H. B. 2537
(By Delegates Warner, Martin, Ryan, Love,
Hendricks and Higgins)
[Introduced March 10, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article seventeen-a,
relating to creating the extended weight natural resources
and natural resources byproduct haul road system;
prescribing the criteria for determining the system;
providing that the secretary of the department of
transportation determine the system; providing for
promulgation of rules for ascertaining data for
determination of system; determining vehicles used on
system; requiring decals indicating use of system;
prescribing decal fees; prescribing requirements for
requests for decals and prorating fees; providing for
impoundment of vehicles operated in violation of the weight
limits prescribed herein; providing for cooperative
agreements between users of the system and the state; and
providing for reduction of weight and speed limits by
secretary.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article seventeen-a, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 17A. EXTENDED WEIGHT NATURAL RESOURCE OR NATURAL
RESOURCE BYPRODUCT HAUL ROAD SYSTEM.
§17C-17A-1. Criteria for determination of extended weight
natural resource or natural resource byproduct
haul road system.
The extended weight natural resource or natural resource
byproduct haul road system shall consist of any public highway,
as defined in section two, article one, chapter twenty-four-a of
this code, in this state over which quantities of natural
resource or natural resource byproducts in excess of fifty
thousand tons were transported during the calendar year.
§17C-17A-2. Determination of extended weight natural resource
or natural resource byproduct haul road system by
secretary of the department of transportation.
The secretary of the department of transportation shall, on
or before the first day of December of each year, certify such
public highways, or portions thereof, as fulfill the criteria
hereinabove, as the extended weight natural resource or natural
resource byproducts haul road system when used in this article.
"Secretary" means the secretary of the department of
transportation.
§17C-17A-3. Promulgation of rules for ascertaining data for
determination of extended weight natural resource
or natural resource byproduct haul road system.
The total tons of natural resource or natural resource
byproducts transported by motor vehicles over any public highway
shall be determined by the secretary pursuant to rules
promulgated under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code.
§17C-17A-4. Operation of vehicles registered for use on
extended weight natural resource or natural
resource byproducts haul road system; weight
limitations; payment of decal fees.
Any vehicle, when registered with a declared gross weight of
eighty thousand pounds and when transporting natural resource or
natural resource byproducts over public highways which are part
of the extended weight natural resource or natural resource
byproducts haul road system or portions thereof may be operated
at the weights as set forth herein in excess of the maximum gross
weight prescribed in section nine, article seventeen, chapter
seventeen-c of this code and any other maximum weight limitations
on any public highway by paying the corresponding decal fee as
set forth below:
(a) A single unit truck having one steering axle and two
axles in tridem shall be limited to a maximum gross weight ofninety thousand pounds with a tolerance of five percent and pay
a decal fee of one hundred sixty dollars annually;
(b) A single unit truck having one steering axle and three
axles in tandem arrangement shall be limited to a maximum gross
weight of one hundred thousand pounds with a tolerance of five
percent and pay a decal fee of two hundred sixty dollars
annually;
(c) Tractor-semitrailer combinations with five or more axles
shall be limited to a maximum gross weight of one hundred twenty
thousand pounds with a tolerance of five percent and pay a decal
fee of three hundred sixty dollars annually;
(d) Any motor carrier involved in the transportation of
natural resource or natural resource byproducts which meets gross
axle weights of twenty thousand pounds per axle and twelve
thousand pounds for the steering axle may register in excess of
eighty thousand pounds by payment of eight hundred forty dollars
plus an additional decal fee of ten dollars per one thousand
pounds of registered weight above eighty thousand pounds;
(e) For purposes of this section and for purposes of the
extended weight natural resource or natural resource byproducts
haul system, the dimensional requirements of motor vehicles shall
conform to all appropriate federal laws and regulations;
(f) The payment of the decal fee shall be in addition to any
state registration fee, user fee or other decal fee;
(g) All revenues generated pursuant to this section shall be
credited to a special account within the road fund called the"energy recovery road fund."
(h) All energy recovery road funds shall be used by the
department of highways for construction, maintenance, and repair
of the extended weight natural resource or natural resource
byproducts haul road system.
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed or
administered to jeopardize the receipt of federal funds for
highway purposes and the secretary shall not act in any manner
which shall jeopardize federal highway funds or funds to be
received by the state. In no event shall this section be
construed to authorize any vehicle to operate on a federal
interstate highway in excess of those limits prescribed by
federal law. Likewise, nothing in this section shall be
construed to prohibit the department of highways from providing
for the public safety and convenience of the traveling public on
the highway.
(j) As soon as practical after the report is prepared and
published for any calendar year, the secretary shall add to or
delete from the extended weight natural resource or natural
resource byproducts haul road system public highways or portions
thereof based upon the criteria set out in this section.
However, deletion of a public road or portion thereof from the
extended weight natural resource or natural resource byproducts
haul road system shall not affect the eligibility of such roads
for highway funds or programs applicable to the extended weight
natural resource or natural resource byproducts haul road system.
§17C-17A-5. Issuance of decals; fees.
(a) The decal authorized by this article will be issued by
the secretary. Application shall be made on forms prescribed and
furnished by the department. This application shall contain at
least the following information:
(1) The name and address of the vehicle owner;
(2) Name of registrant if other than the owner;
(3) Vehicle identification number of the vehicle;
(4) Axle arrangement of the vehicle; and
(5) Signature of the applicant.
(b) Applications may be submitted by mail or in person but
payment shall be received prior to the issuance of the decal.
Payment shall be made by certified check, cashiers check or money
order if applying by mail. Checks shall be made payable to the
West Virginia state treasurer. Cash will be accepted for the
payment if the applicant appears in person.
(c) A decal shall be valid from the date of purchase until
the thirty-first day March, of the year for which the decal is
issued.
(d) Proration of the decal fee shall be according to the
following schedule:
PURCHASE TANDEM AXLE TRIDEM AXLE
MONTH 90,000 LBS. 100,000 LBS.
April $ 160.00 $ 260.00
May146.67238.33
June133.33216.67
July120.00195.00
August106.67173.33
September 93.33151.67
October 80.00130.00
November 66.67108.33
December 53.33 86.67
January 40.00 65.00
February 26.67 43.33
March 13.33 21.67
PURCHASE TRACTOR-SEMITRAILER INCREMENTAL
MONTH FIVE OR MORE AXLES WEIGHT
120,000 LBS.
April$ 360.00$ 10.00
May 330.00 9.17
June 300.00 8.33
July 270.00 7.50
August 240.00 6.67
September 210.00 5.83
October 180.00 5.00
November 150.00 4.17
December 120.00 3.33
January 90.00 2.50
February 60.00 1.67
March 30.00 .83
(e) The decal shall be placed on the door of the driver's
side of the vehicle. The decal shall be permanently affixed on
the left side of the door immediately below the window glass
using the decal adhesive.
(f) A decal issued for a particular axle configuration shall
be placed only on a vehicle having that axle configuration.
(g) In the event that the motor vehicle for which a decal
has been issued by the secretary becomes destroyed, stolen or
disabled within thirty days subsequent to the application for
such decal, such unused decal may be returned to the department
and the application therefor withdrawn.
(h) The decal shall remain with the vehicle, even upon
transfer of ownership of the vehicle.
§17C-17A-6. Impoundment of vehicle for violation.
Any motor vehicle transporting natural resource in violationof the weight limits provided for by this article for which the
extended weight users' tax has not been paid as evidenced by an
affixed extended weight users' decal or which is not being
operated in accordance with the provisions of a cooperative
agreement shall be deemed in violation of this article. The
secretary may impound said vehicle until such time as the
extended weight users' tax and all costs incurred in the
impoundment and storage of the vehicle have been paid.
§17C-17A-7. Cooperative agreements between department of
highways and transporters of natural resource in
vehicles exceeding maximum weight limits on
state-maintained system.
(a) Upon application the department of highways shall enter
into cooperative agreements with any person engaged in the
mining, processing, transporting or sale of natural resource
providing for the transportation of natural resource in vehicles
exceeding the maximum weight limits on the state-maintained
system. Such cooperative agreements shall provide for an
equitable apportionment of the incremental costs for design,
maintenance, construction or reconstruction of those roads and
bridges, except those roads and bridges which are part of the
federal interstate highway system, resulting from the
transportation of natural resource by trucks transporting natural
resource in excess of the maximum weight limits on the state
maintained system and covered by the cooperative agreement.
Nothing contained herein shall affect the continuing validity ofany existing agreement.
(b) The total tax contributions from any person entering
into a cooperative agreement, as specified in this section, shall
not exceed, in the aggregate, the sum of five thousand dollars
per mile per year on those roads covered by the cooperative
agreement, but shall equal a minimum of one thousand two hundred
dollars per motor vehicle hauling a natural resource over those
cooperative road segments over three miles in length, but such
contribution shall not exceed ten cents per ton of natural
resource hauled on cooperative roads per year from an individual
natural resource operator unless otherwise agreed to by the
operator. The secretary may allow any person, under the
cooperative agreement, to provide for the design, approved
maintenance, construction or reconstruction provided for in
subsection (a) of this section in accordance with guidelines or
standards prescribed by the commissioner. In the event any
person exceeds his annual total tax contribution as authorized
under a cooperative agreement, such person may petition the
secretary for a carry over for future years liability. All funds
collected pursuant to this section shall be expended on those
roads covered by the cooperative agreement.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this article, the state
shall not be relieved of expending its normal routine maintenance
on all roads covered by the cooperative agreements.
§17C-17A-8. Reduction of load and speed limits.
(a) The secretary, in respect to state and federal highways,may prescribe, by notice as provided in subsection (b) of this
section, load and speed limits lower than the limits prescribed
in this code whenever in his judgment any highway may, by reason
of its design, deterioration, rain or other natural causes, be
damaged or destroyed by motor trucks or semitrailer trucks, if
their gross weight or speed exceeds certain limits. The
secretary may, by like notice, regulate or prohibit the operation
of motor trucks or semitrailer trucks on state highways or county
roads for limited periods of specified days, or parts of days, if
their load and speed exceed those limits, whenever, in his
judgment, such regulations or prohibition is necessary, by reason
of traffic density or intensive use by the traveling public, to
provide for the public safety and convenience on the highway.
(b) The secretary in respect to bridges on the extended
weight natural resource haul system may prescribe, by notice, as
provided in subsection (c) of this section, gross weight limits
lower than the limits prescribed herein when in his judgment any
bridge on the extended weight natural resource haul road system
may, by reason of its design or deterioration, be damaged or
destroyed to the point of catastrophic failure by motor vehicles,
if their gross weight exceeds certain limits.
(c) The notice or the substance of it shall be posted at
conspicuous places at the termini of and at all intermediate
crossroads and road junctions with the section of the highway to
which the notice applies. After such notice has been posted, no
person may operate any motor truck or semitrailer truck contraryto its provisions.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the extended
weight natural resource or natural resource byproduct haul road
system. It permits the secretary of the department of
transportation to determine the system based on usage of the
highways to haul a natural resource or natural resource
byproducts. Decals are required for the right to utilize the
system by hauling weights in excess of that ordinarily permitted
and the bill prescribes the fees for the decals. Vehicles
utilizing the system, without decals, may be impounded until the
decal fee is paid and the decal displayed. The secretary may
reduce the speed and weight limits of the system when dictated
by situation.
Article 17A is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.