HOUSE BILL REPORT

EHB 1884

BYRepresentatives Prince, Nealey and D. Sommers 

Permitting legal loads from other states to move in border areas.

House Committe on Transportation

Majority Report:  Do pass with amendment.  (25)

      Signed by Representatives Walk, Chair; Baugher, Vice Chair; Betrozoff, Cantwell, Cooper, Day, Doty, Fisher, Fox, Gallagher, Hankins, Heavey, Jacobsen, Jones, Meyers, Patrick, Prince, Schmidt, Smith, D. Sommers, Todd, J. Williams, K. Wilson, S. Wilson and Zellinsky.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (2)

      Signed by Representatives Haugen and Vekich.

House Staff:Mary McLaughlin (786-7309)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 10, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The Ports of Lewiston, Clarkston and Whitman are located within close proximity on the Washington/Idaho border.  All three Ports barge logs down the Snake and Columbia Rivers to Portland for export.

The state of Idaho allows log haulers to carry weights greater than allowed in Washington.  A log truck can carry an additional 3,800 pounds on a tandem axle when operating in the state of Idaho.  The legal limit for a tandem in Idaho is 37,800; in Washington the limit is 34,000.  Because logs are a reducible load, an Idaho truck driver is required to reduce the load when transporting logs to the Ports of Whitman and Clarkston.  Therefore, Idaho log haulers find it more convenient to drop their logs at the Port of Lewiston.  For the state of Washington, this represents a potential loss of income.

SUMMARY:

Legal loads of up to 80,000 pounds in a bordering state that imposes a sales tax may be legally transported to a port district in the state of Washington if the movement is within four miles of the bordering state. Such movements are not allowed on the Interstate system.  Triple trailers are not allowed to operate within the four-mile area.

EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENT(S):  A specific funding source is provided for law enforcement and traffic control in communities near the Canadian border.  By appropriation, Whatcom County and the cities of Blaine, Eberson, Friday Harbor, Lynden, Nooksack, Northport, Oroville, Port Angeles and Sumas currently receive approximately $250,000 per biennium for border law enforcement activities.

The funding source is changed from a General Fund appropriation to a percentage of the revenues in the Liquor Revolving Fund.  Three-tenths of one percent in state liquor profits is allocated to defined border areas prior to distribution to the General Fund and other eligible counties, cities and towns.  The distribution formula is based on border traffic and the impact on law enforcement along the border.  The allocations are made by the Department of Community Development.  These provisions take effect July 1, 1988.

The Motor Vehicle Fuel Importer Tax is repealed.  Currently, a gasoline-powered commercial vehicle coming into Washington with a tank filled with gasoline purchased in another state is required to pay the Washington state gas tax for those miles operated in the state.  Oftentimes a carrier is not aware of this tax because the filing of a report is voluntary.  The tax is normally collected as a result of a Department of Licensing (DOL) audit to determine if the carrier is complying with the prorate provisions that apply to interstate diesel-powered vehicles.  An auditor may discover that the carrier has a gas-powered vehicle in its fleet, and assesses the carrier 18 cents per gallon for those miles traveled in Washington.

The revenue generated by the importer tax varies according to the number of audits conducted on interstate carriers with gasoline-powered vehicles.  For the past five years, an average of $43,000 per year has been collected from the fuel importer tax.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Gary Neal, Port of Clarkston; Darrell Russell, Washington Public Ports Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Creation of the four-mile area will increase activities at the ports of Clarkston and Whitman and thereby boost the economy of the region.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.

VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      Yeas 96; Excused 2

Excused:    Representatives Bristow, Taylor