SB230: Bill Text

LRB-2209/1

ARG&GMM:cjs:jm

2013 - 2014 LEGISLATURE

2013 Senate BILL 230

July 23, 2013 - Introduced by Senators Petrowski, Harsdorf and Moulton, cosponsored by Representatives Ripp, Bernard Schaber, Ballweg, Bernier, Bies, Czaja, Danou, Doyle, Endsley, Jacque, Kahl, Kaufert, Knodl, Kolste, T. Larson, LeMahieu, Marklein, Murphy, A. Ott, Sanfelippo, Spiros, Stone, Strachota, Swearingen, Thiesfeldt, Tittl and Vruwink. Referred to Committee on Transportation, Public Safety, and Veterans and Military Affairs.

SB230,1,7 An Act to repeal 341.19 (1) (b) and 341.19 (2) (b); to consolidate, renumber and amend 341.19 (1) (intro.) and (a); to amend 13.92 (4) (c), 13.92 (4) (d), 13.92 (4) (e), 13.92 (4) (f), 25.40 (1) (a) 3., 35.93 (3), 84.59 (2) (b), 194.46, 227.01 (13) (intro.), 227.11 (2) (intro.), 227.27 (2) and 341.19 (2) (c); and to create 13.92 (4) (bm) and 227.265 of the statutes; relating to: motor vehicle registration, motor carrier appeals, rulemaking procedures, and modifying and repealing various rules promulgated by the Department of Transportation.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Statutory treatments

Rulemaking procedures

Current law sets forth a procedure for the promulgation of administrative rules (rules). Generally, that procedure consists of the following steps:

1. The agency planning to promulgate the rule prepares a statement of the scope of the proposed rule, which the governor and the agency head must approve before any state employee or official may perform any activity in connection with the drafting of the proposed rule.

2. The agency drafts the proposed rule, together with an economic impact analysis, plain language analysis, and fiscal estimate for the proposed rule, and submits those materials to the Legislative Council Staff (LCS) for review.

3. Subject to certain exceptions, a public hearing is held on the proposed rule.

4. The final draft of the proposed rule is submitted to the governor for approval.

5. The final draft of the proposed rule, together with an economic impact analysis, plain language analysis, and fiscal estimate for the proposed rule, are submitted to the legislature for review by one standing committee in each house and by the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR).

6. The proposed rule is filed with the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) for publication in the Wisconsin Administrative Code (code) and the Wisconsin Administrative Register (register), and, subject to certain exceptions, the rule becomes effective on the first day of the first month beginning after publication.

Under this bill, if a bill that repeals or modifies a rule is enacted, the ordinary rule-making procedures under current law do not apply. Instead, the LRB must publish the repeal or modification, in the code and the register, and the repeal or modification, subject to certain exceptions, takes effect on the first day of the first month beginning after publication.

Vehicle registration

Under current law, certain types of vehicles (mostly motor trucks and vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds) may be registered for a quarterly period or a period of consecutive months instead of for an annual or biennial registration period. The Department of Transportation (DOT) must establish a telephone call-in procedure for authorizing the operation of vehicles under DOT's quarterly or consecutive monthly registration system. In addition to the regular registration fee, a fee must be paid to DOT for using of the telephone call-in system. This fee is the lesser of $10 per vehicle or the actual cost of the telephone authorization per vehicle as determined by DOT. A $10 late fee must also be paid to DOT if DOT receives fees arising from use of the telephone call-in system after the payment deadline established by DOT. When the telephone call-in system is used, telephone authorization to operate a vehicle may be canceled before the beginning of a registration period but not after. If the telephone authorization is canceled, the applicant is not required to pay the registration fee but must pay the telephone authorization use fee and any cancellation fee established by DOT.

This bill eliminates the $10 late fee. The bill also allows a telephone authorization to be canceled within 36 hours after making the request for telephone authorization.

Motor carriers

Under current law, with limited exceptions, a person who transports passengers or property for hire by motor vehicle on the highways is a common motor carrier or a contract motor carrier (motor carrier). With limited exceptions, a motor carrier must operate under a certificate, license, or permit (authority) authorizing operation as a motor carrier. DOT may, by order, suspend, revoke, or alter a motor carrier's authority, after notice and a hearing, for various violations. Within 20 days after the date of the order, the motor carrier may appeal the order to the Department of Administration's Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA). This bill increases this appeal time from 20 days to 30 days.

Treatments of administrative rules

This bill modifies and repeals various rules promulgated by DOT, as described below.

Vehicle weigh station inspections

Under DOT's current rules, the operator of a truck weighing more than 8,000 pounds who approaches an open DOT weigh station must stop at the weigh station and, if requested, permit the truck and its load to be weighed, measured, or inspected. The operator of a truck weighing 8,000 pounds or less is not required to stop at open DOT weigh stations as a matter of course, but must obey the request of any traffic officer to stop the truck for weighing, measuring, or inspecting.

This bill amends DOT's rules so that only operators of trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds are required to stop at open DOT weigh stations to, upon request, permit the truck and its load to be weighed, measured, or inspected.

Motor vehicle dealers

Under current statutes, a motor vehicle dealer, other than a motorcycle dealer, must provide to DOT and maintain in force a bond or irrevocable letter of credit in a minimum amount of $50,000. The bond or letter of credit must be executed in the name of DOT for the benefit of any person who sustains a loss because of certain acts of the motor vehicle dealer.

This bill amends DOT's rules to specify that the motor vehicle dealer's bond or irrevocable letter of credit must be in a minimum amount of $50,000, rather than $25,000, and to specify that a bond or letter of credit in this amount is also applicable in determining an acceptable level of net worth for the dealer.

Under DOT's current rules, if a motor vehicle dealer is organized as a corporation, an individual cannot hold the office of corporate president and also either corporate secretary or vice president, as was formerly specified by a since-repealed statute. This bill repeals this rule.

DOT's current rules require recreational vehicle dealers to maintain certain books and records at their licensed business premises, including recreational vehicle purchase contracts, purchase orders, and invoices; copies of MV1 Wisconsin title and registration application forms (a printed form) as additional evidence of sales; and information regarding collection of sales tax and Wisconsin title and registration fees.

This bill amends DOT's rules so that a recreational vehicle dealer is required to maintain copies of Wisconsin title and registration application forms submitted to DOT, which may be the printed form MV1 or the electronic form MV11, and is not required (by DOT rule) to maintain information regarding collection of sales tax.

Under DOT's current rules, when a motor vehicle dealer or wholesaler reassigns ownership of a previously titled motor vehicle and the certificate of title does not include available spaces for the reassignment of ownership (nonconforming title), the reassignment of ownership and required odometer disclosure must be completed by the dealer or wholesaler on a form approved by DOT.

DOT's current rules also require a motor vehicle wholesale auction dealer to retain a copy of a properly completed, signed wholesale auction dealer reassignment form for each vehicle sold with a nonconforming title and to furnish copies of it to the purchasing and selling dealers. This bill amends DOT's rules to eliminate this requirement and instead require the motor vehicle wholesale auction dealer to maintain a copy of the signed title for each vehicle sold.

The bill also amends various rules to replace the term "mobile home dealer" with the term "recreational vehicle dealer."

Motor vehicle emission and inspection program

Current statutes require DOT to conduct the motor vehicle emission inspection and maintenance program (I/M program) in counties in which the air quality does not meet certain federal standards (nonattainment counties). Under the I/M program, most motor vehicles that are subject to emission limitations established by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) must pass periodic emission inspections and may not be registered by DOT unless they have passed these inspections. DOT may contract with third parties to perform vehicle emission inspections under the I/M program.

Under DOT's rules relating to the I/M program, DOT must conduct audits of its contractor inspection functions and inspection equipment and procedures. Also under DOT's rules, all contractor employees and all employees of any authorized inspection facility subcontractor who perform any official inspection functions must have an inspector license issued by the contractor and DOT must conduct audits with respect to inspectors. This bill repeals provisions of DOT's rules that allow a contractor's or subcontractor's employee to appeal and request a hearing before a DOT hearing officer if, as a result of a DOT audit, the employee's inspection license is suspended or revoked and the employee is therefore removed from inspection duties.

The bill also repeals a DOT rule that requires an inspector to refuse to perform an inspection of a vehicle if the vehicle operator refuses to yield the driver's seat.

With respect to a requirement that the operator of a vehicle that fails an inspection must receive a list of "registered automotive emission repair facilities," the bill changes this term to "recognized automotive emission repair technicians and recognized repair facilities," which are terms defined by rule.

Under current statutes, DOT may contract with any person for title and registration processing services and this program is known in DOT's current rules as the "automated processing partnership system" (APPS) program. Under these rules, an "agent" contracts with DOT to access and update vehicle records through a computer system. A person applying to DOT to become an agent must provide a surety bond or letter of credit in the amount of $10,000 if the person is applying to do registration renewal transactions or $25,000 if the person is applying to do title and original registration transactions. This bill modifies DOT's rules so that, if the applicant is also a subcontractor of DOT's I/M program contractor and the I/M program contractor has more than 100 subcontractors applying as agents, the I/M program contractor may provide the surety bond or letter of credit on behalf of these applicants and the amount of the surety bond or letter of credit is $2,000 for each applicant.

Vehicle registration

With respect to DOT's current rules applicable to DOT's telephone call-in procedure for authorizing the operation of vehicles under the quarterly or consecutive monthly registration system, the bill repeals DOT's rule imposing a late fee of $5 per vehicle if the applicant fails to pay to DOT all fees owing within 21 days after the date of DOT's invoice.

Under DOT's current rules, DOT may require that an applicant for telephone authorization use an authorization code during the telephone call-in procedure. The "authorization code" is a combination of six letters or numbers issued to an applicant by DOT for purposes of identification. This bill repeals all rules related to DOT's issuance of, or an applicant's use of, an authorization code in connection with the telephone call-in procedure.

The bill also specifies in DOT's rules that requests for telephone authorizations will be accepted by DOT at any time but will be processed only during DOT's regular business hours.

Under current statutes, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) are not required to be registered with DOT. DOT's current rules specify that an ATV may not be registered as a "specially designed vehicle" operated by a person holding a special restricted operator's license. DOT's current rules also specify that ATVs are generally not eligible to be registered because registration is generally prohibited for vehicles originally designed and manufactured for off-highway use. This bill amends DOT's rules to include UTVs among the vehicles that DOT is generally prohibited from registering.

Motor carriers

Like the statutes discussed above, DOT's current rules allow DOT to revoke or suspend a motor carrier's authority if certain conditions exist, including that the motor carrier has failed to satisfy certain requirements or is unfit to carry on operations. A motor carrier may appeal, to DHA, an adverse determination by DOT relating to a motor carrier's application or authority within 20 days of the determination. This bill amends DOT's rule to increase this appeal time from 20 days to 30 days.

DOT's current rules require motor carriers to notify DOT in writing or by telephone of a change in their principal place of business within 30 days of the change. This bill amends DOT's rules to also allow this notice by any electronic means prescribed by DOT.