Bill Text: TX SB1171 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the operation of certain oversize or overweight vehicles transporting timber, timber products, or forestry equipment on certain public roadways.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Effective immediately [SB1171 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB1171-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Nichols S.B. No. 1171
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2015; March 17, 2015, read
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation;
April 7, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 7, 2015,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1171 By: Nichols

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of certain oversize or overweight
vehicles transporting timber, timber products, or forestry
equipment on certain public roadways.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 621.102(d), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) A vehicle operating under a permit issued under Section
623.011, 623.071, 623.094, 623.121, 623.142, 623.181, 623.192,
[or] 623.212, or 623.321, as added by Chapter 1135 (H.B. 2741), Acts
of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, may operate under
the conditions authorized by the permit over a road for which the
executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation has
set a maximum weight under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 621.301(e), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) A vehicle operating under a permit issued under Section
623.011, 623.071, 623.094, 623.121, 623.142, 623.181, 623.192,
[or] 623.212, or 623.321, as added by Chapter 1135 (H.B. 2741), Acts
of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, may operate under
the conditions authorized by the permit over a road for which the
commissioners court has set a maximum weight under this section.
SECTION 3. Section 622.901, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.901. WIDTH EXCEPTIONS. The width limitation
provided by Section 621.201 does not apply to:
(1) highway building or maintenance machinery that is
traveling:
(A) during daylight on a public highway other
than a highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
defense highways; or
(B) for not more than 50 miles on a highway that
is part of the national system of interstate and defense highways;
(2) a vehicle traveling during daylight on a public
highway other than a highway that is part of the national system of
interstate and defense highways or traveling for not more than 50
miles on a highway that is part of the national system of interstate
and defense highways if the vehicle is:
(A) a farm tractor or implement of husbandry; or
(B) a vehicle on which a farm tractor, [or]
implement of husbandry, or equipment used in the harvesting and
production of timber, other than a tractor, [or] implement, or
equipment being transported from one dealer to another, is being
moved by the owner of the tractor, [or] implement, or equipment or
by an agent or employee of the owner:
(i) to deliver the tractor, [or] implement,
or equipment to a new owner;
(ii) to transport the tractor, [or]
implement, or equipment to or from a mechanic for maintenance or
repair; or
(iii) in the course of an agricultural
forestry operation;
(3) machinery that is used solely for drilling water
wells, including machinery that is a unit or a unit mounted on a
conventional vehicle or chassis, and that is traveling:
(A) during daylight on a public highway other
than a highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
defense highways; or
(B) for not more than 50 miles on a highway that
is part of the national system of interstate and defense highways;
(4) a vehicle owned or operated by a public, private,
or volunteer fire department;
(5) a vehicle registered under Section 502.431; or
(6) a recreational vehicle to which Section 622.903
applies.
SECTION 4. Section 623.322(a), Transportation Code, as
added by Chapter 1135 (H.B. 2741), Acts of the 83rd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2013, is amended to read as follows:
(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 $900 [$1,500];
(2) designate in the permit application the timber
producing counties described by Section 623.321(a) in which the
vehicle or combination of vehicles will be operated; and
(3) satisfy the security requirement of Section
623.012.
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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