Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2291 relates to the regulation of motor carriers by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC).

Fitness Ratings Conducted on Motor Carriers. The bill would authorize the Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol and the KCC to contract with the relevant federal agency to allow qualified investigators of the Highway Patrol and the KCC to conduct investigations for the relevant federal agency. The federal agency would still issue the safety rating.

Penalties for Violations of KCC Rules. Under these provisions HB 2291 would:

• Separate motor carrier penalties from penalties pertaining to utilities;
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• Allow the KCC to compromise a civil penalty based the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business, the gravity of the violation, and the good faith of the violator;
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• Allow the amount of penalty to be deducted from any sums owing by the State of Kansas to the person charged;
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• Allow the person charged to make payments to a motor carrier safety program; and
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• Conform KCC criminal statutes with Kansas sentencing guidelines.

Other Regulatory Changes. The bill would also:

• Update references to federal statutes regarding household goods carriers or passenger carriers;
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• Authorized the Commission to adopt by rule and regulation any later version of federal regulations pertaining to agricultural operations, materials of trade, and exceptions for nonspecification packaging used in intrastate transportation; and
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• Provide that interstate motor carriers registered with Kansas as their base state need not register with the KCC to transport interstate exempt commodities.

Background

HB 2291 was requested and supported by the KCC. The Director of Transportation of the KCC said the bill would:

• Delete references to the Interstate Commerce Commission and update references to federal law;
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• Eliminate a redundant paperwork process for interstate motor carriers that transport exempt and nonexempt commodities. Presently, there is a group of carriers that transport that must complete two separate applications for authority to operate;
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• Allow the KCC to update through its own rules and regulations, the Code of Federal Regulations regarding hazardous material to more current versions; and
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• Propose new sections to address motor carrier safety ratings and civil penalties.

The Executive Director of the Kansas Motor Carriers suggested changes to the penalty schedule. He also stated that uniformity should be maintained regarding the issue of safety ratings. He said only the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should issue safety ratings.

There were no other conferees

The Committee amendments were proposed by a subcommittee.

There was no fiscal note available on the bill when the Committee took action.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi