Brief Description: Making technical corrections to chapter 46.87 RCW.

Sponsors: By Representatives Wallace and Woods; by request of Department of Licensing.

House Committee on Transportation
Senate Committee on Transportation

Background:

The International Registration Plan is an interstate compact that allows commercial vehicles to register in one state and legally operate in all U. S. states and Canadian provinces. The company registers its fleet in its "base" state, the state where the company's business resides.

The base state issues a certificate of registration called a "cab card" and prorates and distributes the registration fees and fuel taxes for all states and Canadian provinces in which the vehicles travel. If Washington is a company's base state, the Department of Licensing charges an administrative fee of $4.50 per vehicle. Miles are reported, and fuel taxes are collected and distributed, each fiscal year.

State law governs the registration of companies and vehicles operating under the International Registration Plan. These statutes cover issues such as registration fee computation (which is based on gross weight) and reporting requirements. Since these statutes were last updated, there have been a number of changes to this program at the federal level.

Summary:

Obsolete or inaccurate language is revised or removed from the statutes governing the International Registration Plan, including removal of references to the Western Compact, which was replaced by the International Registration Plan.

Obsolete language regarding the fee for registration of trailers is deleted. Language is also removed regarding the calculation of mileage estimates upon initial application, which is now standardized under the International Registration Plan.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   98   0
Senate   43   0

Effective: July 24, 2005