|
House Bill 2741 |
House Author: Phillips |
|
Effective: See below |
Senate Sponsor: Nichols |
House Bill 2741 amends the Finance Code, Government Code, Occupations Code, and Transportation Code to update provisions relating to motor vehicle registration and titling, including nonrepairable titles, salvage vehicle titles, and salvage record of title, by county tax assessor-collectors and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) and provisions relating to vehicle dealer regulation, motor carrier registration, and other motor vehicle functions of TxDMV. The bill makes numerous clarifying, technical, and administrative updates.
House Bill 2741 authorizes TxDMV to issue a title for a trailer that has a gross weight of 4,000 pounds or less. The bill requires a county assessor-collector that transfers money to TxDMV under the Certificate of Title Act to transfer the money electronically. The bill caps the late title transfer fee at $250. The bill authorizes the board of TxDMV by rule to set a fee for the issuance of a paper title to cover the cost of administering the electronic titling system.
House Bill 2741 makes it a third-degree felony to manufacture or sell a registration insignia or license plate that is deceptively similar to a registration insignia or license plate of TxDMV. The bill makes it a Class C misdemeanor to possess such a deceptively similar registration insignia or license plate and a Class B misdemeanor if the person has previously been convicted of possessing a deceptively similar registration insignia or license plate.
House Bill 2741 authorizes TxDMV to credit the transferor of a multiyear vehicle registration for any time remaining on the registration in annual increments.
House Bill 2741 makes various changes relating to specialty license plates associated with veterans with disabilities, the merchant marine of the United States, and the Texas Aerospace Commission. The bill requires TxDMV to issue Big Brothers Big Sisters specialty license plates. Money collected for the issuance of the plates, less administrative costs, must be used by the attorney general to provide grants to benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organizations operating in Texas.
House Bill 2741 makes it a Class C misdemeanor to use, purchase, possess, manufacture, sell, offer to sell, or otherwise distribute with criminal negligence a license plate flipper and makes a subsequent conviction a Class B misdemeanor. The bill makes any license plate offense the penalty for which is not prescribed in law a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of not less than $5 and not more than $200.
House Bill 2741 authorizes the operation of a neighborhood electric vehicle under certain circumstances.
House Bill 2741 prohibits a county or municipality, except as expressly authorized by Transportation Code provisions relating to vehicle size and weight, from requiring a permit, bond, fee, or license for the movement of a vehicle or combination of vehicles or any load carried by the vehicle or vehicles on the state highway system in the county or municipality that exceeds the weight or size limits on the state highway system. The bill makes loading a vehicle in excess of the weight limitations for operation of that vehicle on a public highway subject to administrative enforcement unless a criminal penalty has been assessed for the violation. The bill expands the conduct that constitutes the offense of operating or loading an overweight vehicle and increases from $150 to $250 the maximum fine for such an offense. The bill also increases the maximum fine from $150 to $250 for specified offenses relating to general permits for oversize or overweight vehicles. The bill creates schedules of weight violations and associated fines for an offense involving a vehicle having a single axle weight or tandem axle weight that is heavier than the vehicle's allowable weight and an offense involving a vehicle having a gross weight that is heavier than the vehicle's allowable gross weight.
House Bill 2741 authorizes TxDMV to issue a permit authorizing the operation of a ready-mixed concrete truck with three axles. The bill sets the one-year permit fee at $1,000 and authorizes the issuance of a permit that is valid for less than one year with a prorated fee. The bill requires 50 percent of collected fees to be deposited to the state highway fund (Fund 6) and the remaining 50 percent to be distributed to the counties designated in the permit application.
House Bill 2741, as an alternative to the general permit issued for an overweight or oversize vehicle, authorizes TxDMV to issue an annual permit for a vehicle or combination of vehicles being used to transport unrefined timber, wood chips, or woody biomass in specified counties. The permit fee is set at $1,500, 50 percent of which is deposited to the credit of the state highway fund (Fund 6) and 50 percent of which is divided among all counties designated in the permit. Before the vehicles may operate under the permit, the financially responsible party associated with the permitted vehicles must provide a document to TxDMV designating the roads on which the vehicles will travel and must agree to reimburse the county or state, as applicable, for road or highway damage caused by the permitted vehicles. The designated counties and TxDMV may inspect the roads or highways to document their state before the vehicles may operate under the permit to establish a baseline condition for assessing damage caused by the permitted vehicles.
House Bill 2741 authorizes the governor to suspend certain registration and fuel tax requirements in response to an emergency or disaster declaration by the U.S. president or governor of another state if strict compliance with the requirements would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in providing emergency or disaster assistance to another state. The bill also authorizes TxDMV to issue a special permit during a major disaster as declared by the president of the United States to an overweight or oversize vehicle or load that can easily be dismantled or divided and will be used only to deliver relief supplies.
House Bill 2741 authorizes TxDMV to deny a motor carrier registration if the applicant's business is controlled by or affiliated with, or if the applicant is a motor carrier whose business is controlled by or affiliated with, a person whom the Department of Public Safety has determined has an unsatisfactory safety rating or multiple violations of commercial motor vehicle safety standards. The bill sets out appeal proceedings for the denial of an application for motor carrier registration, renewal of registration, or reinstatement of registration.
House Bill 2741 transfers from the Texas Department of Transportation to TxDMV the requirement to adopt rules that conform with federal rules requiring motor carriers operating foreign commercial motor vehicles in Texas to maintain financial responsibility.
House Bill 2741 revises the application process for a disabled parking placard, makes a placard valid for four years applicable only to a Texas resident, makes a placard issued to a person who is not a Texas resident valid for six months, and requires a peace officer to destroy a seized placard.
House Bill 2741 repeals various provisions of the Occupations Code and the Transportation Code to make conforming changes.
House Bill 2741 takes effect September 1, 2013, except for provisions relating to the cap on late fees associated with a title transfer, specialty license plates for veterans with disabilities, and a general penalty for license plate offenses, which take effect June 14, 2013.