AN ACT Relating to the registration and
regulation of motor carriers and the collection of fees relating to motor
carrier operations; amending RCW 81.80.318, 81.80.150, and 81.80.090; adding
new sections to chapter 81.80 RCW; repealing RCW 81.80.300 and 81.80.320; and
providing an effective date.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A
new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:
The commission may implement a system to
register motor carriers doing business in this state, including, but not
limited to:
(1) The prescription of an identification
number and the issuance of a receipt that must be carried within the cab of
each motive power vehicle operated within this state;
(2) The adoption of requirements for the
carriers to carry other identifying information along with the identification
number provided for in subsection (1) of this section;
(3) Participation in a single state
registration program as authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 11506, as in effect on the effective
date of this act; and
(4) The collection of any fee authorized by the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 11506, as in effect on the effective date of this
act, in addition to any other fees authorized by law.
Sec. 2.
RCW 81.80.318 and 1985 c 7 s 153 are each amended to read as follows:
Any motor carrier engaged in this state in the
casual or occasional carriage of property in interstate or foreign commerce,
who would otherwise be subject to all of the requirements of this chapter,
shall be authorized to engage in such casual or occasional carriage, upon
securing from the commission a single trip transit permit, valid for a period
not exceeding ten days, which shall authorize a one way trip in transporting
property for compensation between points in the state of Washington and points
in other states, territories, or foreign countries.
No identification ((cab cards and decals or
stamps or)) numbers and no regulatory fees other than as provided in this
section shall be required for such permit. The permit must be carried in the
cab of the motive power vehicle.
The permit shall be issued upon application to
the commission or any of its duly authorized agents upon payment of a fee of ((ten))
not more than twenty dollars and the furnishing of proof of possession
of public liability and property damage insurance ((in limits of at least
twenty-five thousand dollars, for injury or death of any one person, and
subject to such limit as to any one person, for one hundred thousand dollars
for injury or death of all persons caused by any one accident and for ten
thousand dollars for all damages to property caused by one accident)) at
levels set by commission rule. Such proof may consist of an insurance
policy or a certificate of insurance.
The commission shall not be required to collect
the excise tax prescribed by RCW 82.44.020 on any vehicle subject only to the
payment of this fee.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A
new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:
In addition to all other fees to be paid, a
common carrier and contract carrier shall pay a regulatory fee of no more than
0.0025 of its gross income from intrastate operations for the previous calendar
year, or such other period as the commission designates by rule. The carrier
shall pay the fee no later than four months after the end of the appropriate
period and shall include with the payment such information as the commission
requires by rule.
The legislature intends that the fees collected
under this chapter shall reasonably approximate the cost of supervising and
regulating motor carriers subject to this chapter, and to that end the
commission may by general order decrease fees provided in this section if it
determines that the moneys then in the motor carrier account of the public
service revolving fund and the fees currently to be paid will exceed the
reasonable cost of supervising and regulating carriers.
All fees collected under any other provision of
this chapter must be paid to the commission. The commission shall transmit the
fees to the state treasurer within thirty days for deposit to the credit of the
public service revolving fund.
Sec. 4.
RCW 81.80.150 and 1981 c 116 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
The commission shall make, fix, construct,
compile, promulgate, publish, and distribute tariffs containing compilations of
rates, charges, classifications, rules, and regulations to be used by all
common carriers. In compiling such tariffs it shall include within any given
tariff compilation such carriers, groups of carriers, commodities, or
geographical areas as it determines shall be in the public interest. Such
compilations and publications may be made by the commission by compiling the
rates, charges, classifications, rules, and regulations now in effect, and as
they may be amended and altered from time to time after notice and hearing, by
issuing and distributing revised pages or supplements to such tariffs or
reissues thereof in accordance with the orders of the commission: PROVIDED,
That the commission, upon good cause shown, may establish temporary rates,
charges, or classification changes which may be made permanent only after
publication in an applicable tariff for not less than sixty days, and determination
by the commission thereafter that the rates, charges or classifications are
just, fair, and reasonable: PROVIDED FURTHER, That temporary rates shall not
be made permanent except upon notice and hearing if within sixty days from date
of publication, a shipper or common carrier, or representative of either, shall
file with the commission a protest alleging such temporary rates to be unjust,
unfair, or unreasonable. For purposes of this proviso, the publication of
temporary rates in the tariff shall be deemed adequate public notice. Nothing
herein shall be construed to prevent the commission from proceeding on its own
motion, upon notice and hearing, to fix and determine just, fair, and
reasonable rates, charges, and classifications. Each common carrier shall
purchase from the commission and post tariffs applicable to its authority. The
commission shall set fees for sale of the tariffs, and supplements and
corrections of them, at rates to cover all costs of making, fixing,
constructing, compiling, promulgating, publishing, and distributing the
tariffs. The proper tariff, or tariffs, applicable to a carrier's
operations shall be available to the public at each agency and office of all
common carriers operating within this state. Such compilations and
publications shall be sold by the commission for ((a)) the
established fee ((to be determined annually and not to exceed the cost
of this service. Corrections to such publications shall be furnished to all
subscribers to tariffs in the form of corrected pages to the tariffs,
supplements, or reissues thereof. In addition to the initial charge for each
tariff, the commission shall charge an annual maintenance fee not to exceed the
cost of issuing corrections or supplements and mailing them to subscribers:
PROVIDED, That)). However, copies may be furnished free to other
regulatory bodies and departments of government and to colleges, schools, and
libraries. All copies of the compilations, whether sold or given free, shall
be issued and distributed under rules and regulations to be fixed by the
commission: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the commission may by order authorize
common carriers to publish and file tariffs with the commission and be governed
thereby in respect to certain designated commodities and services when, in the
opinion of the commission, it is impractical for the commission to make, fix,
construct, compile, publish, and distribute tariffs covering such commodities
and services.
Sec. 5.
RCW 81.80.090 and 1973 c 115 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
The commission shall prescribe forms of
application for permits and for extensions thereof for the use of prospective
applicants, and for transfer of permits and for acquisition of control of
carriers holding permits, and shall make regulations for the filing thereof.
Any such application shall be accompanied by such filing fee as the commission
may prescribe by rule: PROVIDED, That such fee shall not exceed ((two))
five hundred fifty dollars.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A
new section is added to chapter 81.80 RCW to read as follows:
If a person seeks to contest the imposition of
a fee imposed under this chapter, the person shall pay the fee and request a
refund within six months of the due date for the payment by filing a petition
for a refund with the commission. The commission shall establish by rule
procedures for handling refund petitions and may delegate the decisions on
refund petitions to the secretary of the commission.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.
The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
(1) RCW
81.80.300 and 1991 c 241 s 2, 1985 c 7 s 152, 1977 ex.s. c 63 s 1, 1971 ex.s. c
143 s 4, 1969 ex.s. c 210 s 13, 1967 c 170 s 1, & 1961 c 14 s 81.80.300;
and
(2) RCW
81.80.320 and 1971 ex.s. c 143 s 5, 1969 ex.s. c 210 s 14, 1967 c 170 s 4,
& 1961 c 14 s 81.80.320.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8.
Sections 2, 3, and 7 of this act take effect January 1, 1994.
