II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1345

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a commercial truck

safety pilot program in the State of Maine, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 2, 2001

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a

commercial truck safety pilot program in the State of

Maine, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Truck

5 Safety Pilot Program Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) concerning commercial motor vehicles, pub2 lic safety should be the first priority of the United

3 States;

4 (2) the Federal vehicle weight limit of 80,000

5 pounds on the nonexempted portion of the Interstate

6 System within the boundaries of the State of Maine

7 has forced heavy tractor-trailer and tractor8 semitrailer combination vehicles traveling into Maine

9 from neighboring States and Canada to divert onto

10 smaller State and local roads that permit higher ve11 hicle weight limits under Maine law;

12 (3) the diversion of those vehicles is posing sig13 nificant economic hardships and safety challenges to

14 the small communities in which those roads are lo15 cated; and

16 (4) permitting those vehicles to travel on the

17 Interstate System would—

18 (A) reduce the net highway maintenance

19 costs in the State of Maine because the Inter20 state System, unlike vulnerable secondary

21 roads, is built to accommodate those heavier ve22 hicles; and

23 (B) enhance safety by resulting in fewer

24 heavy vehicles (such as tanker trucks carrying

25 hazardous material and fuel oil) traveling on
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1 town and city streets in the State of Maine,

2 thereby reducing dangerous interactions be3 tween those vehicles and school buses and pri4 vate vehicles.

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF COVERED HIGHWAY.

6 In this section, the term ‘‘covered highway’’ means

7 a highway on the Interstate System within the State of

8 Maine that was not exempt from section 127 of title 23,

9 United States Code, as of the day before the date of enact10 ment of this Act under the last sentence of subsection (a)

11 of that section.

12 SEC. 4. MAINE PILOT PROGRAM.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor15 tation shall establish a 3-year pilot program to improve

16 commercial motor vehicle safety in the State of Maine.

17 (b) WAIVER OF VEHICLE WEIGHT LIMITS.—Not18 withstanding section 127(a) of title 23, United States

19 Code, during the 3-year period of the pilot program—

20 (1) the State of Maine shall not lose, under sec21 tion 127(a) of that title, any apportionment to the

22 State by reason of noncompliance with any of the ve23 hicle weight provisions of section 127 of that title

24 applicable to the use of certain combination vehicles
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1 weighing over 80,000 pounds on any covered high2 way; and

3 (2) combination vehicles consisting of a 3-axle

4 tractor unit hauling a single trailer or semitrailer

5 that exceed 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and

6 that were permitted to use non-Interstate System

7 highways in the State of Maine under the vehicle

8 weight laws of the State as of the date of establish9 ment of the pilot program under subsection (a) shall

10 be permitted to use any covered highway.

11 (c) DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the pilot program,

13 the Maine Department of Transportation shall—

14 (A) collect data on the effects of the waiver

15 granted under subsection (b) (particularly the

16 effects on accident rates involving heavier

17 trucks);

18 (B) establish a safety committee to review

19 the data; and

20 (C) establish rules and operating proce21 dures for the pilot program.

22 (2) SAFETY COMMITTEE.—The safety

23 committee—

24 (A) shall be chaired by the Maine Commis25 sioner of Transportation (or a designee); and
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1 (B) shall consist of representatives of State

2 agencies, safety organizations, municipalities,

3 and the commercial trucking industry.

4 SEC. 5. PERMANENT WAIVER.

5 At the end of the 3-year period of the pilot program

6 under section 4, unless the Secretary, with the advice of

7 the safety committee established under section 4(c), deter8 mines that the waiver under the pilot program under sec9 tion 4 has resulted in an adverse impact on highway safety

10 in the State of Maine and publishes the determination in

11 the Federal Register, the waiver described in section 4(b)

12 shall be deemed to be permanent.

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