant to this section.
(2) This subdivision does not alter the requirements of
subdivision (e).
(e) The county shall not designate a highway for combined use
pursuant to this section unless the Commissioner of the Department of
the California Highway Patrol finds that designating the highway for
combined use would not create a potential traffic safety hazard.
(f) Not later than January 1, 2019, the County of Inyo, in
consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol,
the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Parks and
Recreation, shall prepare and submit to the Legislature a report
evaluating the pilot project, and containing all of the following:
(1) A description of the road segments designated to allow
combined use for over three miles, as approved or adopted by a
majority vote of the members of the Inyo County Board of Supervisors.
(2) An evaluation of the overall safety and effectiveness of the
pilot project, including its impact on traffic flows, safety,
off-highway vehicle usage on existing trails, incursions into areas
not designated for off-highway vehicle usage, and nonmotorized
recreation.
(3) A description of the public comments received at a public
hearing held by the county in regards to an evaluation of the pilot
project.
(g) (1) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.
