hb762.html
05 LC 34 0352
House Bill 762
By: Representative Rice of the 51st

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles, so as to add a new chapter to be known as the "Transportation of Hazardous Materials Act"; to provide a short title; to provide definitions; to provide findings of the General Assembly; to provide standards for packaging, labeling, and transportation of hazardous materials; to provide for promulgation of rules and regulations; to provide for permits; to provide for enforcement; to provide for fees; to specifically repeal Chapter 11 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to transportation of hazardous materials; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.
Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles, is amended by adding a new chapter to read as follows:

"CHAPTER 17

40-17-1.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the 'Transportation of Hazardous Materials Act.'

40-17-2.
As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) 'Anhydrous ammonia' means any substance identified to contain the compound ammonia which is capable of being utilized in the production of methamphetamine or any other controlled substance.
(2) 'Carrier' means any person engaged in the transportation on the public roads of this state of goods or property in, to, or through this state, whether or not such transportation is for hire. The terms 'carrier' and 'motor carrier' are synonymous.
(3) 'C.F.R.' means the United States Code of Federal Regulations, and as it may be amended from time to time in the Federal Register.
(4) 'Commissioner' means the commissioner of public safety.
(5) 'Department' means the Department of Public Safety.
(6) 'Hazardous material' has the same meaning the term has under Federal Hazardous Materials Law contained in Chapter 51 of Title 49 of the United States Code Annotated.
(7) 'Liquefied natural gas' or 'LNG' means methane or natural gas in the form of a cryogenic or refrigerated liquid as identified in federal hazardous materials regulations contained in Title 49 C.F.R.
(8) 'Out of service order' means a temporary prohibition against driving or moving a motor vehicle or any cargo thereon, or operating as a carrier.
(9) 'Permit' means an instrument of whatever character or nature including, but not limited to, electronic format issued by the department pursuant to this chapter.
(10) 'Person' means and includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, state, municipality, political subdivision of a state, and any agency or instrumentality of the United States government or any other entity and includes any officer, agent, or employee of any of the above, who offers, ships, or carries a hazardous material in the furtherance of a commercial or business enterprise, whether or not such transportation is for hire.
(11) 'Polychlorinated biphenyl' or 'PCB' has the same meaning as the material identified in federal hazardous materials regulations contained in Title 49 C.F.R.
(12) 'Radioactive material' has the same meaning as the term used in Federal Hazardous Materials Regulations contained in Title 49 C.F.R.
(13) 'Regulatory compliance inspection' means the examination of facilities, property, buildings, vehicles, drivers, cargo, records, books, or supporting documentation kept or required to be kept in the normal course of offering or transporting hazardous materials.
(14) 'Shipper' means any person who arranges for, provides for, solicits a carrier for, consigns to a carrier for, or contracts with a carrier for shipment or transport of goods or property. The terms 'shipper' and 'offeror' shall be synonymous.

40-17-3.
The General Assembly finds that the transportation of hazardous materials on the public roads of this state presents a unique and potentially catastrophic hazard to the public health, safety, and welfare of the people of Georgia and that the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare requires control and regulation of such transportation to minimize that hazard; to that end this chapter is enacted. The Department of Public Safety is designated as the agency to implement this chapter.

40-17-4.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person transporting hazardous material on the public roads of this state shall be subject to the requirements of this chapter. Persons who ship, offer, transport, or store incidental to transportation of hazardous materials shall be deemed to have given consent to regulatory compliance inspections.
(b) No person, including the state or any agency thereof, shall transport hazardous material in, to, or through this state on the public roads of this state, whether or not the hazardous material is for delivery in this state and whether or not the transportation originated in this state; nor shall any person deliver in this state any hazardous material to any person for transportation; nor shall any such person accept any hazardous material for transportation in this state without compliance with the following requirements: such materials shall be packaged, marked, labeled, handled, loaded, unloaded, stored, detained, transported, placarded, and monitored in compliance with rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to this chapter and consistent with federal law. Compliance with such rules and regulations shall be in addition to and supplemental of other regulations of the United States Department of Energy, United States Department Transportation, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and state fire marshal, applicable to such persons.
(c) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations such that no person shall arrange for the transportation of or cause to be transported in, to, or through this state on the public roads of this state any hazardous material unless such person shall notify the commissioner or his or her designee in accordance with such rules and regulations.
(d) Knowledge by a shipper that a carrier proposes to transport hazardous material in or through this state on the public roads of this state shall be sufficient contact with this state to subject such shipper to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state with respect to such transport.
(e)(1) No transportation of hazardous material shall take place in or through this state until the commissioner or his or her designee issues a permit authorizing the applicant to operate or move upon the statés public roads a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles which carry hazardous materials. The commissioner or his or her designee may require changes in the proposed dates, times, routes, detention, holding, or storage of such materials during transport as necessary to maximize protection of the public health, safety, welfare, or the environment. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate reasonable rules and regulations which are necessary or desirable in governing the issuance of permits, provided that such rules and regulations are not in conflict with other provisions of law.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, pursuant to uniform permitting provisions of Federal Hazardous Materials Law, Section 5119 of Title 49 of the United States Code Annotated, the commissioner is authorized to adopt rules and regulations to bring state regulations into compliance with said federal law.
(f) Every such permit and all other documentation required by the commissioner shall be carried in the vehicles or combination of vehicles to which it refers and shall be open to inspection by any law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency responder, or employee of the department who has been given enforcement authority by the commissioner.
(g) For just cause, including, but not limited to, repeated and consistent past violations, the commissioner may refuse to issue or may cancel, suspend, or revoke the permit of an applicant or permittee.
(h)(1) The commissioner or the official designated by the commissioner, pursuant to this Code section and the rules and regulations developed by the commissioner, may issue an annual permit which shall allow vehicles transporting hazardous materials to be operated on the public roads of this state for 12 months from the date the permit is issued.
(2) The commissioner or the official designated by the commissioner, pursuant to this Code section and the rules and regulations developed by the commissioner, may issue a single-trip permit to any vehicle.
(i)(1) The commissioner may charge a fee for the issuance of permits. Fees shall be in accordance with the following schedule:
(A) Annual permits for materials which require inspection or escort: $500.00, plus $100.00 for each inspection or escort;
(B) Annual permits for materials which do not require inspection or escort: $250.00;
(C) Single-trip permits for materials which require inspection or escort: $250.00; and
(D) Single-trip permits for materials which do not require inspection or escort: $75.00.
(2) In addition, the commissioner may arrange for escort or inspections where the arrangement complies with Code Section 35-2-56 or 35-2-101.
(j) For purposes of this chapter, the commissioner is expressly authorized to contract with any other state or local agency or department to perform any activities necessary to implement this chapter. Enforcement of this chapter and any rules, regulations, or orders promulgated or adopted hereunder shall be the sole province of the department and those entities the commissioner authorizes in writing.
(k) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the commissioner is authorized to establish such exceptions or exemptions from the requirements of this chapter, or any provision hereof, for such kinds, quantities, types, or shipments of hazardous materials as it shall deem appropriate, consistent with the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.
(l) This chapter shall not apply to the transportation, delivery, or acceptance for delivery of radioactive materials inside the confines of the authorized location of use of any person authorized to use, possess, transport, deliver, or store radioactive materials by the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 31 or by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission; nor shall this chapter apply to the transportation, delivery, or acceptance for transportation of radioactive materials under the direction or supervision of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, United States Department of Energy, United States Department of Defense, or other federal agency authorized to possess or transport such material where such transportation, delivery, or acceptance for transportation is escorted by personnel designated by or under the authority of those agencies.
(m) This chapter shall not apply to interstate pipeline facilities which are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Transportation under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968.
(n)(1) In the event of any damage to state property or any discharge of hazardous materials from the authorized shipping package or container or any threat of such discharge which results from the transportation, storage, holding, detention, delivery for transportation, or acceptance for transportation of hazardous materials in this state, the state may recover from any shipper, carrier, bailor, bailee, or any other person responsible for such storage, transportation, holding, detention, delivery, or acceptance all costs incurred by the state in the reparation of the damage and all costs incurred in the prevention, abatement, or removal of any such discharge or threatened discharge, including reasonable attorneýs fees incurred with respect to recovery.
(2) The commissioner is expressly authorized to charge reasonable fees for time, equipment, materials, and supplies used or incurred by the department in the implementation of this chapter.
(3) The commissioner may issue civil penalties to shippers and carriers found in violation of this chapter or any regulations promulgated or adopted for the safe transportation of hazardous materials. Such penalties shall not exceed the limits established by Chapter 51 of Title 49 of the United States Code Annotated.
(A) Any person, firm, or corporation transporting methamphetamine, amphetamine, any mixture containing either methamphetamine or amphetamine, anhydrous ammonia, or any mixture containing anhydrous ammonia shall be subject to all rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to this title and Title 46 governing the safe operation of motor vehicles and drivers and the safe transportation of hazardous materials.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Code section, the commissioner may impose civil monetary penalties in an amount not to exceed $32,500.00 for each violation of any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this title or Title 46 with respect to persons transporting methamphetamine, amphetamine, any mixture containing either methamphetamine or amphetamine, anhydrous ammonia, or any mixture containing anhydrous ammonia.
(o) Routing determinations for hazardous materials shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Federal Hazardous Materials Law, Section 5119 of Title 49 of the United States Code Annotated. Routing information may be supplied to the Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and Georgia Department of Homeland Security.
(p) Drivers who transport hazardous materials shall be trained at least to the minimum standards required by federal law. Upon request by the commissioner, proof of such federally required driver training shall be made available to the commissioner or his or her staff.
(q) Prior to the transport of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste, the shipper shall make notification to the commissioner or his or her designee in the manner required by Title 10 C.F.R. Part 73.
(r) For the transportation of spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, and other hazardous materials, the commissioner may take action to ensure that motor vehicles used in such transportation have been inspected to show compliance with the federal motor carrier safety regulations and federal hazardous materials regulations.
(s) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a bond or indemnity insurance required of carriers shall be established by rules and regulations of the commissioner and shall for all persons subject to this chapter, whether intrastate or interstate carriers, be at least in the maximum amount or amounts authorized or required by federal law or regulations.
(t) In addition to any other liability imposed by law, any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(u) The rulemaking authority granted to the commissioner pursuant to this chapter shall be exercised at all times in conformity with Chapter 13 of Title 50, the 'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act'; provided, however, that regulations governing hazardous materials may be adopted by administrative order referencing compatible federal regulations or standards without compliance with the procedural requirements of Chapter 13 of Title 50; provided, further, that such compatible federal regulations or standards shall be maintained on file by the department and made available for inspection and copying by the public, by means including, but not limited to, posting on the department́s Internet website.

40-17-5.
(a) The commissioner is authorized to employ such persons as may be necessary, in the discretion of the commissioner, for the proper enforcement of this chapter, as provided for in this chapter and Chapter 2 of Title 35. Funds derived under this chapter shall be used to further the Department of Motor Vehicle Safetýs hazardous materials transportation safety programs, provided, however, the department shall retain those funds derived specifically for inspection or escort.
(b) The commissioner is vested with police powers and authority to designate, deputize, and delegate to employees of the commissioner the necessary authority to enforce this chapter, including the power to stop and inspect all motor vehicles using the public highways and to enter upon and inspect shipper and carrier facilities for purposes of determining whether such vehicles and facilities have complied with and are complying with the provisions of this chapter and all other laws regulating the use of the public highways by motor vehicles, and to arrest all persons found in violation thereof, and to issue out-of-service orders to carriers, vehicles and drivers in accordance with criteria which shall be established by the commissioner.
(c) The commissioner shall promulgate such rules, regulations, policies, or written procedures as necessary to establish the scope and purpose of regulatory compliance inspections and to define the discretion of persons performing such inspections.

40-17-6.
In the event that any section, paragraph, or other part of this chapter, or any requirement thereunder, or any rule, regulation, or order of the commissioner promulgated hereunder, is found to be preempted by federal law, or otherwise found to be improper, null or otherwise void, all other requirements not so preempted or otherwise so found shall remain in full force and effect."

SECTION 2.
Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to public utilities, is amended by repealing Chapter 11, relating to transportation of hazardous materials, and designating said chapter as reserved.

SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.