1996 SUMMARY OF LEGISLATION

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATION LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 2072 - Implements of Husbandry (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. This Act amends Section 321.1, which provides definitions for Chapter 321. Last year, the General Assembly enacted 1995 Iowa Acts, Chapter 56 (S.F. 298), which in part amended the definition of "implement of husbandry" to add machinery towed by a motor vehicle or farm tractor operated at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour. This Act amends that section again to provide that the machinery towed by a motor vehicle or farm tractor does not have to operate at speeds less than 30 miles per hour in order to be considered an "implement of husbandry."
The Act takes effect March 4, 1996.

SENATE FILE 2085 - Handicapped Parking (full text of bill)

BY MURPHY. This Act makes several changes to the existing handicapped parking law under Chapter 321L, many of which are to conform to federal requirements. The Act changes the definition of "handicapped person" to conform to the federal definition.
The Act changes the name of the handicapped identification device to a handicapped parking permit, which is a handicapped license plate, a parking sticker, or a removable windshield placard. The length of time for which the placard is valid also is changed by the Act. Prior law allows for issuance of a permanent device valid for the lifetime of the person to whom it is issued and a temporary device valid for three months. This Act strikes the permanent device and instead provides for regular and temporary placards. A regular placard must be renewed at the time the person's motor vehicle license or nonoperator's identification card is renewed, a maximum of every four years. A temporary placard is valid for a length of time as determined by the physician's or chiropractor's statement, but not to exceed six months. The Act requires that the signature of the person who has been issued the placard and the signature of the physician or chiropractor must be on the placard.
The Act provides for a $300 civil penalty for a person, including a physician or chiropractor, who provides false information with the intent to defraud on the statement used to establish that a person is handicapped. It also increases the fine for improper use of a handicapped parking permit from $50 to $100.
The Act requires that a handicapped person who wishes to use a handicapped parking space must have a handicapped designation on the person's motor vehicle license or nonoperator's identification card and provides that a placard shall only be displayed when the person is actually parked in a handicapped parking space. The Act provides for enforcement of Chapter 321L by a peace officer on public or private property.
The Act requires the Department of Transportation to begin issuing new placards and handicapped designations on January 1, 1997, and provides that after January 1, 1998, only new windshield placards will be valid. All persons with handicapped registration plates or identification stickers must apply for a handicapped designation on the person's motor vehicle license or nonoperator's identification card by January 1, 1998. The department is directed to work with the American Medical Association and other groups to educate physicians and chiropractors regarding the statutory requirements for issuance of a handicapped parking permit.
Finally, the Act requires the department to reissue removable windshield placards again on January 1, 2001, and every four years thereafter.

SENATE FILE 2140 - Speed Limits -- Construction Area Safety Study (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act allows the State Department of Transportation to increase the speed limit on certain divided, multilaned highways from 55 miles per hour to 65 miles per hour. The Act also requires the State Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety to study and prepare a joint report on the issues of vehicle speed management, enhanced speed limit enforcement, and work zone safety in construction areas, with the goal of promoting motorist and construction worker safety.
This Act takes effect May 16, 1996.

SENATE FILE 2186 - Miscellaneous Transportation-Related Sanctions

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act increases penalties and scheduled violations for various transportation-related actions and provides related technical changes.
The Act consolidates several sections of the Iowa Code relating to the fraudulent and unlawful use of nonoperator's identification cards and motor vehicle licenses. The Act increases the penalty from a simple misdemeanor to a serious misdemeanor for falsifying a motor vehicle license or nonoperator's identification card and form and increases the fine for unlawful use of a motor vehicle license or nonoperator's identification card from a scheduled fine of $50 to a scheduled fine of $75.
The Act provides that it is a serious misdemeanor for a person to operate a motor vehicle if the person's motor vehicle license has been denied, suspended or revoked for failure to pay child support, or if the person operates a commercial motor vehicle while disqualified. For persons whose motor vehicle licenses were suspended for failure to pay child support or failure to pay indebtedness owed to the state, the Act prohibits adding an additional license revocation period, which is normally required when a person operates a motor vehicle while a motor vehicle license is suspended or revoked.
The Act provides a scheduled fine of $100 for each violation of length, width, height, or other permit provisions for motor vehicles and loads. This fine replaces the current system requiring a fine of $100 for the first conviction, and $250 for a second and $500 for a third conviction within a 12-month period for violation of any provision of Chapter 321E, governing vehicles of excessive size or weight, or of a permit where a holder with three such convictions is required to be escorted by a peace officer.
Provisions relating to the issuance of a temporary restricted license for a person whose motor vehicle license has been revoked or suspended for operating while intoxicated under Chapter 321J are amended to provide that if a defendant is under the age of 21 and has been convicted of or has received a deferred judgment for operating while intoxicated at an alcohol concentration level of 0.1 or greater, the defendant will be eligible for a temporary restricted license no sooner than 60 days from the date of revocation.
The Act prohibits a retail motor vehicle dealer from selling, offering to sell, representing, or advertising that the dealer intends to sell motor vehicles from a location other than the person's principal place of business, with exceptions for display and sale of motor vehicles and classic cars at fairs, vehicle shows and vehicle exhibitions under certain circumstances and upon issuance of a temporary permit.
Finally, the Act creates $100 scheduled fines for spilling loads on the highway; for length, width, height, and other motor vehicle and load permitting provisions; and for illegal importation of motor fuel. The Act creates a scheduled fine of $50 for title law violations and increases the fine for failure to obey railroad crossings and signals to $50.

SENATE FILE 2266 - Motor Vehicles and Aircraft -- Miscellaneous Provisions

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act makes several transportation-related Code changes, many of a technical or corrective nature.
The Act allows the owner of an unregistered vehicle or a vehicle for which payment of the registration fee is delinquent to obtain a 30-day permit to operate the vehicle for a fee of $25. This provision takes effect January 1, 1997. The Act allows the issuance of a certificate of title for a commercial motor vehicle, but delays the payment of registration fees until the commercial motor vehicle is driven upon the highway; provides that a transferee of a motor vehicle is not required to indicate whether a vehicle has incurred prior damage of $3,000 or more if the transferor's certificate of title is from another state and if it indicates that the vehicle is salvaged and not resident or is another state's salvage certificate of title; and provides that the registration fee for trailers is $10.
The Act provides that all registration plates, except Pearl Harbor, purple heart, collegiate, fire fighter, and congressional medal of honor registration plates, must have the name of the county in which the vehicle is registered displayed on the plate, but exempts persons who have special registration plates from payment of the issuance fee upon reissuance by the department. These provisions are effective January 1, 1997.
The Act exempts a peace officer from commercial driver's license requirements if the officer is operating a commercial motor vehicle for a law enforcement agency under conditions necessary to preserve life or property or to execute related governmental functions, and strikes a prohibition against operating a commercial motor vehicle when a person has been issued a temporary permit.
The Act allows a person who has been issued a temporary permit enabling the person to operate a motor vehicle while the department is investigating whether to issue the person a motor vehicle license to also be issued a nonoperator's identification card.
The Act provides that the fee for reinstatement of a motor vehicle license after the license has been barred is $20, and expands the advance notice period the State Department of Transportation is required to provide before disqualifying a person from operating a commercial motor vehicle upon the highway or revoking or suspending a person's motor vehicle license or operating privileges from 20 days to 30 days.
The Act requires that a petitioner to the district court for a temporary restricted permit provide with the petition a current certified copy of the petitioner's official driving record issued by the State Department of Transportation.
The Act requires that certain slow moving vehicles be identified with a reflective device when operated on a highway at a speed of 30 miles per hour or less.
The Act strikes a provision requiring different axle weights on the interstate for special mobile equipment and allows vehicles with indivisible loads exceeding certain width, length and weight limitations to be moved in special or emergency situations if the permitting authority has reviewed the route and has approved the movement of the vehicle and the load. The Act also allows the permitting authority to exempt such vehicle movement from the restrictions contained in Section 321E.11, which prohibit movement on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.
The Act provides that aircraft registration include taxes owed, increases the time before the $5 penalty accrues from five days to 30 days for failing to transfer ownership of an aircraft subject to registration, and provides that the accrual of a penalty for failure to register begins 30 days from the first day of the month following the purchase of the new aircraft or the date the aircraft is brought into the state.
Finally, the Act repeals provisions prohibiting operation or use of a vehicle if the center of gravity on the vehicle has been altered and requiring that a verification of the issuance of a permit to move a mobile home be sent to the county treasurer of the county of final destination and that a $1 fee be paid to cover the cost of the service.

HOUSE FILE 419 - Secondary Roads -- Area Service Classification (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act allows a county board of supervisors to designate area service roads as class "C" roads and allow for restricted access and a minimal level of maintenance. A road may only be classified as area service "C" by ordinance or resolution upon petition signed by all landowners adjoining the road. A road retains the classification until a petition for reclassification is submitted to the board of supervisors.

HOUSE FILE 514 - Special Registration Plates and Related Matters (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act provides that as of January 1, 1997, all of the existing special registration plates, except for fire fighter, collegiate, Congressional Medal of Honor, and natural resources plates, shall be identified by an emblem placed upon the standard registration plate, rather than as a separate registration plate.
The Act creates the following new emblem registration plates: United States armed forces retired plates, Iowa heritage plates, education plates, and silver and bronze star plates. The Act provides that moneys collected from sale of the Iowa heritage plates be remitted to the Iowa Heritage Fund and to the Department of Education and that money collected from sale of the education plates be remitted to the School Budget Review Committee. The Act requires that all registration plates, other than Congressional Medal of Honor, collegiate, and fire fighter plates, shall display the name of the county on the plate.
The Act takes effect on January 1, 1997.

HOUSE FILE 2001 - Exemption From Motor Carrier Safety Rules

BY CARROLL. This Act extends an exemption from federal motor carrier safety regulations relating to physical and medical qualifications for drivers of commercial vehicles engaged in intrastate commerce if the driver's physical or medical condition existed prior to July 29, 1996. The prior exemption applied to drivers of commercial vehicles engaged in intrastate commerce prior to January 1, 1988.
The Act takes effect on April 4, 1996.

HOUSE FILE 2066 - Operation of Motor Vehicles in Border Cities (full text of bill)

BY WARNSTADT, KLEMME, NUTT, AND RANTS. This Act is precipitated by a change in federal law contained in Pub. L. No. 104-59 and provides an exemption from existing length and weight limitations for vehicles using Interstate 29 between Sioux City, Iowa, and the border between Iowa and South Dakota, and vehicles using Interstate 129 between Sioux City, Iowa, and the border between Iowa and Nebraska.
The Act takes effect on March 1, 1996.

HOUSE FILE 2113 - Registration Plates -- Motor Truck and Truck Tractors (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act provides for the issuance of a permanent registration plate for motor trucks and truck tractors licensed to operate in more than one state, in lieu of issuing an annual registration plate, upon payment of the appropriate registration fee on an annual basis.

HOUSE FILE 2207 - State Transportation Commission Planning Requirements (full text of bill)

BY NELSON of Marshall. This Act provides that the State Transportation Commission has 90 days from the date of the enactment of a new federal highway reauthorization formula to adopt and publish the annual plan of highway improvements. Currently, the commission is required to adopt the annual plan of highway improvements by December 31. The improvements are to be consistent with the five-year transportation plan.

HOUSE FILE 2225 - Motorcycle Rider Education (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act strikes the requirement that all persons who wish to be issued a motorcycle license must first complete a motorcycle rider education class, and instead continues the course requirement only for those persons under the age of 18. The Act also transfers the responsibility for approving and establishing the motorcycle rider education class and the motorized bicycle education class from the Department of Education to the State Department of Transportation.
The Act takes effect March 29, 1996.

HOUSE FILE 2303 - Hazardous Materials Transportation (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act repeals a provision enacted in 1991 and amended in 1994 that requires the repeal of the amendments to Section 321.450 on July 1, 1996. The effect of this Act is that the 1991 amendments, which expanded the exemption for certain cargo tank motor vehicles from hazardous materials transportation regulations regarding tank specifications, will not be repealed on July 1, 1996, but will remain in effect.

HOUSE FILE 2331 - Operating Conditions for Certain Temporary Restricted Motor Vehicle Licenses --VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR (full text of bill)

BY CATALDO. This bill would have amended a Code provision that permits a court to order the issuance of a temporary restricted license to a person who has waited the statutory minimum period and who is not otherwise eligible for a temporary restricted license under the provisions of Section 321J.20. A court would have been allowed to consider, in addition to work purposes, certain specified circumstances necessitating limited travel, including child care, health care, education, substance abuse treatment, and community service responsibilities ordered by a court. These additional circumstances are identical to those that the department may consider in issuing a temporary restricted license under Section 321J.20. This bill would have also added child care to the list of circumstances in Section 321J.20 that the department may consider in issuing a temporary restricted license.
The bill also would have required that the limited places and purposes for a license granted by a court be specified in the court order and as part of the temporary restricted license.

HOUSE FILE 2350 - Motor Vehicle Dimensional and Weight Requirements -- Commercial Vehicle Certificates of Title (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act makes several changes to motor vehicle weight and dimensional requirements and makes other transportation-related changes. The Act exempts commercial vehicles from registration fees until the vehicle is driven or moved upon the highway if the vehicle is registered under Chapter 326, Registration Reciprocity, and has been issued a certificate of title, and if the owner has a fleet of more than 50 commercial vehicles based in Iowa. The Act changes the legal length limit for trailers, semitrailers, power units designed to carry cargo when used in combination with a trailer, and semitrailer and stinger-steered automobile transporters, to exclude retractable extensions used to support the load. The Act provides that the load may extend up to three feet beyond the front bumper and up to four feet beyond the rear bumper of the trailer, semitrailer or power unit if the vehicles carrying the load are used exclusively for the transportation of passenger vehicles, light delivery trucks, panel delivery trucks, pickup trucks, recreational vehicle chassis, or boats.
The Act provides that a vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting materials to or from a construction project or commercial plant may operate pursuant to the weight formulas applicable to operation on the interstate, provided the route of travel has been approved by the department or appropriate local authority. This provision takes effect on April 15, 1996.
The Act implements a new multi-trip permit for certain oversized vehicles with indivisible loads and for vehicles or combinations of vehicles consisting of construction machinery. The Act strikes a provision requiring axle weights for operation of special mobile equipment on highways which are not part of the interstate system that are different from axle weights required for operation on the interstate.

HOUSE FILE 2419 - Miscellaneous Transportation Provisions -- Release of Public Improvement Funds (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act gives the State Department of Transportation authority to institute and maintain proceedings on behalf of the owner of a utility facility for the condemnation of replacement property rights when the construction or maintenance of a road requires condemnation of the property on which the utility facility is located. The replacement rights must be equal to the existing rights the owner of the utility facility possesses.
The Act requires the Transportation Commission to adopt by administrative rule the criteria used by the commission for allocating funds as the result of any long-range planning process. The Act also expands the State Department of Transportation's ability to conduct soundings and drillings on private property, permitting such activity no closer than 150 feet from the dwelling house or 50 feet from other buildings without the written consent of the owner of the property.
The Act makes several changes relating to the process for disposing of abandoned motor vehicles. The Act shortens the time periods in which a vehicle may be determined to have been abandoned, allows a police authority to declare a vehicle abandoned under a certain procedure, eliminates a five-day grace period before declaring a vehicle abandoned if the owner was unable to move the vehicle, allows for a private entity hired by police to dispose of abandoned vehicles after notice to record owners and lienholders, and allows for sale or destruction of personal property found in an abandoned vehicle and disposal of the vehicle to a demolisher for junk if the vehicle has a fair market value of less than $500. The Act provides that unpaid costs arising from taking custody of an abandoned vehicle remain the obligation of the last owner of record. A police authority may claim reimbursement for costs incurred from seizing and disposing of an abandoned vehicle if it did not hire a private entity, and for towing fees if it does hire a private entity.
The Act allows the department to establish a minimum speed limit on certain highways, as warranted by engineering and traffic investigations. Finally, the Act establishes a procedure for the release of retained funds by a public corporation to a contractor after completion of 95 percent of the work contracted for a public improvement.

HOUSE FILE 2462 - Public Access to Transportation Records (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. This Act requires that all records of the State Department of Transportation be open to the public, other than those records made confidential or not permitted to be open under federal law. Federal law and the Act allow a person to elect to prohibit disclosure of that individual's personal information to the general public or for bulk distribution for surveys, marketing or other solicitation. In addition, the Act prohibits such disclosure if the requester is requesting the information by means of a registration plate number, except in the case of a law enforcement agency or a person trying to prevent an unlawful act.
The Act is conditionally repealed if the federal requirements for closure of records contained in 18 U.S.C. Section 2721 are repealed or are declared to be unconstitutional by a federal court of competent jurisdiction.
The Act takes effect September 13, 1997.

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 2035 - Eurasian Water Milfoil (Complete summary under ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.)

This Act requires the Natural Resource Commission of the Department of Natural Resources to prepare a long-term statewide management plan for the control and eradication of Eurasian water milfoil. The Act also establishes a scheduled fine relating to Eurasian water milfoil.

SENATE FILE 2110 - Anatomical Gift Public Awareness and Transplantation (Complete summary under HEALTH & SAFETY.)

This Act relates to anatomical gift public awareness and an Anatomical Gift Public Awareness Advisory Committee and provides for the collection of contributions made by applicants for registration or renewal of registration of a motor vehicle and other contributions to be placed in the Anatomical Gift Public Awareness and Transplantation Fund to be used for public awareness projects and payment of costs related to transplantation.

SENATE FILE 2211 - Fingerprinting Requirements (Complete summary under CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE.)

This Act relates to fingerprinting requirements for persons taken into custody for violations under Chapter 321, Motor Vehicles and Law of the Road; Chapter 321A, Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility; or Section 321J.2, Operating While Under the Influence of Alcohol or a Drug.

SENATE FILE 2470 - Miscellaneous Appropriations and Related Matters -- Economic Development Appropriations (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

This Act relates to public levy, expenditure and regulatory matters by making standing, economic development and other appropriations, and includes provisions authorizing the continued purchase of prisoner of war plates by a surviving spouse.

HOUSE FILE 400 - Joint Equipment Purchases by Political Subdivisions (Complete summary under LOCAL GOVERNMENT.)

This Act repeals the requirement that before cities, counties, townships, school districts, or other political subdivisions purchase equipment worth at least $50,000, they shall consider making the purchase with another political subdivision of the state.

HOUSE FILE 569 - Motor Vehicle Lease Tax (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

This Act imposes a 5 percent tax upon the use of a leased motor vehicle. The tax is based upon the value of the motor vehicle during the period of the lease rather than on the overall value of the motor vehicle. The Act applies to leases entered into on or after January 1, 1997.

HOUSE FILE 2433 - Waste Tires (Complete summary under ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.)

This Act relates to the management of waste tires by providing for the establishment of a Waste Tire Management Fund. The Act also directs that all fees collected from the certificate of title surcharge on sales of new motor vehicles shall be deposited in the Road Use Tax Fund beginning in FY 2003. Previous law directed that such fees be deposited in the General Fund of the State.

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