1-1     By:  Duncan                                            S.B. No. 492
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 31, 2001; February 1, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     March 7, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
 1-5     Nays 0; March 7, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to load and weight limits on certain bridges.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 623.011, Transportation
1-11     Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-12           (c)  A permit issued under this section:
1-13                 (1)  is valid for one year; and
1-14                 (2)  must be carried in the vehicle for which it is
1-15     issued[; and]
1-16                 [(3)  does not authorize the operation on the national
1-17     system of interstate and defense highways in this state of vehicles
1-18     with a weight greater than authorized by federal law].
1-19           SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 623, Transportation Code,
1-20     is amended by adding Section 623.0113 to read as follows:
1-21           Sec. 623.0113.  ROUTE RESTRICTIONS; EXCEPTION.  (a)  A permit
1-22     issued under Section 623.011 does not authorize the operation of
1-23     the vehicle for which the permit is issued on:
1-24                 (1)  the national system of interstate and defense
1-25     highways in this state if the weight of the vehicle is greater than
1-26     authorized by federal law; or
1-27                 (2)  a bridge for which a maximum weight and load limit
1-28     have been established and posted by the Texas Transportation
1-29     Commission under Section 621.102 or the commissioners court of a
1-30     county under Section 621.301, if the gross weight of the vehicle
1-31     and load or the axles and wheel loads are greater than the limits
1-32     established and posted under those sections.
1-33           (b)  A restriction under Subsection (a)(2) does not apply if
1-34     the bridge is along the only public highway or road that the
1-35     vehicle for which the permit is issued can use to travel from its
1-36     point of origin to its destination.
1-37           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
1-38     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
1-39     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
1-40     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
1-41     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-42                                  * * * * *