MINUTES OF THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Sixty-seventh Session
April 6, 1993
The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman William R. O'Donnell, at 1:30 p.m., on Tuesday, April 6, 1993, in Room 226 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman
Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen, Vice Chairman
Senator Mark A. James
Senator Leonard V. Nevin
Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr.
Senator Thomas J. Hickey
Senator Lori L. Brown
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Assemblywoman Joan Lambert, Washoe, District 29
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Paul Mouritsen, Senior Research Analyst
Terri Jo Wittenberg, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mark Poirier, President, Firematic Collectors of Northern Nevada, Inc.
John W. Riggs, Sr., Secretary/Treasurer, Firematic Collectors of Northern Nevada, Inc.
Raymond L. Sparks, Chief, Registration Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV)
Martin Bibb, Lobbyist, Nevada Car Rental Association
Robert Cole, Grand Rent-A-Car
Chairman O'Donnell opened the hearing on Assembly Bill (A.B.) 155.
A.B. 155: Authorizes issuance of special license plates for fire trucks.
Assemblywoman Joan Lambert, Washoe, District 29, spoke in favor of A.B. 155. Ms. Lambert said that A.B. 155 was really a cleanup bill. She said the bill will limit the use of the fire trucks to musters, parades or similar activities and they are not to be used for general transportation. She said these trucks would also have to qualify as a fire truck pursuant to the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV) regulations. She said this would make sure that someone does not get a red pickup, put a fire extinguisher in it and then try to register it as a "fire truck."
Mark Poirier, President, Firematic Collectors of Northern Nevada, Inc., spoke in favor of A.B. 155. Mr. Poirier said his group had about 30 or 35 trucks involved, all of which exceed 10,000 pounds, and are very expensive to register.
Senator Nevin asked how much he currently pays to register his truck.
Mr. Poirier he now pays between $280 and $300, depending on whether it is loaded or not loaded.
Senator Brown asked who was going to pay for the cost the license plates.
Mr. Poirier said his organization was going to pay for the cost of the die to make the license plates. He said the organization has the money set aside.
Chairman O'Donnell asked if he used his truck for general transportation.
Mr. Poirier said he did not use it for general transportation and could not afford to even if he wanted.
Assemblywoman Lambert said no one was going to commute to work in a fire truck and if they did it would be noticed.
John W. Riggs, Sr., Secretary/Treasurer, Firematic Collectors of Northern Nevada, Inc., spoke in favor of A.B. 155. Mr. Riggs showed the committee some photographs of some of his fire trucks. He said he did not want to have to "take out a loan from Fort Knox" in order to pay the registration for some of his trucks.
Chairman O'Donnell asked Mr. Riggs if he participated in many parades.
Mr. Riggs said he did participate in a lot of parades every year.
Senator Jacobsen asked how these fire trucks were insured.
Mr. Riggs said there were three insurance companies that specialize in covering antique cars and the fire trucks. He said his organization requires these trucks be insured in order to be operated on public roadways.
Raymond L. Sparks, Chief, Registration Division, Nevada
Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV), testified with regard to A.B. 155. Mr. Sparks said he had testified on this bill in the Assembly Committee on Transportation and had asked for some amendments to the bill, which had subsequently been made. He said the DMV wanted the ability to define a fire truck and they wanted some type of annual renewal fee of the license plates.
Chairman O'Donnell said the $15, initial fee, and the $5, renewal fee, was inconsistent with the current license plate fees. He asked Mr. Poirier if it would be acceptable to his organization if the fees were brought in line with the classifications. He said these classifications now pay $35.
Mr. Poirier said he did not see any problem with that fee schedule.
Chairman O'Donnell pointed out that the "Old Timer's" plate fee is $15 but that these were a lot less detrimental to the state's highways than the heavy fire trucks.
Senator Nevin said he thought they should be classified under the "Old Timer's" classification.
Chairman O'Donnell asked Mr. Sparks what the definition of an "Old Timer" was.
Mr. Sparks said in order to qualify for an "Old Timer" license plate, the vehicle had to be more than 40 years old.
Chairman O'Donnell asked Mr. Poirier if some of these fire trucks were over 40 years old.
Mr. Poirier said some were and some were not.
Chairman O'Donnell asked Mr. Riggs he had any problem with the $35 fee.
Mr. Riggs said he did not have a problem with it.
Senator Nevin asked Mr. Sparks what the fiscal impact would be if the fees were changed from $15 to $35.
Mr. Sparks said he did not know how many vehicles would be involved.
Mr. Poirier said they would be lucky to have 150 fire trucks in the state which are actually road-worthy.
Mr. Sparks said he did not think the fiscal impact would be significant one way or the other.
Senator Neal asked if the fire trucks are safe and who would be responsible to inspect them.
Mr. Riggs said his organization was going to develop a safety committee and that most of the vehicles are now in restored condition which means they have been restored to better than new condition.
Mr. Poirier said he has a gentleman who is a retired Reno Fire Department mechanic who has said he would be more than happy to go through these restored vehicles and make sure they are road- safe.
Mr. Riggs also pointed out that these vehicles do not travel at 70 miles per hour and at best they will 45 miles per hour because they are not designed to go at high speeds.
Senator Jacobsen asked what the license was going to look like and if the die would remain the property of the state.
Mr. Sparks said the die would remain the property of the state.
Mr. Riggs said the license plate would look like the "Old Timer" plate except it would say "Fire Truck."
Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on A.B. 155 and opened the hearing on A.B. 156.
A.B. 156: Authorizes department of motor vehicles and public safety to issue permit to operate unregistered vehicle to short-term lessor of vehicle.
Martin Bibb, Lobbyist, Nevada Car Rental Association, testified in favor of A.B. 156. Mr. Bibb said the bill would allow the DMV to issue to 20-day temporary permit to rental car companies so they can operate the rental cars during the interim period before they are registered. He said it would also allow the DMV to charge a fee for the temporary permits.
Mr. Bibb explained that presently, unlike private citizens who have 10 days in which to register their vehicles and they can use them in the meantime, there is no such provision for rental cars and until they are registered, they are not to be used on the roads.
Senator Nevin asked what the "reasonable fee" might be.
Mr. Sparks said the fee would be about $20 per permit. He said the DMV wanted a fee which would discourage someone from operating a vehicle exclusively on the permits and the $20 fee equates to $1 per day or $365 per year and that is higher than the average cost of registering a vehicle.
Senator Hickey asked how the DMV planned to enforce the temporary permits.
Mr. Sparks said the DMV now goes into the rental car agencies and audits the vehicles that are on the premises of the rental car company.
Senator Neal asked why mandatory fines in the bill were changed from "may" to "must."
Mr. Sparks said that was probably a bill drafters change.
Mr. Bibb said he did not know why it had been changed, but he said he would find out.
Chairman O'Donnell asked if the rental car companies would have to continue to maintain insurance on the vehicles even though they are not registered.
Mr. Bibb said this bill would not change any insurance requirements.
Senator Hickey asked if any other state used these temporary permits.
Mr. Sparks said he did not know, but he would find out.
Chairman O'Donnell asked if the DMV would register a vehicle without proof of insurance.
Mr. Sparks said the DMV would not register a vehicle without evidence of insurance, however they would issue a temporary permit without evidence of insurance. Mr. Sparks added, the DMV would like to sell the permits in books and then audit the rental car agencies periodically to see they are paying for and using the permits properly.
Chairman O'Donnell said he understood the rental car companies maintain fleet insurance and he just wanted it on the record that these vehicles would be insured.
Mr. Bibb assured the committee that these vehicles would be insured at all times, even before they are registered.
Robert Cole, Grand Rent-A-Car, said he supports the bill. He added, that his company is self-insured through the state and this law would not affect their insurance one way or the other.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on A.B. 156 and opened the work session with A.B. 155.
SENATOR NEAL MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 155.
SENATOR BROWN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
* * * * *
Chairman O'Donnell also drew attention to a bill draft request (BDR) requiring committee introduction. He passed out copies of the BDR for review and proceeded to read the BDR summary.
BDR 43-806: Makes various changes relating to vehicle registration and titling.
SENATOR NEAL MOVED FOR COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION OF BDR 43-806.
SENATOR NEVIN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
* * * * *
Chairman O'Donnell then opened the work session on Senate Bill (S.B.) 126.
S.B. 126: Makes various changes to laws pertaining to controls of emissions from motor vehicles.
The committee discussed the bill and the amendments to the bill.
Chairman O'Donnell asked Senators James and Nevin to take this bill under consideration in subcommittee.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on S.B. 126.
There being no further business before the committee, Chairman O'Donnell adjourned the meeting 2:50 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Terri Jo Wittenberg,
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman
DATE:
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Senate Committee on Transportation
April 6, 1993
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