ALERT! State of Washington HOUSE BILL 2356 ORVs

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This House Bill is pertinent to our Recreation Travel issues.

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H-3755.1
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HOUSE BILL 2356
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State of Washington 58th Legislature 2004 Regular Session

By Representatives Hinkle, Buck, Condotta, O'Brien, Pearson and Shabro

Prefiled 1/9/2004. Read first time 01/12/2004. Referred to Committee
on Fisheries, Ecology & Parks.


AN ACT Relating to the operation of off-road vehicles on roadways; amending
RCW 46.09.120; reenacting and amending RCW 46.16.010; adding a new section to
chapter 46.09 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 1. The legislature finds that off-road
recreational vehicles (ORVs) provide opportunities for a wide variety of outdoor
recreation activities. The legislature further finds that the growing
popularity of ORV use and the limited amount of ORV trails presents a challenge
for ORV recreational users, natural resource land managers, and private
landowners. The legislature further finds that many nonhighway and unpaved
roads provide opportunities for ORV use. However, restrictions intended for
motor vehicles may prevent ORV use on certain roads, including forest service
roads. Therefore, the legislature finds that local, state, and federal
jurisdictions should be given the flexibility to allow ORV use on roads that are
not intended primarily for passenger motor vehicle use.

Sec. 2. RCW 46.09.120 and 2003 c 377 s 1 are each amended to read as
follows:
(1) It is a traffic infraction for any person to operate any nonhighway
vehicle:
(a) In such a manner as to endanger the property of another;
(b) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle
without a lighted headlight and taillight between the hours of dusk and dawn,
or when otherwise required for the safety of others regardless of ownership;
(c) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle
without an adequate braking device or when otherwise required for the safety of
others regardless of ownership;
(d) Without a spark arrester approved by the department of natural
resources;
(e) Without an adequate, and operating, muffling device which effectively
limits vehicle noise to no more than eighty-six decibels on the "A" scale at
fifty feet as measured by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) test
procedure J 331a, except that a maximum noise level of one hundred and five
decibels on the "A" scale at a distance of twenty inches from the exhaust outlet
shall be an acceptable substitute in lieu of the Society of Automotive Engineers
test procedure J 331a when measured:
(i) At a forty-five degree angle at a distance of twenty inches from the
exhaust outlet;
(ii) With the vehicle stationary and the engine running at a steady speed
equal to one-half of the manufacturer's maximum allowable ("red line") engine
speed or where the manufacturer's maximum allowable engine speed is not known
the test speed in revolutions per minute calculated as sixty percent of the
speed at which maximum horsepower is developed; and
(iii) With the microphone placed ten inches from the side of the vehicle,
one-half way between the lowest part of the vehicle body and the ground plane,
and in the same lateral plane as the rearmost exhaust outlet where the outlet
of the exhaust pipe is under the vehicle;
(f) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle
{+ on any highway, +} upon the shoulder or inside bank or slope of any
nonhighway road or highway, or upon the median of any divided highway;
(g) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle
in any area or in such a manner so as to unreasonably expose the underlying
soil, or to create an erosion condition, or to injure, damage, or destroy trees,
growing crops, or other vegetation;
(h) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle
or on any nonhighway road or trail, when these are restricted to pedestrian or
animal travel; and
(i) On any public lands in violation of rules and regulations of the agency
administering such lands.
(2) It is a misdemeanor for any person to operate any nonhighway vehicle
while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.

{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 46.09 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) It is lawful to operate an off-road vehicle upon a nonhighway road and
in paved parking areas serving designated off-road vehicle areas unless the
responsible governing body, including state, federal, or local authorities,
prohibits the use of off-road vehicles, if:
(a) Any person operating an off-road vehicle is in compliance with RCW
46.09.120; and
(b) The nonhighway road is not intended and maintained primarily for
passenger motor vehicle use.
(2) An off-road vehicle operated on a nonhighway road under this section
is exempt from licensing requirements of RCW 46.16.010 and vehicle lighting and
equipment requirements of chapter 46.37 RCW.

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Sec. 4. RCW 46.16.010 and 2003 c 353 s 8 and 2003 c 53 s 238 are each
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) It is unlawful for a person to operate any vehicle over and along a
public highway of this state without first having obtained and having in full
force and effect a current and proper vehicle license and display vehicle
license number plates therefor as by this chapter provided.
(2) Failure to make initial registration before operation on the highways
of this state is a misdemeanor, and any person convicted thereof must be
punished by a fine of no less than three hundred thirty dollars, no part of
which may be suspended or deferred.
(3) Failure to renew an expired registration before operation on the
highways of this state is a traffic infraction.
(4) The licensing of a vehicle in another state by a resident of this
state, as defined in RCW 46.16.028, evading the payment of any tax or license
fee imposed in connection with registration, is a gross misdemeanor punishable
as follows:
(a) For a first offense, up to one year in the county jail and a fine equal
to twice the amount of delinquent taxes and fees, no part of which may be
suspended or deferred;
(b) For a second or subsequent offense, up to one year in the county jail
and a fine equal to four times the amount of delinquent taxes and fees, no part
of which may be suspended or deferred;
(c) For fines levied under (b) of this subsection, an amount equal to the
avoided taxes and fees owed will be deposited in the vehicle licensing fraud
account created in the state treasury;
(d) The avoided taxes and fees shall be deposited and distributed in the
same manner as if the taxes and fees were properly paid in a timely fashion.
(5) These provisions shall not apply to the following vehicles:
(a) Motorized foot scooters;
(b) Electric-assisted bicycles;
(c) {+ Off-road vehicles operating on nonhighway roads under section 3 of
this act;
(d) +} Farm vehicles if operated within a radius of fifteen miles of the
farm where principally used or garaged, farm tractors and farm implements
including trailers designed as cook or bunk houses used exclusively for animal
herding temporarily operating or drawn upon the public highways, and trailers
used exclusively to transport farm implements from one farm to another during
the daylight hours or at night when such equipment has lights that comply with
the law;
(({- (d) -})) {+ (e) +} Spray or fertilizer applicator rigs designed and
used exclusively for spraying or fertilization in the conduct of agricultural
operations and not primarily for the purpose of transportation, and nurse rigs
or equipment auxiliary to the use of and designed or modified for the fueling,
repairing, or loading of spray and fertilizer applicator rigs and not used,
designed, or modified primarily for the purpose of transportation;
(({- (e) -})) {+ (f) +} Fork lifts operated during daylight hours on public
highways adjacent to and within five hundred feet of the warehouses which they
serve: PROVIDED FURTHER, That these provisions shall not apply to vehicles used
by the state parks and recreation commission exclusively for park maintenance
and operations upon public highways within state parks;
(({- (f) -})) {+ (g) +} "Special highway construction equipment" defined
as follows: Any vehicle which is designed and used primarily for grading of
highways, paving of highways, earth moving, and other construction work on
highways and which is not designed or used primarily for the transportation of
persons or property on a public highway and which is only incidentally operated
or moved over the highway. It includes, but is not limited to, road
construction and maintenance machinery so designed and used such as portable air
compressors, air drills, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders,
track laying tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor
graders, paving mixers, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving scrapers and
carryalls, lighting plants, welders, pumps, power shovels and draglines, self-
propelled and tractor-drawn earth moving equipment and machinery, including dump
trucks and tractor-dump trailer combinations which either (i) are in excess of
the legal width, or (ii) which, because of their length, height, or unladen
weight, may not be moved on a public highway without the permit specified in RCW
46.44.090 and which are not operated laden except within the boundaries of the
project limits as defined by the contract, and other similar types of
construction equipment, or (iii) which are driven or moved upon a public highway
only for the purpose of crossing such highway from one property to another,
provided such movement does not exceed five hundred feet and the vehicle is
equipped with wheels or pads which will not damage the roadway surface.
Exclusions:
"Special highway construction equipment" does not include any of the
following:
Dump trucks originally designed to comply with the legal size and weight
provisions of this code notwithstanding any subsequent modification which would
require a permit, as specified in RCW 46.44.090, to operate such vehicles on a
public highway, including trailers, truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes and
shovels, or other vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or
property to which machinery has been attached.
(6) The following vehicles, whether operated solo or in combination, are
exempt from license registration and displaying license plates as required by
this chapter:
(a) A converter gear used to convert a semitrailer into a trailer or a two-
axle truck or tractor into a three or more axle truck or tractor or used in any
other manner to increase the number of axles of a vehicle. Converter gear
includes an auxiliary axle, booster axle, dolly, and jeep axle.
(b) A tow dolly that is used for towing a motor vehicle behind another
motor vehicle. The front or rear wheels of the towed vehicle are secured to and
rest on the tow dolly that is attached to the towing vehicle by a tow bar.

{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2004.

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House member Hickle info.
www.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d13_2.htm

Schedule.
www.leg.wa.gov/committees/storage/wcss/original/weekly%5Fsched%5F01%2D19%2D04%2Ehtm


There is a work session in the Senate on Non highway ORV, mainly the funding accounts. Also a hearing on SB6234.

www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2003-04/Senate/6225-6249/6234_01142004.txt

Here is the link to the Hinkle house bill. HB2356.
www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2003-04/House/2350-2374/2356_01132004.txt

[cdaxena]

Subject: House BIll 2919 ORV Tag Fee Increase


Representative Cary Condotta -

The current ORV tag bill (HB 2919) seeking to increase our ORV tag fee from $5.00 to $18.00 basic fee ( + handling fees of course) does NOT appear to currently contain any of the conditions established by the Northwest Motorcycle Association as the initial criteria for backing this Bill which were established back in September of 2003.

Why does the current HB 2919 only raise the fee and not address any of these other issues?

At last night's NMA Meeting a new motion was made by the Tacoma Motorcycle Club representative to that meeting and seconded by another. It has not yet been voted on but will be soon. That motion is to prevent the NMA from supporting an ORV tag fee increase until such time as the motorized users contributing those funds, are give binding, not advisory, control of those funds as administered by the IAC. This motion further states there must be a written guarantee (immediate sunset provision) in this Bill that these ORV tag fees will totally cease to exist if appropriated in any way differently by the Legislature at some point in the future.

What do you think of these additions to the criteria for supporting HB 2919?

Sincerely,

Dave Hiatt


By way of review -

The link I obtained the detailed language for HB 2919 tonight was -
www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2003-04/House/2900-2924/2919_01222004 .txt


Here is an excerpt from the September NMA Board meeting record of decisions.

"Condotta's proposal is to raise the ORV fee portion of the tag from $5 to $15. We discussed the conditions the NMA wants in order to support Condotta on this.

1) Only the motorized users will be able to vote on projects applying for these funds.
2) Isolate these funds from the gas tax money and make sure our percentage of the gas tax NOVA percentage does NOT include these funds, i.e. we get our 20% (or XX amount share) of the gas tax money PLUS the sole use of these ORV sticker funds.
3) Requires detailed accounting of all NOVA gas tax funds utilized by DNR
4) ORV tag comes with your parking pass to state recreational areas such as DNR land like hunting license does for wildlife funded parking areas. No extra charge to ORV owners for use of State Lands!
5) If possible, push for motorized NOVA funds to be administered by private Trust instead of IAC."