I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1142
To establish a commercial truck highway safety demonstration program in 
the State of Maine, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2003
Mr. MICHAUD (for himself and Mr. ALLEN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To establish a commercial truck highway safety demonstra-
tion program in the State of Maine, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Truck 
Highway Safety Demonstration Program Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Public safety on the highways of the United 
States is a paramount concern of all who use the 
highways and all who prescribe public policy for the
use of those highways, including public policy on the 
operation of heavy commercial trucks on highways. 
(2) Federal highway funding law effectively im-
poses a limit of 80,000 pounds on the weight of ve-
hicles permitted to use Interstate System highways. 
(3) The administration of this law in Maine has 
forced heavy tractor-trailer and tractor-semitrailer 
combination vehicles, traveling into Maine from 
neighboring States and Canada, to divert onto small 
State and local roads where higher vehicle weight 
limits apply under Maine law. 
(4) The diversion of those vehicles onto such 
roads causes significant economic hardships and 
safety challenges for small communities located 
along those roads. 
(5) Permitting heavy commercial vehicles, in-
cluding tanker trucks carrying hazardous material 
and fuel oil, to travel on Interstate System highways 
in Maine—
(A) would enhance public safety by reduc-
ing—
(i) the number of heavy vehicles that 
use town and city streets in Maine; and 
(ii) as a result, the number of dan-
gerous interactions between those heavy
vehicles and such other vehicles as school 
buses and private vehicles; and 
(B) would reduce the net highway mainte-
nance costs in Maine because the Interstate 
System highways, unlike the secondary roads of 
Maine, are built to accommodate heavy vehicles 
and are, therefore, more durable. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) COVERED
INTERSTATE
SYSTEM
HIGH-
WAY.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
Interstate System highway’’ means a highway 
within the State of Maine that is designated as 
a route on the Interstate System, except as pro-
vided in subparagraph (B). 
(B) EXCEPTION.—The term does not in-
clude any portion of a highway that, as of the 
date of enactment of this Act, is exempted from 
the requirements of subsection (a) of section 
127 of title 23, United States Code, by the last 
sentence of such subsection. 
(2) INTERSTATE
SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Inter-
state System’’ has the meaning given that term in 
section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code.
SEC. 4. MAINE TRUCK SAFETY DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 
The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a 
program, in the administration of this Act, to demonstrate 
the effects on the safety of the overall highway network 
in the State of Maine that would result from permitting 
vehicles described in section 5(b) to be operated on the 
Interstate System highways within the State. 
SEC. 5. WAIVER OF HIGHWAY FUNDING REDUCTION RELAT-
ING TO WEIGHT OF VEHICLES USING INTER-
STATE SYSTEM HIGHWAYS. 
(a) PROHIBITION RELATING
TO CERTAIN VEHI-
CLES.—Notwithstanding section 127(a) of title 23, United 
States Code, the total amount of funds apportioned to the 
State of Maine under section 104(b)(1) of such title for 
any period may not be reduced under such section 127(a) 
on the basis that the State of Maine permits a vehicle de-
scribed in subsection (b) to use a covered Interstate Sys-
tem highway.
(b) COMBINATION VEHICLES IN EXCESS OF 80,000 
POUNDS.—A vehicle referred to in subsection (a) is a vehi-
cle having a weight in excess of 80,000 pounds that—
(1) consists of a 3-axle tractor unit hauling a 
single trailer or semitrailer; and 
(2) does not exceed any vehicle weight limita-
tion that is applicable under the laws of the State 
of Maine to the operation of such vehicle on high-
ways in Maine not on the Interstate System, as such 
laws are in effect on the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE AND TERMINATION.—
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(A) DATE OF SATISFACTION OF ADMINIS-
TRATIVE CONDITIONS BY MAINE.—The prohibi-
tion in subsection (a) shall take effect on the 
date on which the Secretary of Transportation 
notifies the Commissioner of Transportation of 
the State of Maine, in writing, that—
(i) the Secretary has received the plan 
described in paragraph (1) of section 6; 
and 
(ii) the Commissioner has established 
a highway safety committee as described in 
paragraph (2) of such section and has pro-
mulgated rules and procedures for the col-
lection of highway safety data as described 
in paragraph (3) of such section. 
(B) PERMANENT
EFFECT.—After taking 
effect, the prohibition in subsection (a) shall re-
main in effect unless terminated under para-
graph (2).
(2) CONTINGENT TERMINATION.—The prohibi-
tion in subsection (a) shall terminate 3 years after 
the effective date applicable under paragraph (1) if, 
before the end of such 3-year period, the Sec-
retary—
(A) determines that—
(i) operation of vehicles described in 
subsection (b) on covered Interstate Sys-
tem highways has adversely affected safety 
on the overall highway network in Maine; 
or 
(ii) the Commissioner has failed to 
use the highway safety committee as de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A) of section 6 or 
to collect data as described in paragraph 
(3) of such section; and 
(B) publishes the determination, together 
with the date of the termination of the prohibi-
tion, in the Federal Register. 
(d) CONSULTATION REGARDING TERMINATION FOR 
SAFETY.—In making a determination under subsection 
(c)(2)(A)(i), the Secretary shall consult with the highway 
safety committee established by the Commissioner in ac-
cordance with section 6.
SEC. 6. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE OF MAINE. 
For the purposes of section 5, the State of Maine sat-
isfies the conditions of this section if the Commissioner 
of Transportation of the State of Maine—
(1) submits to the Secretary of Transportation 
a plan for satisfying the conditions set forth in para-
graphs (2) and (3); 
(2) establishes and chairs a highway safety 
committee that—
(A) the Commissioner uses to review the 
data collected pursuant to paragraph (3); and 
(B) consists of representatives of—
(i) agencies of the State that have re-
sponsibilities related to highway safety; 
(ii) municipalities of the State; 
(iii) organizations that have evalua-
tion or promotion of highway safety among 
their principal purposes; and 
(iv) the commercial trucking industry; 
and 
(3) collects data on the net effects that the op-
eration of vehicles described in section 5(b) on cov-
ered Interstate System highways has on the safety 
of the overall highway network in the State, includ-
ing the net effects on single-vehicle and multiple-ve-
hicle collision rates for such vehicles.
Æ