FINAL BILL REPORT

                 SHB 2520

                          C 86 L 96

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Extending terminal safety audit fees to vehicles operating under the International Registration Plan.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Representatives K. Schmidt and Scott; by request of Washington State Patrol).

House Committee on Transportation

Senate Committee on Transportation

Background:  A new statewide truck safety inspection program took effect January 1, 1996, that consolidates the terminal safety program of the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and the roadside inspection program of the Washington State Patrol (WSP) in the Patrol.  All carriers with terminals in Washington State are subject to safety audits.

At the time of annual vehicle licensing, a $10 per vehicle inspection fee is collected by the Department of Licensing (DOL) for each inter- and intrastate vehicle base-plated in the state of Washington.  There is no provision for collection of the inspection fee from an interstate carrier base-plated in another state or country who travels in the state of Washington.   The annual vehicle licensing fees for most interstate carriers are prorated through the International Registration Plan (IRP).

The IRP is a multi-state proportional registration (prorate) agreement in which the base state collects the licensing fees for all states in which the carrier travels.  The base state then distributes to the other states that portion due based on the number of miles traveled in each jurisdiction during the year.  Forty-seven states and two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Alberta) belong to the IRP.  Under the IRP, no state may impose a flat fee for a carrier base-plated in another jurisdiction; all such fees must be prorated in the same manner as other licensing fees.

Summary:  Beginning January 1, 1997, an annual $10 inspection fee is collected, on a proportional basis, from each interstate vehicle (power unit) base-plated in another IRP state or foreign jurisdiction that travels in the state of Washington.

Votes on Final Passage:

House     96 0

Senate    48 0

Effective:  January 1, 1997