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Senate Bill 673 History
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ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 673
(By Senator Ross)
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[Passed March 13, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §17C-17-8a, §17C-17-9 and §17C-17-11d
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend said
code by adding thereto a new section, designated §17C-17-9a;
and to amend and reenact §17C-17A-1, §17C-17A-3, §17C-17A-6
and §17C-17A-12 of said code, all relating generally to
regulating the weights of vehicles on roads and highways;
authorizing tolerances for certain gross weight vehicle loads;
requiring compliance with weight load limits on the national
system of interstate and defense highways; providing tolerance
limits for maximum gross vehicle weights; adding roads and
highways eligible to qualify as part of the coal resource
transportation road system; limiting certain reporting
requirements relating to coal hauled on coal resource
transportation roads; requiring certain receivers to report
receiving vehicles transporting coal in excess of eighty-eight
thousand pounds on non-coal transportation highways to the
public service commission; and authorizing the commissioner of the division of highways to designate certain public roads,
highways and bridges as feeder roads and designate them on a
temporary basis as being qualified for inclusion in the coal
resource transportation system.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-17-8a, §17C-17-9 and §17C-17-11d of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that said
code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §17C-
17-9a; and that §17C-17A-1, §17C-17A-3, §17C-17A-6 and §17C-17A-12
of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 17. SIZE, WEIGHT AND LOAD.
§17C-17-8a. Tandem-axle load limit for the national system of
interstate and defense highways.
(a) The gross weight imposed on the national system of
interstate and defense highways by the wheels of a tandem-axle of
a vehicle shall not exceed thirty-four thousand pounds.
(b) For the purpose of this article a tandem-axle load shall
be defined as the total load transmitted to the road by two or more
consecutive axles whose centers may be included between parallel
transverse vertical planes spaced more than forty inches and not
more than ninety-six inches apart, extending the full width of the
vehicle.
§17C-17-9. Gross weight of vehicles and loads for the national
system of interstate and defense highways.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any owner, lessee or borrower of
a vehicle or combination of vehicles to operate on any national
system of interstate and defense highways such vehicle or
combination of vehicles with a gross weight in excess of the gross
weight for which such vehicle or combination of vehicles is
registered or in excess of any weight limitation set forth in this
chapter, whether such limitation be specifically stated in this
chapter or set by express authority granted in this chapter.
(b) Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed upon the
highway through any one axle as set forth in section eight of this
article, or the limit imposed upon the highway through any tandem-
axle as set forth in section eight-a of this article, the total
gross weight with load imposed upon the highway by any one group of
two or more consecutive axles of a vehicle or combination of
vehicles shall not exceed the gross weight given for the respective
distance between the first and last axle of the total group of
axles measured longitudinally to the nearest foot as set forth in
the following table:
Distance in
feet between
the extremes
of any groups
of two or more
consecutive
|
Maximum load in pounds carried on any group of
two or more consecutive axles
|
axles 2 axles3 axles4 axles5 axles6 axles
434000
534000
634000
734000
83400034000
93900042500
104000043500
1144000
124500050000
134550050500
144650051500
154700052000
16480005250058000
17485005350058500
18495005400059000
19500005450060000
2051000555006050066000
2151500560006100066500
2252500565006150067000
2353000575006250068000
2454000580006300068500
2554500585006350069000
2655500595006400069500
2756000600006500070000
2857000605006550071000
2957500615006600071500
3058500620006650072000
3159000625006750072500
3260000635006800073000
33640006850074000
34645006900074500
35655007000075000
36660007050075500
37665007100076000
38675007200077000
39680007250077500
40685007300078000
41695007350078500
42700007400079000
43705007500080000
44715007550080500
45720007600081000
46725007650081500
47735007750082000
48740007800083000
49745007850083500
50755007900084000
51760008000084500
52765008050085000
53775008100086000
54780008150086500
55785008250087000
56795008300087500
57800008350088000
588400089000
598500089500
608550090000
Provided, That no vehicle or combination of vehicles shall
have a gross weight, including the load, in excess of sixty-five
thousand pounds, except that the maximum gross weight of vehicles
operating on the national system of interstate and defense highways
and any highway providing reasonable access to and from terminals
and facilities for food, fuel, repairs and rest within the state
shall not be in excess of eighty thousand pounds and except as
otherwise provided in this article. Notwithstanding the limits
prescribed in this subsection, two consecutive sets of tandem-axles
may carry a gross load of thirty-four thousand pounds each
providing the overall distance between the first and last axles of
such consecutive sets of tandem-axles is thirty-six feet or more:
Provided, however, That the limits prescribed in this subsection
shall not prohibit the operation of any vehicle or combination of vehicles of a type which could be lawfully operated in accordance
with gross vehicle weights in effect on the first day of January,
one thousand nine hundred seventy-five: Provided further, That no
maximum weight in excess of or in conflict with any weight
limitations prescribed by or pursuant to any act of congress shall
be permitted on the national system of interstate and defense
highways.
§17C-17-9a. Gross weight of vehicles and loads.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any owner, lessee or borrower of
a vehicle or combination of vehicles to operate on any highway
other than the national system of interstate and defense highways
such vehicle or combination of vehicles with a gross weight in
excess of the gross weight for which such vehicle or combination of
vehicles is registered or in excess of any weight limitation set
forth in this chapter, whether such limitation be specifically
stated in this chapter or set by express authority granted this
chapter.
(b) Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed upon the
highway through any one axle as set forth in section eight of this
article, the total gross weight on vehicles or combination of
vehicles operated on any highway other than the national system of
interstate and defense highways shall be as follows:
(1) A single unit truck having one steering axle and two axles
in tandem shall be limited to a maximum gross weight of sixty thousand pounds with a tolerance of ten percent.
(2) A single unit truck having one steering axle and three
axles in tridem arrangement shall be limited to a maximum gross
weight of seventy thousand pounds with a tolerance of ten percent.
(3) A tractor-semitrailer combination with five axles shall be
limited to a maximum gross weight of eighty thousand pounds with a
tolerance of ten percent.
(4) A tractor-semitrailer combination with six or more axles
shall be limited to a maximum gross weight of eighty thousand
pounds with a tolerance of ten percent.
§17C-17-11d. Establishing maximum road highway weights.
Effective the first day of July, two thousand four, the
maximum gross vehicle weight on existing state-maintained roads and
public highways designated for gross weight vehicle load of sixty-
five thousand pounds, seventy-three thousand five hundred pounds
and eighty thousand pounds shall have a tolerance of ten percent.
All requirements for vehicle design and axle weights otherwise
established under this code remain applicable. In no case may the
commissioner authorize weight limits on any state-maintained road
or public highway that would jeopardize or otherwise limit federal
highway fund appropriations to this state. The commissioner of
highways shall, by the thirty-first day of December, two thousand
four, review and revise, as the commissioner deems appropriate,
weight limits for all state-maintained roads and public highways and provide to the joint committee on government and finance a
report denoting all weight limits as they have been designated on
state-maintained roads and public highways.
ARTICLE 17A. REGULATION OF THE COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION OF COAL.
§17C-17A-1. Legislative findings and creation of program.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that:
(1) No other economic undertaking in the history of West
Virginia has had a greater impact upon the citizens of this state,
providing such an economic force and affecting the social construct
and day-to-day life and environment of the people and communities
of this state, than the activities associated with the extraction,
transportation and consumption of coal or its byproducts. In areas
of this state where the coal industry exists, the economic benefits
of coal production are an indispensable part of the local
community's vitality.
(2) The historic progression of the coal industry has resulted
in an increasing use of the public highways of this state for the
transportation of coal to river ports, power generators or rail
loading facilities. Roads where coal is transported are mainly
two-lane rural roads and highways of varying grades and conditions.
The daily presence of large commercial motor vehicles on these
roads and highways causes significant impact to local communities
and the local transportation infrastructure. Local residents are
exposed on a daily basis to the dangers associated with sharing the road with a large number of these vehicles.
(3) The increased capacity and ability of coal-hauling
vehicles, tied with increased economic pressures to reduce industry
transportation costs, have created economic incentives for
transporting coal at higher than legal limits and for drivers to
drive long hours and operate these vehicles at higher rates of
speed. Consequently, average vehicle weights have increased and
many coal transport vehicles regularly exceed the lawful limit by
more than one hundred percent. The excessive weights of these
vehicles have also resulted in the rapid deterioration of state
roads and bridges, creating significant costs to the state of
millions of dollars in lost road and bridge use and life.
(4) Advances in truck stability, braking and safety technology
have made modern coal transporters much safer conveyances than
those used by the industry when the state's current weight laws
were enacted. Further advances in technology have made tracking
and recording individual vehicles, their operators and loads
significantly more efficient.
(5) Enforcement of truck safety and driver safety laws has
been divided between various jurisdictions such as local and state
law enforcement, the division of highways and the public service
commission. As a result, local and state enforcement of those
comprehensive laws has not been uniform, with the result that many
of these laws have not been enforced.
(6) The resulting need for a remedy for hauling these
additional amounts of coal is most severe in a limited and discrete
geographic area of the state where the limited access to rail and
river transportation options and economic conditions require a
regulatory program that allows a greater weight allowance for coal-
hauling vehicles to address the unique economic circumstances of
that region.
(7) That this limited highway system must include additional
safety protections for the public sharing the roads with a large
coal-hauling vehicle fleet and specialized training for operators
of these vehicles, requiring the program be designed to assure that
state weight and safety requirements be effectively administered
and enforced.
(b) A special regulatory program with administrative
enforcement authority over all vehicles hauling coal in West
Virginia is created. This program is designed to address the
economic needs of the state coal industry within the confines of
the ability of the transportation infrastructure to accommodate
these needs and in careful consideration for road safety and
maintenance requirements of these vehicles by providing for coal
truck weight reporting requirements on coal resource transportation
roads and allowing a limited statewide increase in weights for
commercial vehicles and an additional, limited increase for
vehicles hauling coal where the greater increase is required.
§17C-17A-3. Authority of the division of highways and public
service commission generally.
(a) The division of highways shall establish all legal vehicle
weight limits for all public highways including roads within the
coal resource transportation road system. Public highways shall be
designated as coal resource transportation roads by the
commissioner of the division of highways pursuant to this article.
Only state-maintained roads and public highways found in the
following areas: Boone; Fayette; Lincoln; Logan; McDowell; Mercer;
Mingo; Raleigh; Wayne and Wyoming counties; in Greenbrier County,
routes west of Sam Black Church and southwest to the Summers County
line; in Clay County, routes 4 and 16; in Nicholas County, routes
16, 19, 20, 39, 41, 55 abd 82; in Webster County, routes 9, 20 and
82; and all state-maintained roads and public highways found in
Washington, Malden, Louden and Cabin Creek districts, Kanawha
County, are eligible to qualify as part of the coal resource
transportation road system. The division shall post signs on roads
informing the public of the designation and shall also list a toll
free telephone line for public reporting of poor driving or law
violations by special permit operators. The division shall provide
periodic reports to the commercial motor vehicle weight and safety
enforcement advisory committee as established in section two,
article one-a, chapter twenty-four-a of this code relating to the
study of coal resource transportation roads. The periodic reports shall include the following at a minimum: (1) Citations issued for
violations of this chapter; (2) disposition of the violations; (3)
road conditions and maintenance; and (4) the amount of undue road
damage attributable to coal resource transportation road system
permit use.
(b) The public service commission shall administer the coal
resource transportation road permitting program and otherwise
enforce the provisions of this article. The commission shall
establish requirements for vehicle operators holding coal resource
transportation road permits pursuant to section five of this
article consistent with federal statutory and regulatory
requirements.
(1) The commission may, during normal business hours, conduct
inspections of all trucking-related records of shippers, vehicle
operators, vehicle owners and receivers engaged in the
transportation of coal. Copies of records shall be provided to
commission employees upon request. This provision may not be
construed to authorize the commission to reveal trade secrets or
other confidential financial information of those persons
inspected; however the commission may use any weight measurement
records as evidence of a violation of this article.
(2) The commission shall establish and maintain a toll-free
telephone line for public reporting of poor driving or law
violations by special permit operators. In addition, the commission shall require all vehicles operating under a permit
issued pursuant to the provisions of this article to clearly
display on the vehicle the toll-free telephone number.
(3) The commission shall implement a study of commercial
vehicle safety-related issues, including using higher education
institutions and other research organizations. The commission
shall provide periodic reports to the commercial motor vehicle
weight and safety enforcement advisory committee as established in
section two, article one-a, chapter twenty-four-a of this code
relating to the study of motor vehicle weight and safety
enforcement.
(4) The commission shall establish procedures to use
electronic real time reporting of coal vehicle weights on coal
resource transportation roads by shippers and receivers. The
commission may require daily certified reports from shippers or
receivers if electronic reporting methods are not used. The
commission may authorize alternative measures of reporting that
require same-day reporting of weight measurements by shippers and
receivers.
(5) The commission shall impose and collect from shippers of
coal on the coal resource transportation road system through the
use of the special permit, issued pursuant to section five of this
article, for the privilege of loading coal in excess of
eighty-eight thousand pounds for transport on a coal resource transportation road. The fee shall be assessed in the amount of
five cents per ton of coal hauled over the road. Revenue from the
fees shall be deposited in the coal resource transportation fund
created in said section.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section three, article
one, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, the commission and the
division shall each propose legislative rules for promulgation in
accordance with the provisions of article three of said chapter to
carry out their duties and responsibilities pursuant to the
provisions of this article.
§17C-17A-6. Reporting requirements for shippers, vehicle owners
and receivers of coal transported on public
highways.
(a) Every shipper of coal for transport on a coal resource
transportation road in this state that loads vehicles shall be
required to report to the commission weight and other transport-
related data as required in this article. The commission shall by
rule establish special recording and reporting methods for timely
and accurate disclosure of all shipments of coal made upon any coal
resource transportation road of this state. The rules shall
provide for administrative penalties to be imposed for failure to
timely or accurately report weight or other required data.
(b) Every vehicle owner who transports coal on a coal resource
transportation road of this state is subject to the provisions of this article and any rules established by the commission requiring
reporting, monitoring or removal from service of any unsafe vehicle
or driver.
(c) Every receiver of coal transported on a coal resource
transportation road in this state that unloads or causes to be
unloaded any shipment of coal shall report to the commission the
weight of the shipment and other data related to the shipment as
required by rules promulgated by the commission. The rules shall
provide for administrative penalties to be imposed for failure to
timely or accurately report the weight or other data. Compliance
with the reporting requirements shall cause the receiver to be
immune from any and all criminal, civil and administrative
liability, damages, costs, fines and penalties based on, arising
out of or resulting from the receiver's receipt or acceptance of
the shipment.
(d) The commission shall by rule establish special recording
and reporting methods for timely and accurate disclosure of all
shipments of coal made by commercial motor vehicles upon a coal
resource transportation road of this state.
(e) Any receiver receiving any vehicle transporting coal in
excess of eighty-eight thousand pounds on any non-coal
transportation highways shall file a report with the public service
commission, identifying the vehicle and its driver within twenty-
four hours of being received. The reports shall be subject to freedom of information requests in accordance with chapter twenty-
nine-b of this code. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be
construed to restrict application of any other provision of this
chapter or any rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter.
§17C-17A-12. Designating special coal resource transportation
roads, highways and bridges.
(a) From those counties and districts described in subdivision
(a), section two of this article, the commissioner of the division
of highways shall identify those public roads, highways and bridges
used during the previous twelve-month period for transportation of
quantities of coal in excess of fifty thousand tons or projected to
be used for transporting quantities of coal in excess of fifty
thousand tons during the ensuing year. The identification process
shall include the following as to each discretely identifiable
section of the public highway:
(1) The current condition of the public roads, highways and
bridges;
(2) The estimated quantities of coal transported;
(3) Any planned or necessary maintenance or improvement;
(4) The number of truck loads of coal transported in an
average day;
(5) Any anticipated increase or decrease in the quantity of
coal being transported; and
(6) Other information determined by the commissioner to be relevant.
(b) Upon completion of the identification process, but in no
event later than the first day of July, two thousand three, the
commissioner shall designate by order an interim coal resource
transportation road system consisting of those public roads,
highways, bridges or segments thereof which may be used as special
coal haulage roads consistent with the authority contained in this
article. The commissioner shall establish a process for the
receipt and evaluation of public comment on the designations
contained within the interim coal resource transportation road
system, and designate weight limits and other conditions for use of
the coal resource transportation road system as public interest so
provides. The commissioner shall publish a directory, including
supporting maps and other documents, of the interim coal resource
transportation road system.
(c) By no later than the first day of January, two thousand
four, the commissioner shall designate by order the coal resource
transportation road system and shall publish a directory, including
supporting maps and other documents, of that road system.
(d) The commissioner shall establish a process for periodic
evaluation of the designations contained in the coal resource
transportation road system in order to add to or delete from the
road system certain additional sections of public highways:
Provided, That the evaluations and modifications of the road system shall be completed at a minimum on an annual basis.