California Senate Bill SB1220 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1220INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk FEBRUARY 18, 2010 An act to amend Section 35002 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1220, as introduced, Wolk. Vehicles: emergency vehicles: fire apparatus. (1) Existing law requires specified authorized emergency vehicles owned and operated by a governmental agency that are first purchased on or after January 1, 1994, to meet certain size, weight, and load requirements, including the requirement that the manufacturer weigh and certify fire apparatus to determine compliance with weight requirements. Existing law defines a "fire apparatus" as, among other things, a vehicle designed, maintained, and used exclusively for the suppression of fires or for fire prevention activities, including the training of firefighters. This bill would instead define a "fire apparatus" as a vehicle designed to be used under emergency conditions to transport personnel and equipment, or to support the suppression of fires or mitigation of other hazardous situations, consistent with Standard 1901 of the National Fire Protection Association. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 35002 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 35002. (a) (1) This division does not apply to  any   an  authorized emergency vehicle owned or operated by a governmental agency while being used in responding to and returning from emergency fire calls, while being moved from place to place in anticipation of emergency fire calls, when used during training in any fire service application or during fire prevention activities, or when vehicles ordinarily used for those purposes are necessarily transported for vehicle maintenance, repair, or service. This subdivision only applies to vehicles purchased prior to January 1, 1994. Vehicles purchased on January 1, 1992, to and including December 31, 1993, shall meet the applicable requirements of Standards 1901 to 1904, inclusive, of the National Fire Protection Association, as those standards were in effect on December 31, 1991. (2) All vehicles described in paragraph (1) first purchased on or after January 1, 1994, shall comply with the applicable permit requirements adopted by the Department of Transportation. (3) For purposes of this section, "purchased" means the date that the operating agency enters into a contract to purchase the vehicle. (b) All vehicles described in subdivision (a) purchased on or after January 1, 1994, shall meet the following requirements: (1) It shall be the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide a gross axle weight rating (GAWR), gross combined weight rating (GCWR), and gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), adequate to carry a full water tank with the allowance for personnel and miscellaneous equipment, including hose load, shown in the table below: Misc. Personnel Equipment Pumpers 1,200 lbs. 2,000 lbs. Light attack apparatus 600 lbs. 900 lbs. Water towers 1,200 lbs. 1,500 lbs. Aerial platforms with 1,200 ground ladders lbs. 2,500 lbs. Aerial ladders with 1,200 ground ladders lbs. 2,500 lbs. Fire apparatus shall be weighed and certified by the manufacturer to determine compliance with the table above prior to acceptance by the purchaser. Apparatus and chassis manufacturers shall furnish certification of the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), gross combined weight rating (GCWR), and gross axle weight rating (GAWR) on a nameplate affixed to the apparatus. (2)  Any   A  fire apparatus exceeding 31,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) shall be equipped with a retarder. (3) For purposes of this section, a "fire apparatus" is  any   a  vehicle  or combination of vehicles designed, maintained, and used exclusively for the suppression of fires or for fire prevention activities, including the training of firefighters. A tank vehicle owned by a regularly organized fire suppression agency and used to transport water or other fire suppression materials is a fire apparatus. A vehicle or combination of vehicles which is not designed primarily for fire suppression, including, but not limited to, a hazardous materials response vehicle, dedicated rescue vehicle, command post communications vehicle, passenger vehicle, bus, mobile kitchen, mobile sanitation facility, and heavy equipment transport vehicle, are not a fire apparatus for purposes of this section   designed to be used under emergency conditions to transport personnel and equipment, or to support the suppression of fires or mitigation of other hazardous situations, consistent with Standard 1901 of the National Fire Protection Association  . (c) A vehicle owned, operated, or rented by  any   a  public agency  which   that  is being used in responding to or returning from an emergency, may be operated as required, if a reasonable effort is first made by the agency to obtain verbal permission from an authorized officer or employee of the agency having jurisdiction of the highways used, and, upon termination of the emergency, when the vehicle is returning from the site of the emergency, the public agency either obtains a permit at the location of the emergency or makes a reasonable effort to obtain verbal permission from an authorized officer or employee of the agency having jurisdiction of the highways used, and obtains a written permit for that use pursuant to Section 35780 not later than three days after the date of the emergency. As used in this subdivision, "emergency" means a condition  which   that  poses an imminent threat of loss of property or a hazard to life, as determined by the public agency charged with responsibility to respond thereto. (d)  Any   A    governmental agency operating an authorized emergency vehicle or other vehicle subject to this section is liable to the governmental agency having jurisdiction of  any   a  state or county highway for  any   the  damage to the highway or  any   a  highway structure caused by the operation of the vehicle of a size or weight of vehicle or load exceeding that specified in this division. The cost of repair of the damage is a proper charge against the support fund of the governmental agency operating the oversize or overweight vehicle. (e) Neither the state nor  any   an  agency thereof is liable for damage to  any   a  highway or highway structure caused by vehicles operated, pursuant to this section, by or on behalf of a local authority or any other local governmental entity. SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to revise Vehicle Code provisions regulating the operation of authorized emergency vehiclesas soon as possible, these changes need to go into effect immediately.