Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1392 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1392
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to toll collection and enforcement.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Section 228.001, Transportation Code, is amended
9	9	by adding Subdivisions (2-a) and (7) to read as follows:
10	10	(2-a) "Operate" and "operation" include the
11	11	processing and collecting of tolls and the providing of related
12	12	customer services.
13	13	(7) "Registered owner" means:
14	14	(A) an owner as defined by Section 502.001; or
15	15	(B) the owner of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle
16	16	registration records of the department or the analogous department
17	17	or agency of another state or country.
18	18	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 228.054, Transportation
19	19	Code, is amended to read as follows:
20	20	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (e) or Section
21	21	228.0545, the operator of a vehicle, other than an authorized
22	22	emergency vehicle, as defined by Section 541.201, that is driven or
23	23	towed through a toll collection facility shall pay the proper toll.
24	24	The exemption from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency
25	25	vehicle applies regardless of whether the vehicle is:
26	26	(1) responding to an emergency;
27	27	(2) displaying a flashing light; or
28	28	(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.
29	29	SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 228, Transportation Code,
30	30	is amended by adding Section 228.0545 to read as follows:
31	31	Sec. 228.0545. ALTERNATIVE TOLLING METHODS. (a) As an
32	32	alternative to requiring payment of a toll at the time a vehicle is
33	33	driven or towed through a toll collection facility, the department
34	34	may use video billing or other tolling methods to permit the
35	35	registered owner of the vehicle to pay the toll on a later date.
36	36	(b) The department may use automated enforcement technology
37	37	authorized by Section 228.058 to identify the registered owner of
38	38	the vehicle for purposes of billing, collection, and enforcement
39	39	activities.
40	40	(c) The department shall send by first class mail to the
41	41	registered owner of the vehicle a written notice of the total amount
42	42	due. The notice must specify the date, which may not be earlier
43	43	than the 15th day after the date the notice is mailed, by which the
44	44	amount due must be paid. The registered owner shall pay the amount
45	45	due on or before the date specified in the notice.
46	46	(d) The department shall send the notice required by
47	47	Subsection (c) and subsequent notices to:
48	48	(1) the registered owner's address as shown in the
49	49	vehicle registration records of the department; or
50	50	(2) an alternate address provided by the owner or
51	51	derived through other reliable means.
52	52	(e) On or before October 1 of each year, the department
53	53	shall conduct a cost analysis to determine a policy on whether to
54	54	mail a notice under Subsection (c) after each time a vehicle is
55	55	driven or towed through a toll collection facility or only after a
56	56	certain number of times a vehicle is driven or towed through a
57	57	facility. The policy must ensure that the cost to the department of
58	58	collecting tolls as provided by this section does not exceed the
59	59	amount of the tolls and fees collected.
60	60	SECTION 4. Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), (h), and (i),
61	61	Section 228.055, Transportation Code, are amended to read as
62	62	follows:
63	63	(a) In the event of nonpayment of the [proper] toll as
64	64	required by Section 228.054 or 228.0545, on issuance of a written
65	65	notice of nonpayment, the registered owner of the nonpaying vehicle
66	66	is liable for the payment of both the proper toll and an
67	67	administrative fee.
68	68	(b) The department may impose and collect the
69	69	administrative fee, so as to recover the cost of collecting the
70	70	unpaid toll, not to exceed $100. The department shall send a
71	71	written notice of nonpayment to the registered owner of the vehicle
72	72	at that owner's address as shown in the vehicle registration
73	73	records of the department or an alternate address provided by the
74	74	owner or derived through other reliable means. The notice of
75	75	nonpayment shall be sent by first class mail and may require payment
76	76	not sooner than the 30th day after the date the notice was mailed.
77	77	The registered owner shall pay a separate toll and administrative
78	78	fee for each event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545.
79	79	(d) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
80	80	or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle is a lessor of the
81	81	vehicle and not later than the 30th day after the date the notice of
82	82	nonpayment is mailed provides to the department a copy of the
83	83	rental, lease, or other contract document covering the vehicle on
84	84	the date of the nonpayment under Section 228.054 or the date the
85	85	vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that
86	86	results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545, with the name and
87	87	address of the lessee clearly legible. If the lessor provides the
88	88	required information within the period prescribed, the department
89	89	may send a notice of nonpayment to the lessee at the address shown
90	90	on the contract document by first class mail before the 30th day
91	91	after the date of receipt of the required information from the
92	92	lessor. The lessee of the vehicle for which the proper toll was not
93	93	paid who is mailed a written notice of nonpayment under this
94	94	subsection and fails to pay the proper toll and administrative fee
95	95	within the time specified by the notice of nonpayment commits an
96	96	offense. The lessee shall pay a separate toll and administrative
97	97	fee for each event of nonpayment. Each failure to pay a toll or
98	98	administrative fee under this subsection is a separate offense.
99	99	(e) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
100	100	or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle transferred ownership
101	101	of the vehicle to another person before the event of nonpayment
102	102	under Section 228.054 occurred or before the date the vehicle was
103	103	driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a
104	104	notice issued under Section 228.0545, submitted written notice of
105	105	the transfer to the department in accordance with Section 520.023,
106	106	and, before the 30th day after the date the notice of nonpayment is
107	107	mailed, provides to the department the name and address of the
108	108	person to whom the vehicle was transferred. If the former owner of
109	109	the vehicle provides the required information within the period
110	110	prescribed, the department may send a notice of nonpayment to the
111	111	person to whom ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the
112	112	address provided by the former owner by first class mail before the
113	113	30th day after the date of receipt of the required information from
114	114	the former owner. The department may send all subsequent notices of
115	115	nonpayment associated with the vehicle to the person to whom
116	116	ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the address provided by
117	117	the former owner or an alternate address provided by the subsequent
118	118	owner or derived through other reliable means. The subsequent
119	119	owner of the vehicle for which the proper toll was not paid who is
120	120	mailed a written notice of nonpayment under this subsection and
121	121	fails to pay the proper toll and administrative fee within the time
122	122	specified by the notice of nonpayment commits an offense. The
123	123	subsequent owner shall pay a separate toll and administrative fee
124	124	for each event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545.
125	125	Each failure to pay a toll or administrative fee under this
126	126	subsection is a separate offense.
127	127	(h) [In this section, "registered owner" means the owner of
128	128	a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records of the
129	129	department or the analogous department or agency of another state
130	130	or country.
131	131	[(i)] The department may contract, in accordance with
132	132	Section 2107.003, Government Code, with a person to collect the
133	133	unpaid toll and administrative fee before referring the matter to a
134	134	court with jurisdiction over the offense.
135	135	SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 228.056, Transportation
136	136	Code, is amended to read as follows:
137	137	(b) In the prosecution of an offense under Section
138	138	228.055(c), (d), or (e):
139	139	(1) it is presumed that the notice of nonpayment was
140	140	received on the fifth day after the date of mailing;
141	141	(2) a computer record of the department of the
142	142	registered owner of the vehicle is prima facie evidence of its
143	143	contents and that the defendant was the registered owner of the
144	144	vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under Section
145	145	228.054 occurred or on the date the vehicle was driven or towed
146	146	through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued
147	147	under Section 228.0545; and
148	148	(3) a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract
149	149	document covering the vehicle on the date of the underlying event of
150	150	nonpayment under Section 228.054 or on the date the vehicle was
151	151	driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a
152	152	notice issued under Section 228.0545 is prima facie evidence of its
153	153	contents and that the defendant was the lessee of the vehicle when
154	154	the underlying event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 occurred
155	155	or when the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection
156	156	facility that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545.
157	157	SECTION 6. Section 228.057, Transportation Code, is amended
158	158	by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
159	159	(g) The department may, following closure of an electronic
160	160	toll collection customer account and at the request of the account
161	161	holder, refund the balance of funds in the account after making a
162	162	deduction for any outstanding tolls and fees.
163	163	(h) The department may enter into an agreement with a
164	164	governmental or private entity regarding the use of a transponder
165	165	issued by the department and the corresponding electronic toll
166	166	collection customer account to pay for parking services offered by
167	167	the entity.
168	168	SECTION 7. Subsection (b), Section 228.058, Transportation
169	169	Code, is amended to read as follows:
170	170	(b) Automated enforcement technology approved by the
171	171	department under Subsection (a) may be used only for the purpose of
172	172	producing, depicting, photographing, or recording an image that
173	173	depicts that portion of a vehicle necessary to establish the
174	174	classification of vehicle and the proper toll to be charged, the
175	175	license plate number, and the state or country of registration,
176	176	including an image:
177	177	(1) of a license plate attached to the front or rear of
178	178	a vehicle; and
179	179	(2) showing the vehicle dimensions, the presence of a
180	180	trailer, and the number of axles.
181	181	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
182	182	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
183	183	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
184	184	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
185	185	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.