88R8248 JRR-D
 
  By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1894
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the operation of vehicles transporting iron or steel
  products; authorizing a fee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 621.102(d), Transportation Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (d)  A vehicle operating under a permit issued under Section
  623.011, 623.071, 623.094, 623.121, 623.142, 623.181, 623.192,
  623.212, [or] 623.321, or 623.451 [as added by Chapter 1135 (H.B.
  2741), Acts of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013,] may
  operate under the conditions authorized by the permit over a road
  for which the executive director of the Texas Department of
  Transportation has set a maximum weight under this section.
         SECTION 2.  Section 621.301(e), Transportation Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (e)  A vehicle operating under a permit issued under Section
  623.011, 623.071, 623.094, 623.121, 623.142, 623.181, 623.192,
  623.212, [or] 623.321, or 623.451 [as added by Chapter 1135 (H.B.
  2741), Acts of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013,] may
  operate under the conditions authorized by the permit over a road
  for which the commissioners court has set a maximum weight under
  this section.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 623.012(a) and (b), Transportation
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  An applicant for a permit under Section 623.011, other
  than a permit under that section to operate a vehicle loaded with
  timber or pulp wood, wood chips, cotton, or agricultural products
  in their natural state, and an applicant for a permit under Section
  623.321 or 623.451 shall file with the department:
               (1)  a blanket bond; or
               (2)  an irrevocable letter of credit issued by a
  financial institution the deposits of which are guaranteed by the
  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
         (b)  The bond or letter of credit must:
               (1)  be in the amount of $15,000 payable to the counties
  of this state;
               (2)  be conditioned that the applicant will pay a
  county for any damage to a road or bridge of the county caused by the
  operation of the vehicle:
                     (A)  for which the permit is issued at a heavier
  weight than the maximum weights authorized by Subchapter B of
  Chapter 621 or Section 621.301, [or] 623.321, or 623.451; or
                     (B)  that is in violation of Section 623.323 or
  623.453; and
               (3)  provide that the issuer is to notify the county and
  the applicant in writing promptly after a payment is made by the
  issuer on the bond or letter of credit.
         SECTION 4.  Chapter 623, Transportation Code, is amended by
  adding Subchapter W to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER W. VEHICLES TRANSPORTING IRON OR STEEL PRODUCTS
         Sec. 623.451.  PERMIT. (a) The department may issue a
  permit under this subchapter, as an alternative to a permit issued
  under Section 623.011, authorizing a person to operate a vehicle or
  combination of vehicles that is being used to transport indivisible
  loads of iron or steel products, including scrap iron and steel and
  iron and steel recycling material, in a county producing more than
  100,000 tons annually of iron products, steel products, or a
  combination of iron and steel products, as determined by the
  department, at the weight limits prescribed by Subsection (b).
         (b)  A person may operate over a road or highway a vehicle or
  combination of vehicles issued a permit under this section at a
  gross weight that is not heavier than 96,000 pounds, if the gross
  load carried on any tandem axle of the vehicle or combination of
  vehicles does not exceed 44,000 pounds.
         (c)  Section 621.508 does not apply to a vehicle or
  combination of vehicles operated under this section.
         (d)  The department shall annually update the number of
  counties described by Subsection (a).
         Sec. 623.452.  QUALIFICATION; REQUIREMENTS. (a) To qualify
  for a permit under this subchapter for a vehicle or combination of
  vehicles, a person must:
               (1)  pay a permit fee of $900;
               (2)  designate in the permit application the counties
  described by Section 623.451(a) in which the vehicle or combination
  of vehicles will be operated; and
               (3)  satisfy the security requirement of Section
  623.012.
         (b)  A permit issued under this subchapter:
               (1)  is valid for one year; and
               (2)  must be carried in the vehicle for which it is
  issued.
         Sec. 623.453.  NOTIFICATION. (a) For purposes of this
  section, "financially responsible party" means the owner of the
  vehicle or combination of vehicles, the party operating the vehicle
  or combination of vehicles, or a person that hires, leases, rents,
  or subcontracts the vehicle or combination of vehicles for use on a
  road maintained by a county or a state highway.
         (b)  Before a vehicle or combination of vehicles for which a
  permit is issued under this subchapter may be operated on a road
  maintained by a county or a state highway, the financially
  responsible party shall execute a notification document and agree
  to reimburse the county or the state, as applicable, for damage to a
  road or highway sustained as a consequence of the transportation
  authorized by the permit. At a minimum, the notification document
  must include:
               (1)  the name and address of the financially
  responsible party;
               (2)  a description of each permit issued for the
  vehicle or combination of vehicles;
               (3)  a description of the method of compliance by the
  financially responsible party with Section 601.051, 623.012,
  643.101, or 643.102;
               (4)  the address or location of the geographic area in
  which the financially responsible party wishes to operate a vehicle
  or combination of vehicles and a designation of the specific route
  of travel anticipated by the financially responsible party,
  including the name or number of each road maintained by a county or
  state highway;
               (5)  a calendar or schedule of duration that includes
  the days and hours of operation during which the financially
  responsible party reasonably anticipates using the county road or
  state highway identified in Subdivision (4); and
               (6)  a list of each vehicle or combination of vehicles
  by license plate number or other registration information, and a
  description of the means by which financial responsibility is
  established for each vehicle or combination of vehicles if each
  vehicle or combination of vehicles is not covered by a single
  insurance policy, surety bond, deposit, or other means of financial
  assurance.
         (c)  A financially responsible party shall electronically
  file the notification document described by Subsection (b) with the
  department under rules adopted by the department not later than the
  second business day before the first business day listed by the
  financially responsible party under Subsection (b)(5). The
  department shall immediately send an electronic copy of the
  notification document to each county identified in the notification
  document and the Texas Department of Transportation and an
  electronic receipt for the notification document to the financially
  responsible party. Not later than the first business day listed by
  the financially responsible party under Subsection (b)(5), a county
  or the Texas Department of Transportation may inspect a road or
  highway identified in the notification document. If an inspection
  is conducted under this subsection, a county or the Texas
  Department of Transportation shall:
               (1)  document the condition of the roads or highways
  and take photographs of the roads or highways as necessary to
  establish a baseline for any subsequent assessment of damage
  sustained by the financially responsible party's use of the roads
  or highways; and
               (2)  provide a copy of the documentation to the
  financially responsible party.
         (d)  If an inspection has been conducted under Subsection
  (c), a county or the Texas Department of Transportation, as
  applicable, shall, not later than the fifth business day after the
  expiration of the calendar or schedule of duration described by
  Subsection (b)(5):
               (1)  conduct an inspection described by Subsection
  (c)(1) to determine any damage sustained by the financially
  responsible party's use of the roads or highways; and
               (2)  provide a copy of the inspection documentation to
  the financially responsible party.
         (e)  The state or a county required to be notified under this
  section may assert a claim against any security posted under
  Section 623.012 or insurance filed under Section 643.103 for damage
  to a road or highway sustained as a consequence of the
  transportation authorized by the permit.
         Sec. 623.454.  DISPOSITION OF FEE. Of the fee collected
  under Section 623.452 for a permit:
               (1)  50 percent of the amount collected shall be
  deposited to the credit of the state highway fund; and
               (2)  the other 50 percent shall be divided equally
  among all counties designated in the permit application under
  Section 623.452(a)(2).
         Sec. 623.455.  TIME OF MOVEMENT. A permit issued under this
  subchapter must specify the time during which movement authorized
  by the permit is allowed.
         Sec. 623.456.  SPEED LIMIT. Movement authorized by a permit
  issued under this subchapter may not exceed the posted speed limit
  or 55 miles per hour, whichever is less. A violation of this
  provision constitutes a moving violation.
         Sec. 623.457.  INTERSTATE AND DEFENSE HIGHWAYS. (a) This
  subchapter does not authorize the operation on the national system
  of interstate and defense highways in this state of a vehicle of a
  size or weight greater than those permitted under 23 U.S.C. Section
  127.
         (b)  If the United States authorizes the operation on the
  national system of interstate and defense highways of a vehicle of a
  size or weight greater than those permitted under 23 U.S.C. Section
  127 on September 1, 2023, the new limit automatically takes effect
  on the national system of interstate and defense highways in this
  state.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.