I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 551

To amend the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 and title

23, United States Code, concerning length and weight limitations for

vehicles operating on Federal-aid highways.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1997

Mr. OBERSTAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of

1982 and title 23, United States Code, concerning length

and weight limitations for vehicles operating on Federalaid highways.

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 ‘‘Safe Highways and

5 Infrastructure Preservation Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. LENGTH LIMITATIONS ON FEDERALLY ASSISTED

2 HIGHWAYS.

3 (a) PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF CERTAIN

4 CARGO-CARRYING UNITS.—Section 411 of the Surface

5 Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (49 U.S.C. App.

6 2311) is amended—

7 (1) by striking the section heading and all that

8 follows through ‘‘(a) Except’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘SEC. 411. LENGTH LIMITATIONS ON FEDERALLY ASSISTED

11 HIGHWAYS.

12 ‘‘(a) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except’’;

14 (2) by moving the remaining portion of para15 graph (1) of subsection (a), as designated by para16 graph (1) of this subsection, 2 ems to the right; and

17 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the

18 following:

19 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF CERTAIN

20 CARGO-CARRYING UNITS.—

21 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—No State shall reg22 ister for operation on any segment of the Inter23 state System and those classes of qualifying

24 National Highway System highways as des25 ignated by the Secretary any trailer, semi-trail26 er, container, or other cargo-carrying unit that
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1 is longer than 53 feet, except as provided by

2 subparagraph (B).

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The following shall

4 not be subject to the requirement of subpara5 graph (A):

6 ‘‘(i) Any trailer, semi-trailer, con7 tainer, or other cargo carrying unit that is

8 manufactured before the expiration of the

9 1-year period beginning on the date of the

10 enactment of this paragraph.

11 ‘‘(ii) Any trailer, semi-trailer, con12 tainer, or other cargo-carrying unit that is

13 used exclusively for fire-fighting.

14 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUC15 TION.—Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed

16 to affect the laws of any State applicable to any

17 trailer, semi-trailer, container, or other cargo-carry18 ing unit that is less than 53 feet in length.’’.

19 (b) REPEAL.—The 3d sentence of section 411(b) of

20 such Act is repealed.

21 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 411 of

22 such Act is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of this section’’

24 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection

25 (a)(1) of this section’’; and
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1 (2) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘subsections

2 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a)(1)’’.

3 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—The 2d sentence of section

4 141(b) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘section 411(j)’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘subsections (a)(2) and (j) of section 411’’; and

7 (2) by striking ‘‘2311(j)’’ and inserting ‘‘2311’’.

8 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF DETERMINATIONS OF GRAND9 FATHER RIGHTS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127 of title 23, United

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘(h) GRANDFATHER RIGHTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—No State shall allow the

15 operation of any vehicle or combination (other than

16 longer combination vehicles) not in conformance

17 with the Interstate weight limits, unless such oper18 ation is on the list published pursuant to paragraph

19 (2).

20 ‘‘(2) LIST OF VEHICLES OR COMBINATIONS.—

21 ‘‘(A) PROCEEDING.—Not later than 60

22 days after the date of the enactment of this
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1 subsection, the Secretary shall initiate a pro2 ceeding to determine and publish a list of vehi3 cles or combinations (other than longer com4 bination vehicles), otherwise not in conformance

5 with the Interstate weight limits, that the De6 partment of Transportation or any other Fed7 eral agency or a State has determined before

8 January 1, 1997, could be lawfully operated

9 within such State on July 1, 1956 (except in

10 the case of the overall gross weight of any

11 group of 2 or more consecutive axles, on the

12 date of the enactment of the Federal-Aid High13 way Amendments of 1974).

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—No operation of any

15 vehicle or combination (other than a longer

16 combination vehicle) shall be included on the

17 list published pursuant to subparagraph (A) on

18 the basis that a State law or regulation could

19 have authorized such operation at some prior

20 date by permit or otherwise.

21 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION OF FINAL LIST.—Not

22 later than 270 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this subsection, the Secretary shall

24 publish a final list of vehicles or combinations

25 described in subparagraph (A).
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1 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUC2 TION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed

3 to prevent a State from reducing the State’s gross

4 vehicle weight limitation or the State’s single or tan5 dem axle weight limitations on the Interstate System

6 for operations on the list published pursuant to

7 paragraph (2) but in no event shall any such reduc8 tion fall below weight limits referred to in subsection

9 (a).

10 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF EXISTING REQUIRE11 MENTS.—All vehicles or combinations included on

12 the list published pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be

13 subject to all routing-specific, commodity-specific,

14 and weight-specific designations in force in a State

15 before January 1, 1997.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 4th sentence

17 of section 127(a) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘the

18 State determines’’.

19 SEC. 4. NONDIVISIBLE LOAD PROCEEDING.

20 Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is further

21 amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(i) NONDIVISIBLE LOADS.—

23 ‘‘(1) PROCEEDING.—Not later than 60 days

24 after the date of the enactment of this subsection,
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1 the Secretary shall initiate a proceeding to deter2 mine the meaning of the term ‘vehicles and loads

3 which cannot be easily dismantled or divided’ as

4 used in subsection (a), including a commodity-spe5 cific definition of such term.

6 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 days

7 after the date of the enactment of this subsection,

8 the Secretary shall issue final regulations setting

9 forth the determination of the Secretary made pur10 suant to subparagraph (A). Such regulations shall

11 apply to all loads operating on the National High12 way System. A State may establish other require13 ments not inconsistent with such regulations.

14 ‘‘(j) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—The policy of this title

15 is to promote conformity with the Interstate weight limits

16 for the benefit and safety of all motorists.

17 ‘‘(k) INTERSTATE WEIGHT LIMITS DEFINED.—For

18 purposes of subsections (h), (i), and (j), the term ‘Inter19 state weight limits’ means the 80,000 pound gross vehicle

20 weight limitation, the 20,000 pound single axle weight lim21 itation (including enforcement tolerances), the 34,000

22 pound tandem axle weight limitation (including enforce23 ment tolerances), and the overall maximum gross weight

24 (including enforcement tolerances) on a group of 2 or
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1 more consecutive axles produced by application of the

2 Bridge Formula B in subsection (a).’’.

3 SEC. 5. WEIGHT LIMITATIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 23, United States Code, is

5 amended by inserting after section 127 the following:

6 ‘‘§ 127a. Gross vehicle weight and axle loading limita7 tions on non-Interstate highways on the

8 National Highway System

9 ‘‘(a) NON-INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS ON NHS.—The

10 gross vehicle weight limitations and axle loading limita11 tions applicable to all vehicles and combinations on any

12 non-Interstate highway on the National Highway System

13 in existence on the date of the enactment of this section,

14 shall be the gross vehicle weight and axle loading limita15 tions (including enforcement tolerances) set by State stat16 ute as of January 1, 1997, on the non-Interstate highway

17 on the National Highway System in the State in which

18 such non-Interstate highway is located, except as provided

19 by subsection (c). The gross vehicle weight limitations and

20 axle loading limitations applicable to all vehicles and com21 binations on any segment of any non-Interstate highway

22 on the National Highway System not in existence on the

23 date of the enactment of this section, shall be the Inter24 state weight limits.
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1 ‘‘(b) PROCEEDING TO PUBLISH LIST OF STATE LIM2 ITATIONS.—The Secretary shall initiate a proceeding to

3 determine and publish a list of the States’ gross vehicle

4 weight limitations and axle loading limitations as of Janu5 ary 1, 1997, applicable to non-Interstate highways on the

6 National Highway System. The Secretary shall publish a

7 final list not later than 180 days after the date of the

8 enactment of this section.

9 ‘‘(c) PROCEEDING TO PUBLISH LIST OF NON10 CONFORMING OPERATIONS.—The Secretary shall initiate

11 a proceeding to determine and publish a list of operations

12 not in conformance with State gross vehicle weight limita13 tions and axle loading limitations applicable to all vehicles

14 and combinations on any non-Interstate highways on the

15 National Highway System in existence on the date of the

16 enactment of this section, of such State before January

17 1, 1997, and which were in actual and lawful operation

18 on a regular or periodic basis (including seasonal oper19 ations) before January 1, 1997. The Secretary shall pub20 lish a final list of such operations not later than 180 days

21 after the date of the enactment of this section. No oper22 ation of any vehicle or combination shall be on the Sec23 retary’s list on the basis that a State law or regulation

24 could have authorized such operations at some prior date,

25 by permit or otherwise.
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1 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY OF EXISTING REQUIRE2 MENTS.—All vehicles or combinations included on the Sec3 retary’s list provided for in subsection (c) shall be subject

4 to all routing-specific, commodity-specific, and weight-spe5 cific designations in force in a State on December 31,

6 1996.

7 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY.—The limitations established by

8 subsection (a) shall apply to any new designations made

9 to the National Highway System and remain in effect on

10 those non-Interstate highways that cease to be designated

11 as part of the National Highway System.

12 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—

13 Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any

14 State from reducing the State’s gross vehicle weight limi15 tation or the State’s single or tandem axle weight limita16 tions on any existing non-Interstate highway on the Na17 tional Highway System.

18 ‘‘(g) INTERSTATE WEIGHT LIMITS DEFINED.—For

19 purposes of this section, the term ‘Interstate weight limits’

20 means the 80,000 pound gross vehicle weight limitation,

21 the 20,000 pound single axle weight limitation (including

22 enforcement tolerances), and the 34,000 pound tandem

23 axle weight limitation (including enforcement toler24 ances).’’.
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1 (b) ENFORCEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS.—Section

2 141(a) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘section

3 127(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 127 and 127a’’.

4 (c) CONFORMING CHAPTER ANALYSIS AMEND5 MENT.—The analysis for chapter 1 of such title is amend6 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 127 the

7 following:

‘‘127a. Gross vehicle weight and axle loading limitations on non-Interstate highways on the National Highway System.’’.

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