1-1 By: Duncan S.B. No. 836
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 1999; March 4, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 12, 1999,
1-4 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 836 By: Nelson
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to certain buses used to transport students to
1-10 school-related activities.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 541.201, Transportation Code, is amended
1-13 by adding a new Subdivision (15), renumbering existing Subdivision
1-14 (15) as Subdivision (16) and amending that subdivision, and
1-15 renumbering existing Subdivisions (16) through (22) as Subdivisions
1-16 (17) through (23) to read as follows:
1-17 (15) "School activity bus" means a bus designed to
1-18 accommodate more than 15 passengers, including the operator, that
1-19 is owned, operated, rented, or leased by a school district, county
1-20 school, open-enrollment charter school, regional education service
1-21 center, or shared services arrangement and that is used to
1-22 transport public school students on a school-related activity trip,
1-23 other than on routes to and from school. The term does not include
1-24 a chartered bus, a bus operated by a mass transit authority, or a
1-25 school bus.
1-26 (16) "School bus" means a motor vehicle that was
1-27 manufactured in compliance with the federal motor vehicle safety
1-28 standards for school buses in effect on the date of manufacture and
1-29 that is used [bus designed] to transport pre-primary, primary, or
1-30 secondary [more than 15 passengers, including the operator, and
1-31 used for purposes that include regularly transporting] students on
1-32 a route to or from school or on a school-related activity trip
1-33 other than on routes to and from school [or school-related events].
1-34 The term does not include a school-chartered bus or a bus operated
1-35 by a mass transit authority.
1-36 (17) [(16)] "Semitrailer" means a vehicle with or
1-37 without motive power, other than a pole trailer:
1-38 (A) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and
1-39 to transport persons or property; and
1-40 (B) constructed so that part of the vehicle's
1-41 weight and load rests on or is carried by another vehicle.
1-42 (18) [(17)] "Special mobile equipment" means a vehicle
1-43 that is not designed or used primarily to transport persons or
1-44 property and that is only incidentally operated on a highway. The
1-45 term:
1-46 (A) includes ditchdigging apparatus, well boring
1-47 apparatus, and road construction and maintenance machinery,
1-48 including an asphalt spreader, bituminous mixer, bucket loader,
1-49 tractor other than a truck tractor, ditcher, levelling grader,
1-50 finishing machine, motor grader, road roller, scarifier,
1-51 earth-moving carryall and scraper, power shovel or dragline, or
1-52 self-propelled crane and earth-moving equipment; and
1-53 (B) excludes a vehicle that is designed to
1-54 transport persons or property and that has machinery attached,
1-55 including a house trailer, dump truck, truck-mounted transit mixer,
1-56 crane, and shovel.
1-57 (19) [(18)] "Towable recreational vehicle" means a
1-58 nonmotorized vehicle that:
1-59 (A) is designed:
1-60 (i) to be towable by a motor vehicle; and
1-61 (ii) for temporary human habitation for
1-62 uses including recreational camping or seasonal use;
1-63 (B) is permanently built on a single chassis;
1-64 (C) may contain one or more life-support
2-1 systems; and
2-2 (D) may be used permanently or temporarily for
2-3 advertising, selling, displaying, or promoting merchandise or
2-4 services, but is not used for transporting property for hire or for
2-5 distribution by a private carrier.
2-6 (20) [(19)] "Trailer" means a vehicle, other than a
2-7 pole trailer, with or without motive power:
2-8 (A) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and
2-9 to transport persons or property; and
2-10 (B) constructed so that no part of the vehicle's
2-11 weight and load rests on the motor vehicle.
2-12 (21) [(20)] "Truck" means a motor vehicle designed,
2-13 used, or maintained primarily to transport property.
2-14 (22) [(21)] "Truck tractor" means a motor vehicle
2-15 designed and used primarily to draw another vehicle but not
2-16 constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the
2-17 other vehicle and its load.
2-18 (23) [(22)] "Vehicle" means a device that can be used
2-19 to transport or draw persons or property on a highway. The term
2-20 does not include:
2-21 (A) a device exclusively used on stationary
2-22 rails or tracks; or
2-23 (B) manufactured housing as that term is defined
2-24 by the Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Act (Article 5221f,
2-25 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-26 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 545.352, Transportation
2-27 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-28 (c) The speed limits for a bus or other vehicle engaged in
2-29 the business of transporting passengers for compensation or hire,
2-30 for a commercial vehicle used as a highway post office vehicle for
2-31 highway post office service in the transportation of United States
2-32 mail, [and] for a light truck, and for a school activity bus are
2-33 the same as required for a passenger car at the same time and
2-34 location.
2-35 SECTION 3. Section 521.022, Transportation Code, is amended
2-36 by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
2-37 (i) For purposes of this section, "school bus" includes a
2-38 school activity bus as defined by Section 541.201.
2-39 SECTION 4. Section 548.001, Transportation Code, as amended
2-40 by Chapters 1061 and 1069, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
2-41 Session, 1997, is amended to read as follows:
2-42 Sec. 548.001. Definitions. In this chapter:
2-43 (1) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a self-propelled
2-44 or towed vehicle, other than a farm vehicle with a gross weight,
2-45 registered weight, or gross weight rating of less than 48,000
2-46 pounds, that is used on a public highway to transport passengers or
2-47 cargo if:
2-48 (A) the vehicle, including a school activity bus
2-49 as defined in Section 541.201, or combination of vehicles has a
2-50 gross weight, registered weight, or gross weight rating of more
2-51 than 26,000 pounds;
2-52 (B) the vehicle, including a school activity bus
2-53 as defined in Section 541.201, is designed to transport more than
2-54 15 passengers, including the driver; or
2-55 (C) the vehicle is used to transport hazardous
2-56 materials in a quantity requiring placarding by a regulation issued
2-57 under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. Section
2-58 1801 et seq.).
2-59 (2) "Commission" means the Public Safety Commission.
2-60 (3) "Conservation commission" means the Texas Natural
2-61 Resource Conservation Commission.
2-62 (4) "Department" means the Department of Public
2-63 Safety.
2-64 (5) "Farm vehicle" has the meaning assigned by the
2-65 federal motor carrier safety regulations.
2-66 (6) "Federal motor carrier safety regulation" has the
2-67 meaning assigned by Section 644.001.
2-68 (7) "Inspection station" means a facility certified to
2-69 conduct inspections of vehicles under this chapter.
3-1 (8) "Inspector" means an individual certified to
3-2 conduct inspections of vehicles under this chapter.
3-3 (9) "Nonattainment area" means an area so designated
3-4 within the meaning of Section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42
3-5 U.S.C. Section 7407).
3-6 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 548.201, Transportation
3-7 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-8 (b) A program under this section also applies to any:
3-9 (1) vehicle or combination of vehicles with a gross
3-10 weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds that is[:]
3-11 [(1)] operated in interstate commerce[;] and
3-12 [(2)] registered in this state; and
3-13 (2) any school activity bus, as defined in Section
3-14 541.201, that has a gross weight, registered weight, or gross
3-15 weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, or is designed to
3-16 transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver.
3-17 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-23 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-24 * * * * *