Bill Text: CA SB632 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Vehicles: off-highway recreation: Red Rock Canyon State Park.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2024-09-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 592, Statutes of 2024. [SB632 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB632-Chaptered.html
Senate Bill
No. 632
CHAPTER 592
An act to amend Sections 38026 and 38026.5 of, and to add and repeal Section 38026.3 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 25, 2024.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 25, 2024.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 632, Caballero.
Vehicles: off-highway recreation: Red Rock Canyon State Park.
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 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, including a prohibition on a designation of greater than 3 miles.
Existing law, until January 1, 2025, authorizes the County of Inyo to operate a pilot project that exempts specified combined-use highways in the unincorporated area in the County of Inyo from this prohibition 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, as prescribed. Existing law requires the County of Inyo to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project, as specified.
This bill would authorize the Department of Parks and Recreation, until January 1, 2030, to implement a similar pilot program at Red Rock Canyon State Park. The bill would also require the department, in conjunction with specified state agencies, to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project by January 1, 2029, as specified.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 38026 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:38026.
(a) 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 of a highway, 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 of a highway, for combined use and shall prescribe rules and regulations therefor. A highway, or portion of a highway, shall not be so designated for a distance of more than three miles, except as provided in Sections 38026.1, 38026.2, and 38026.3. 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 of a highway 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) which, in the opinion of the commissioner, would create a potential traffic safety hazard.
(d) (1) A designation of a highway, or a portion of a highway, 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 of the highway.
(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. 2.
Section 38026.3 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:38026.3.
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the Department of Parks and Recreation may establish a pilot project to designate combined-use highways on roads in Red Rock Canyon State Park for no more than 10 miles so that the combined-use highways can be used to link existing off-highway motor vehicle trails and trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service lands, and to link off-highway motor vehicle recreational-use areas with necessary service and lodging facilities, in order to provide a unified system of trails for off-highway motor vehicles, preserve traffic safety, improve natural resource protection, and reduce off-highway vehicle trespass on private land.(b) A pilot project established pursuant to
this section shall do all of the following:
(1) Prescribe a procedure for highway, road, or route selection and designation. The procedure shall be approved by the director of the department.
(2) Prescribe a procedure for the department to remove a combined-use designation, including a designation that is removed as a result of the conclusion of the pilot project.
(3) In cooperation with the Department of Transportation, establish uniform specifications and symbols for signs, markers, and traffic control devices to control off-highway motor vehicles, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Devices to warn of dangerous conditions, obstacles, or hazards.
(B) Designations of
the right-of-way for regular vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles.
(C) A description of the nature and destination of the off-highway motor vehicle trail.
(D) Warning signs for pedestrians and motorists of the presence of off-highway motor vehicle traffic.
(4) Require that off-highway motor vehicles subject to the pilot project meet the safety requirements of federal and state law regarding proper drivers’ licensing, helmet usage, and the requirements specified in Section 38026.5.
(5) Prohibit off-highway motor vehicles from traveling faster than 35 miles per hour on highways designated under this section.
(6) (A) Prohibit a combined-use highway road
segment designated under this section from exceeding 10 miles.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), two or more combined-use highway road segments may share a common starting point or ending point and may partially overlap as long as the resulting network of the highway road segments does not include more than three distinct locations of shared starting or ending points, or both.
(7) Include an opportunity for public comment at a public hearing held by the department in order to evaluate the pilot project.
(c) A pilot project established pursuant to this section may include use of a state highway, subject to the approval of the Department of Transportation, or any crossing of a highway designated pursuant to Section 38025.
(d) The department shall not
designate a highway for combined use pursuant to this section unless the Commissioner of the Department of the California Highway Patrol finds that designating the highway for combined use would not create a potential traffic safety hazard.
(e) (1) Not later than January 1, 2029, the department, in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Transportation, shall prepare and submit to the Legislature a report evaluating the pilot project that contains all of the following:
(A) A description of the road segments designated to allow combined use for over three miles.
(B) An evaluation of the overall safety and effectiveness of the pilot project, including its impact on traffic flows, safety, off-highway vehicle usage on existing trails, incursions into
areas not designated for off-highway vehicle usage, and nonmotorized recreation.
(C) A description of the public comments received at a public hearing held by the department in regards to an evaluation of the pilot project.
(2) The report required by this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2030, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 3.
Section 38026.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:38026.5.
(a) In accordance with subdivision (c) of Section 4000, a motor vehicle issued a plate or device pursuant to Section 38160 may be operated or driven on a local highway, or a portion of the local highway, that is designated pursuant to Section 38026, 38026.1, 38026.2, or 38026.3 if the operation is in conformance with this code and the vehicle complies with off-highway vehicle equipment requirements specified in this division.(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), it is unlawful for a person using an off-highway vehicle on a combined-use highway to do any of the
following:
(1) Operate an off-highway motor vehicle on the highway during the hours of darkness.
(2) Operate a vehicle on the highway that does not have an operational stoplight.
(3) Operate a vehicle on the highway that does not have rubber tires.
(4) Operate a vehicle without a valid driver’s license of the appropriate class for the vehicle operation in possession.
(5) Operate a vehicle on the highway without complying with Article 2 (commencing with Section 16020) of Chapter 1 of Division 7.
