BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 3460 |
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By: VanDeaver |
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International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that the current permitting process for oversize and overweight vehicles does not account for sealed ocean cargo shipping containers moving in international commerce, which these parties assert leaves some Texas employers at a significant competitive disadvantage with no way to get full, inspected containers to their destination. C.S.H.B. 3460 seeks to address this issue by creating a permit for the movement of sealed ocean cargo shipping containers.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3460 amends the Transportation Code to require the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) to issue an annual permit for the movement of a sealed ocean cargo shipping container moving in international commerce on a trailer or semitrailer with three axles if the combination of vehicles transporting the container is equipped with a roll stability support safety system and truck blind spot systems and has a single axle weight of not more than 20,000 pounds, a tandem axle weight of not more than 34,000 pounds, a tri-axle weight of not more than 51,000 pounds, and a gross weight of not more than 95,000 pounds. The bill requires TxDMV to restrict vehicles operating under the permit to routes that are located in a county with a population of more than 90,000, on highways in the state highway system, and not more than five miles from the border between Texas and Arkansas. The bill requires a sealed ocean cargo shipping container being moved under the permit to be continuously sealed from the point of origin to the point of destination with a seal that is required by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or federal law or regulation. The bill establishes that the permit does not authorize the operation of a vehicle combination described by the bill on load-restricted roads or bridges or on routes for which the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has not authorized the operation of such a vehicle combination. The bill establishes that certain permits for oversize or overweight vehicles do not authorize the transportation of a material designated as of January 1, 2017, as a hazardous material by the U.S. secretary of transportation.
C.S.H.B. 3460 requires an applicant for a permit under the bill's provisions to designate each TxDOT district in which the permit will be used and requires TxDMV to initially set the fee for the permit in an amount not to exceed $2,000. The bill requires TxDOT, not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year beginning in 2022, to conduct a study concerning vehicles operating under the permit and to publish the results of the study. The bill sets out the information that TxDOT is required to collect and examine in conducting the study. The bill requires TxDMV, on September 1 of each even-numbered year beginning in 2022, to set the fee for the permit in an amount based on a reasonable estimate of the costs associated with the operation of vehicles issued the permit over the routes authorized under the bill's provisions, including any increase in the costs necessary to maintain or repair those highways. The bill requires the estimate to be based on the results of the required study.
C.S.H.B. 3460 provides for the allocation of the fee for the permit as follow: 85 percent is required to be deposited to the credit of the state highway fund, 10 percent is required to be deposited to the credit of the TxDMV fund, and 5 percent is required to be deposited to the general revenue fund. The bill restricts use of such a fee deposited to the state highway fund to transportation projects in the TxDOT district designated in the permit application for which the fee was assessed and restricts use of such a fee deposited to the general revenue fund to offsetting the cost of the required study. The bill authorizes TxDMV to suspend a permit issued under the bill's provisions if TxDMV receives notice from the Federal Highway Administration that the operation of a vehicle under such a permit would result in the loss of federal highway funding.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3460 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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