--- . .

.r.,

MARK WHITE AttorneyGeneral

‘23 Main. Suite 610 ,O’ n. TX. 77coz

‘1 4701

313 N. Tmh. sun4 F whn.lx,6601 13a63-4347 

# The Attorney General of Texas
March 21, 1979

Honorable Don Henderson, Chairman HouseTransportation Committee State Capitol Austin, Texas 70767 OpinionNo. Mw-7 Re: Registration of machinery used to transport and apply fertilizer. Dear Representative Henderson: You have requested our opinion regarding the registration of machineryused to transport andapply fertilizer. The 65th Legislature enacted two separate statutes dealing with the ragktration of fertilizer machinery. Article 6675a-2, V.T.C.S., which specifies the requirements for registering motor vehicles, provides that

owners of

. . . implements of husbandryoperated or moved temporarily upon the highways shall not be required to register such

. . . implements of husbandry. ,Article 667%-2(b). House Bii 1324,65th Leg., 1977,ch. R9, at 252, amended the definition of Ymplements of husbandry”to include.

self-propelled machinery specifically designed or especially adapted for applying plant food materials or egricultural chemicals and not designed or adapted for the sole purpose of transportingthe materials or chemicals, but shall not include any passenger car or ~trwk. V.T.C.S. art. 6675a-l(r). House Bill 1324 also amended the traffic regulations to provide:

Noperson may operate on a public highwayat a speed greater than thirty (30) miles per hour any ~selfemWed machinery specifically designed or especially adapted for applying plant fcod materials or agricultural chemicals and not designed or adapted

p. 19HonorableDon Henderson - page Two IMW-7)

for the sole purpose of transportingthe materials or chemicals, unless the machineryis registered mder Chapter 86,GeneraJ Laws, Acts of the Ust Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929,as amended (Article 6675s~1,et seq., Vernon’sTexas Civil Statutes). V.T.C.S..art. 6701d,S 169Afe). The Otherrelevant statute enacted by the 65th Legislature, HouseBill Sl, Acts, 65th Leg., 1977,oh. 184,at 373, added anotherprovision to the traffic regulations:

Section L In this Act, “fertilizer” includes agricultural limestone.. Sec. 2. The annual license fee for the registration of motor vehicles designedor modified exclusively to transport fertilizer to the field andspreadit, andusedonly for thatpurpose, is $50. Sec. 3. The width requirements in Subsection (a), Section 3, Chapter42, General Laws, Acts of the 4lst Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929, as amended (Article 67Old-U, Vernon%Texas Civil Statutes), do not apply to a vehicle registered’under Section 2 of this Act ,whichhas a width of 136 inches ce less at its widest point. V.T.C.S. art. 670%lla. Thus, there is a category of fertilizer ‘ma&ii to which both House Bill 1324and House ,Bill 61 are applicable: certain motor vehicles designed or modified bdth to transport and apply fertilizer. Since the former~statute provides an exemption from registration, and the latter fiies an annualregistration fee of $50, it has been contended that the two statutes are in irreconcilable conflict. In our cpinion, they may be harmonizedandboth given effect. House Bill 1824, when read together with article 6675a-2(b), exempts from .registration certain self-propelled machinerydesigned or adapted for applying fertiizer. The statute then rescinds the exemption for one clam of fertilizer ~machinery - those operated at speeds of greater than 30 miles per hour. As to such machinery, registration is stillrequired. HouseBill 81does not itself require any vehicle to be registered. Rather, it merely specifies a fee whenregistraticn is required. The fee is imposedmn re ’ tered fertilizer machinerywhich is &signed or modified for both transportingand sprea +kiYhus,itis g. applicable to certaii kinds of machinerydescribed by HouseBill 1324 but not exempt from ~tration tbzreunder by virtue of their operation at speeds greater than 30 miles per

. ln answer to your specific questions, we believe that the passage of House Bills 81 and 1324has somewhat altered the law set forth in, Attorney General Opinion M-l288 (1972), whichappliedthe test of “primarydesign anduse” to a particular vehicle. We need not determine the extent to which the “primary design and use” test has survived the enactment of the two statutes, however, since we are confident that the vehicle described in OpinionM-l288 retains its exemption from registration, so long as it is not operated at speedsgreater then 30 milesper hour.

P. ‘20Honorable Don Henderson - Page Three (r4w-7)

In Motor Vehicle Snformatiem Circular No. 10-77, dated August 26,1977, the State Department of Highwaysand Public Transportation interpreted House Bill 1324to provide an exemption from registration only for those motor vehicles which “have been built from the inigi

. Y%tf 9 a~ machinery for the exclusive purposeof spreadingfertilizer.R (emphasis

In our opinion, such a construction imposes a requirement not present in the statute and is im%nsistent therewith. As we have indicated, fertilizer machinery is exempt fmm registration if it is included within the definition of vimplements of husbandryv

in article 6675a-lb) and is not operated at speeds greater than 30 miles per hour. SUMMARY

Selfpropelled machinery which does not come within the statutory defmition of passenger car or truck and which is designed or adapted for applying fertilizer ls exempt from registration under article 6675a, et

7iF V.T.C.S., so long aa such ma&inery is not operated at spee greater than 30 miles per hour. Very truly yours,

- MARK WHITE Attorney General of Texas JOHNW. PAINTER,JR. First AssistantAttorney General TRD L. HARTLEY Executive~Assistant

Attorney General Prepared by Rick Gilpin Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINION

COMMITTRE C. Robert Heath, Chairman WatsonArnold David B. Brooks Rick Gilpin WilRamG Refd LambethTownsend Bruce Youngblood

p. 21