House File 527 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 527 BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 136) (COMPANION TO SF 153 BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION) A BILL FOR An Act relating to driver age qualifications for certain 1 commercial motor vehicle drivers operating solely intrastate 2 to transport hazardous material. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1884HV (1) 91 th/ns
H.F. 527 Section 1. Section 321.449, subsection 3, Code 2025, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 3. Rules adopted under this section concerning driver age 3 qualifications do not apply to drivers for private and for-hire 4 motor carriers which operate solely intrastate except when the 5 vehicle being driven is transporting a hazardous material in a 6 quantity which requires placarding . The minimum age for the 7 exempted intrastate operations is eighteen years of age. 8 Sec. 2. Section 321.450, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended 9 to read as follows: 10 3. Notwithstanding other provisions of this section , or the 11 age requirements under section 321.449 , the age requirements 12 under section 321.449 and the rules adopted under this section 13 pertaining to compliance with regulations adopted under 14 United States Code, Tit. 49, and found in 49 C.F.R. 177.804 , 15 shall not apply to retail dealers of fertilizers, petroleum 16 products, and pesticides and their employees while delivering 17 fertilizers, petroleum products, and pesticides to farm 18 customers within a one-hundred-mile radius of their retail 19 place of business. 20 EXPLANATION 21 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 22 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 23 Under current law, the department of public safety (DPS), 24 in consultation with the department of transportation, is 25 authorized to adopt motor carrier safety rules consistent with 26 federal motor carrier safety regulations. Federal regulations 27 require a person to be at least 21 years old in order to be 28 licensed as a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver (49 C.F.R. 29 391.11), with limited exceptions. DPS is authorized to adopt 30 rules authorizing a person who is at least 18 years of age, 31 but under 21 years of age, to be licensed to operate a CMV in 32 interstate commerce if the person holds a valid commercial 33 drivers license (CDL) and is authorized under federal law 34 to operate a CMV in interstate commerce. In addition, rules 35 -1- LSB 1884HV (1) 91 th/ns 1/ 2
H.F. 527 adopted by DPS concerning driver age qualifications do not 1 apply to drivers for private and for-hire motor carriers 2 which operate solely intrastate except when the vehicle being 3 driven is transporting a hazardous material in a quantity 4 which requires placarding. The minimum age for the exempted 5 intrastate operations is 18 years of age. 6 This bill strikes the age qualifications exception for 7 drivers transporting a hazardous material in a quantity which 8 requires placarding, thus making DPS rules concerning driver 9 age qualifications inapplicable to persons who hold a CDL while 10 driving a CMV for private and for-hire motor carriers, which 11 operate solely intrastate, to transport hazardous material. 12 Current law specifies that the age requirements under 13 Code section 321.449 do not apply under Code section 321.450 14 (hazardous materials transportation regulations) to retail 15 dealers of fertilizers, petroleum products, and pesticides 16 and their employees while delivering fertilizers, petroleum 17 products, and pesticides to farm customers within a 100-mile 18 radius of their retail place of business. The bill strikes 19 this provision, thereby applying the age requirements under 20 Code section 321.449 to such persons. 21 The bill does not amend Code section 321.180(2)(f), which 22 provides that a commercial learners permit is not valid for 23 the operation of a vehicle transporting hazardous materials. 24 In general, rules adopted by DPS for CMV drivers still apply 25 to a CMV driver engaged exclusively in intrastate commerce to 26 transport hazardous materials requiring a placard (see Code 27 section 321.449(4)(a)). 28 -2- LSB 1884HV (1) 91 th/ns 2/ 2