BILL NUMBER: AB 2338 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 2, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Conway
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 38026 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2338, Conway. Vehicles: off-highway vehicle recreation.
(1) Existing law authorizes an off-highway motor vehicle that has
been issued a plate or device to be operated or driven upon a highway
under certain circumstances. Existing law also authorizes various
public entities, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, to
designate a highway, or portion thereof, for the combined use of
regular vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles if certain
requirements are met. Existing law prohibits a highway from being
designated for this combined use for a distance of more than 3 miles.
This bill would exempt from this prohibition a county road located
in an unincorporated area in the County of Inyo unless the
Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol finds that designating
a highway, or a portion of a highway, in the county would create a
potential traffic safety hazard.
(2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as
to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Inyo.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Inyo County is a rural county with a population of 18,152
people.
(b) Inyo County is comprised of 10,140 square miles.
(c) Inyo County is the second largest county in the United States,
in terms of land mass, yet only 2 percent of this land is inhabited.
(d) Ninety-two percent of land in Inyo County is federally
administered public lands.
(e) Inyo County has outstanding natural diversity, including Mount
Whitney in the eastern Sierra, the highest peak in the contiguous
United States, as well as Death Valley, the lowest point in the
United States and the largest national park in the contiguous United
States.
(f) With six million acres of public land, Inyo County offers
numerous opportunities to explore and recreate.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act
and designating combined-use highways on unincorporated county roads
in the County of Inyo for more than three miles to link together
existing roads in the unincorporated portion of the county to
existing trails and trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management
or United States Forest Service lands in order to provide a unified
linkage of trail systems for off-highway motor vehicles.
SEC. 3. Section 38026 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
38026. (a) (1) In addition to Section 38025 and after complying
with subdivision (c) of this section, if a local authority, an agency
of the federal government, or the Director of Parks and Recreation
finds that a highway, or a portion thereof, under the jurisdiction of
the authority, agency, or the director, as the case may be, is
located in a manner that provides a connecting link between
off-highway motor vehicle trail segments, between an off-highway
motor vehicle recreational use area and necessary service facilities,
or between lodging facilities and an off-highway motor vehicle
recreational facility, and if it is found that the highway is
designed and constructed so as to safely permit the use of regular
vehicular traffic and also the driving of off-highway motor vehicles
on that highway, the local authority, by resolution or ordinance,
agency of the federal government, or the Director of Parks and
Recreation, as the case may be, may designate that highway, or a
portion thereof, for combined use and shall prescribe rules and
regulations therefor.
(2) (A) A highway, or portion thereof, shall not be designated
for combined use under this section for a distance of more than three
miles.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to a county road located in an
unincorporated area of the County of Inyo unless the Commissioner of
the California Highway Patrol finds that designating a highway, or
portion of thereof, in the county would create a potential traffic
safety hazard.
(3) A freeway shall not be designated under this section.
(b) The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission may
propose highway segments for consideration by local authorities, an
agency of the federal government, or the Director of Parks and
Recreation for combined use.
(c) Prior to designating a highway or portion thereof on the
motion of the local authority, an agency of the federal government,
or the Director of Parks and Recreation, or as a recommendation of
the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission, a local
authority, an agency of the federal government, or the Director of
Parks and Recreation shall notify the Commissioner of the California
Highway Patrol, and shall not designate any segment pursuant to
subdivision (a) that, in the opinion of the commissioner, would
create a potential traffic safety hazard.
(d) (1) A designation of a highway, or a portion thereof, under
subdivision (a) shall become effective upon the erection of
appropriate signs of a type approved by the Department of
Transportation on and along the highway, or portion thereof.
(2) The cost of the signs shall be reimbursed from the Off-Highway
Vehicle Trust Fund, when appropriated by the Legislature, or by
expenditure of funds from a grant or cooperative agreement made
pursuant to Section 5090.50 of the Public Resources Code.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because the County of Inyo is a rural and remote county that contains
six million acres of public land for exploration and recreation and
the use of off-highway motor vehicles is a popular and common mode of
transportation for residents and visitors of the county.