[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 856 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 856

To establish a commercial truck highway safety demonstration program in 
              the State of Maine, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 22, 2009

Ms. Collins (for herself and Ms. Snowe) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a commercial truck highway safety demonstration 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 Highway Safety 
Demonstration Program Act of 2009''.

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 imposes a limit 
        of 80,000 pounds on the weight of vehicles 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, including tanker 
        trucks carrying hazardous material and fuel oil, to travel on 
        Interstate System highways in Maine--
                    (A) would enhance public safety by reducing--
                            (i) the number of heavy vehicles that use 
                        town and city streets in Maine; and
                            (ii) as a result, the number of dangerous 
                        interactions between those heavy vehicles and 
                        such other vehicles as school buses and private 
                        vehicles; and
                    (B) would reduce the net highway maintenance 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:
            (1) Covered interstate system highway.--The term ``covered 
        Interstate System highway''--
                    (A) means, except as provided under subparagraph 
                (B), a highway within the State of Maine that is 
                designated as a route on the Interstate System; and
                    (B) does not include any portion of highway that, 
                as of the date of the 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 ``Interstate 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 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 Interstate System highways within the 
State.

SEC. 5. WAIVER OF HIGHWAY FUNDING REDUCTION RELATING TO WEIGHT OF 
              VEHICLES USING INTERSTATE SYSTEM HIGHWAYS.

    (a) Prohibition Relating to Certain Vehicles.--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 described in 
subsection (b) to use a covered Interstate System highway.
    (b) Combination Vehicles in Excess of 80,000 Pounds.--A vehicle 
described in this subsection is a vehicle 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 limitation that is 
        applicable under the laws of the State of Maine to the 
        operation of such vehicle on highways in Maine not in the 
        Interstate System, as such laws are in effect on the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Effective Date and Termination.--
            (1) Effective date.--
                    (A) Date of satisfaction of administrative 
                conditions by maine.--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 section 6(1); and
                            (ii) the Commissioner has established a 
                        highway safety committee described in section 
                        6(2) and has promulgated rules and procedures 
                        for the collection of highway safety data as 
                        described in section 6(3).
                    (B) Permanent effect.--After taking effect, 
                subsection (a) shall remain in effect unless terminated 
                under paragraph (2).
            (2) Contingent termination.--Subsection (a) shall not 
        remain in effect beyond the date that is 3 years after the 
        effective date applicable under paragraph (1) if, before the 
        end of such 3-year period, the Secretary of Transportation--
                    (A) determines that--
                            (i) operation of vehicles described in 
                        subsection (b) on covered Interstate System 
                        highways in Maine has adversely affected safety 
                        on the overall highway network in Maine; or
                            (ii) the Commissioner of Transportation of 
                        the State of Maine has failed faithfully to use 
                        the highway safety committee as described in 
                        section 6(2)(A) or to collect the data 
                        described in section 6(3); and
                    (B) publishes the determination, together with the 
                date of the termination of the prohibition, in the 
                Federal Register.
    (d) Consultation Regarding Termination for Safety.--In making a 
determination under subsection (c)(2)(A)(i), the Secretary of 
Transportation shall consult with the highway safety committee 
established by the Commissioner in accordance with section 6.

SEC. 6. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE OF MAINE.

    For the purposes of section 5, the State of Maine satisfies the 
conditions under 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 paragraphs (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 of Maine that 
                        have responsibilities related to highway 
                        safety;
                            (ii) municipalities of the State of Maine;
                            (iii) organizations that have evaluation 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 operation of 
        vehicles described in section 5(b) on covered Interstate System 
        highways have on the safety of the overall highway network in 
        Maine, including the net effects on single-vehicle and 
        multiple-vehicle collision rates for such vehicles.
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