SENATE BILL REPORT

                  SHB 2520

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

               Transportation, February 22, 1996

Title:  An act relating to extending terminal safety audit fees to vehicles operating under the International Registration Plan.

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

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

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Transportation:  2/22/96 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report:  Do pass.

  Signed by Senators Owen, Chair; Heavey, Vice Chair; Haugen, Morton, Oke, Prentice, Prince, Rasmussen, Schow, Sellar, Thibaudeau and Wood.

Staff:  Mary McLaughlin (786-7309)

Background:  Pursuant to ESHB 1209 (Chapter 272, Laws of 1995), a new statewide truck safety inspection program took effect January 1, 1996.  The program 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 WSP.  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 carriers base-plated in another jurisdiction; all such fees must be prorated in the same manner as other licensing fees.

Summary of Bill:  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.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Requested on January 18, 1996.

Effective Date:  The bill takes effect on January 1, 1997.

Testimony For:  This measure levels the playing field by requiring all trucks that travel in our state to proportionately pay the $10 vehicle inspection fee.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Tim Erickson, WSP; Don Lewis, WSP; John Woodring, WA Trucking Assn.