1-1     By:  Uher (Senate Sponsor - Cain)                     H.B. No. 1538
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 22, 1999;
 1-3     April 26, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the issuance by the Texas Department of Transportation
 1-9     of annual permits to move certain superheavy or oversize equipment
1-10     on a state highway.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Sections 623.071(d)-(g), Transportation Code, are
1-13     amended to read as follows:
1-14           (d)  The department may issue an annual permit to a motor
1-15     carrier, as defined by Section 643.001, that allows the motor
1-16     carrier to operate on a  state highway two or more vehicles for the
1-17     movement of superheavy or oversize equipment described by
1-18     Subsection (c)(3).  An application under this subsection must be on
1-19     the form prescribed by the department and include a description of
1-20     each vehicle to be operated by the motor carrier under the permit.
1-21     A permit issued under this subsection:
1-22                 (1)  may not authorize the operation of more than one
1-23     vehicle at the same time; and
1-24                 (2)  must be carried in the vehicle that is being
1-25     operated to move the  superheavy or oversize equipment under the
1-26     permit.
1-27           (e)  The department may not issue a permit under this section
1-28     unless the equipment may be operated without material damage to the
1-29     highway.
1-30           (f) [(e)] In this section, "pipe box" means a container
1-31     specifically constructed to safely transport and handle oilfield
1-32     drill pipe and drill collars.
1-33           (g) [(f)]  A single trip permit that increases the height or
1-34     width limits established in Subsection (c)(3)(B)(i) or (ii) may be
1-35     issued by the department and used in conjunction with an annual
1-36     permit issued under Subsection (c).
1-37           [(g)  The department shall submit to the lieutenant governor
1-38     and speaker of the house of representatives by December 1 of each
1-39     even-numbered year a report describing the cumulative effects on
1-40     the state highway system, including county roads, of permits issued
1-41     under Subsection (c)(3) during the previous two-year period.]
1-42           SECTION 2.  Section 623.076(c), Transportation Code, is
1-43     amended to read as follows:
1-44           (c)  An application for a permit under Section 623.071(c)(3)
1-45     or (d) must be accompanied by the permit fee established by the
1-46     commission for  the permit, not to exceed $3,500. Of each fee
1-47     collected under this subsection, the department shall send:
1-48                 (1)  the first $1,000 to the comptroller for deposit to
1-49     the credit of the general revenue fund; and
1-50                 (2)  any amount in excess of $1,000 to the comptroller
1-51     for deposit to the credit of the state highway fund.
1-52           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-53           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-54     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-55     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-56     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-57     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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