83R21225 JRR-D
By: White, et al. H.B. No. 777
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 777:
By: Lavender C.S.H.B. No. 777
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to oversize or overweight vehicles transporting timber or
timber products; authorizing fees and civil penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 621, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 621.510 to read as follows:
Sec. 621.510. ADDITIONAL CIVIL PENALTIES. (a) A person
convicted of an offense under this subtitle for conduct that
violates Section 622.041 shall also be assessed a civil penalty of:
(1) $1,000 for failure to comply with Section 623.323;
and
(2) $5,000 for failure to obtain a permit under
Section 623.321.
(b) The civil penalty may be awarded by a court having
jurisdiction over misdemeanors.
(c) A penalty collected under this section must be deposited
to the credit of the county road and bridge fund of the county in
which the violation occurred.
SECTION 2. Section 622.041, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.041. WEIGHT AND LENGTH LIMITATION. (a) A person
may operate over a highway or road of this state a vehicle or
combination of vehicles that is being used to transport
[exclusively for transporting poles, piling, or] unrefined timber,
wood chips, or woody biomass [from the point of origin of the timber
(the forest where the timber is felled) to a wood processing mill]
if:
(1) the vehicle, or combination of vehicles, is not
longer than 90 feet, including the load; [and]
(2) the person holds for the vehicle or combination of
vehicles permits issued under Sections 623.011 and 623.321;
(3) the notice requirements of Section 623.323 are
met; and
(4) when the maximum allowable gross weight authorized
by a permit issued under Section 623.011 for the vehicle or
combination of vehicles is:
(A) not exceeded, the gross load carried on any
tandem axle of the vehicle or combination of vehicles does not
exceed 44,000 pounds; or
(B) exceeded, the vehicle or combination of
vehicles complies with the requirements of Section 621.101(b) [the
distance from the point of origin to the destination or delivery
point does not exceed 125 miles].
(b) Section 621.508 does not apply to a vehicle or
combination of vehicles operated under this section. [Subsection
(a)(1) does not apply to a truck-tractor or truck-tractor
combination transporting poles, piling, or unrefined timber.]
SECTION 3. Section 622.043, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.043. CONFORMITY WITH GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING
TO VEHICLE SIZE AND WEIGHT. Except as otherwise provided by this
subchapter, the [The] width, height, and gross weight of a vehicle
or combination of vehicles subject to this subchapter shall conform
to Chapter 621.
SECTION 4. Section 623.0111, Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to a person who holds a
permit issued under Section 623.321 for the vehicle or combination
of vehicles.
SECTION 5. Chapter 623, Transportation Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter Q to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER Q. VEHICLES TRANSPORTING TIMBER
Sec. 623.321. PERMIT. The department may issue a permit
under this subchapter to a person for a vehicle or combination of
vehicles that is being used to transport unrefined timber, wood
chips, or woody biomass. A permit issued under this subchapter is
in addition to other permits required by law.
Sec. 623.322. 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 $800; and
(2) designate in the permit application each county in
which the vehicle or combination of vehicles will be operated.
(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. 623.323. 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;
(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 day before the first 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 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 second 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.
Sec. 623.324. DISPOSITION OF FEE. (a) Of the fee collected
under Section 623.322 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 among all
counties designated in the permit application under Section
623.322(a)(2), with a county receiving an amount determined
according to the ratio of the total amount of timber harvested in
that county to the total amount of timber harvested by all counties
designated on the application, as determined by the most recent
edition of the Texas A&M Forest Service's Harvest Trends Report.
(b) At least once each fiscal year, the comptroller shall
send the amount due each county under Subsection (a) to the county
treasurer or officer performing the function of that office for
deposit to the credit of the county road and bridge fund.
Sec. 623.325. 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, 2013, the new limit automatically takes effect
on the national system of interstate and defense highways in this
state.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.