[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2151 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2151

  To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a commercial 
    truck safety pilot program in the State of Maine, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2001

Mr. Baldacci (for himself and Mr. Allen) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a commercial 
    truck safety pilot program in the State of Maine, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Commercial Truck Safety Pilot 
Program Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Concerning commercial motor vehicles, public safety 
        should be our Nation's number one priority.
            (2) The Federal vehicle weight limit of 80,000 pounds on 
        the nonexempted portion of the Interstate System within the 
        boundaries of the State of Maine has forced heavy tractor-
        trailer and tractor-semitrailer combination vehicles traveling 
        into Maine from neighboring States and Canada to divert onto 
        smaller State and local roads that permit higher vehicle weight 
        limits under Maine law.
            (3) The diversion of these vehicles is posing significant 
        economic hardships and safety challenges to the small 
        communities in which these roads are located.
            (4) Permitting these vehicles to travel on the Interstate 
        System will reduce Maine's net highway maintenance costs 
        because the Interstate System, unlike vulnerable secondary 
        roads, is built to accommodate these heavier vehicles, and 
        safety will be enhanced by having fewer heavy vehicles (such as 
        tanker trucks carrying hazardous material and fuel oil) 
        traveling on Maine's town and city streets, thereby reducing 
        dangerous interactions between these vehicles and school buses 
        and private vehicles.

SEC. 3. MAINE PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Within 2 months of the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall establish a 3-year 
pilot program to improve commercial motor vehicle safety in the State 
of Maine.
    (b) Waiver of Vehicle Weight Limits.--During the 3-year term of the 
pilot program, the Secretary shall waive the applicability of the 
vehicle weight provisions of section 127 of title 23, United States 
Code, to the use of certain combination vehicles weighing over 80,000 
pounds on the Interstate System within the boundaries of the State of 
Maine (other than those highways on the Interstate System that were 
exempt from such section on the day before the date of enactment of 
this Act by the last sentence of subsection (a) of such section).
    (c) Uniformity of Weight and Configuration Limits.--During the 3-
year waiver period, combination vehicles consisting of a 3-axle tractor 
unit hauling a single trailer or semitrailer that exceed 80,000 pounds 
gross vehicle weight and that were permitted to use noninterstate Maine 
State highways under the vehicle weight laws of the State of Maine as 
of the initiation date of the pilot program shall also be permitted to 
use highways on the Interstate System within the boundaries of the 
State of Maine that were not exempt from section 127 of title 23, 
United States Code, on the day before the date of enactment of this Act 
by the last sentence of subsection (a) of such section.
    (d) Continuation of Applicability of TEA 21.--The provisions of 
this Act shall not affect the application of the vehicle weight 
provisions of the last sentence of section 127(a) of title 23, United 
States Code, to those highways on the Interstate System referred to in 
such sentence.
    (e) Data Collection and Review.--
            (1) In general.--Under the pilot program, the Maine 
        Department of Transportation shall collect data on the effects 
        of the waiver granted under subsections (b) and (c) 
        (particularly on crash rates involving heavier trucks), shall 
        establish a safety committee to review such information, and 
        shall establish rules and operating procedures for the program.
            (2) Safety committee.--The safety committee shall be 
        chaired by the Maine Commissioner of Transportation or the 
        Commissioner's designee and shall consist of representatives 
        from State agencies, safety organizations, municipalities, and 
        the commercial trucking industry.

SEC. 4. PERMANENT WAIVER.

    At the end of the 3-year term of the pilot program under section 3, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall make the waiver made under 
section 3 permanent with respect to highways on the Interstate System 
within the boundaries of the State of Maine that were not exempt from 
the vehicle weight limits of section 127 of title 23, United States 
Code, on the day before the date of enactment of this Act by the last 
sentence of subsection (a) of such section 127; unless the Secretary, 
with the advice and input from the safety committee established 
pursuant to section 3(e), determines that the waiver allowed under the 
pilot program has resulted in an adverse impact on highway safety in 
the State of Maine.
                                 <all>