OHV Bill

BILL ANALYSIS






SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 1086
SENATOR TOM TORLAKSON, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: lieber
VERSION: 5/3/05
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes







SUBJECT:

Vehicle operation: state wilderness areas.

DESCRIPTION:

This bill would establish penalties for violations of state or
federal regulations prohibiting entry of motor vehicles into
designated wilderness areas.

ANALYSIS:

Existing federal law establishes federally-designated wilderness
areas in which motorized vehicles are prohibited. Penalties
when cited by a federal officer for operating a motor vehicle in
a federally-designated wilderness area are set by the lead judge
in each judicial district. In California's four judicial
district these penalties for a first offense range from $50 to
$500.

Existing state law makes it unlawful to operate a vehicle in
violation of "special regulations" that have been promulgated by
the governmental agency with jurisdiction over public lands,
including, but not limited to, regulations governing access,
travel routes, plants, wildlife, water resources, and historical
sites. Many areas closed to vehicles, especially those areas on
federal lands, have not been established pursuant to "special
regulations," a term not used by all public agencies, including
federal agencies.

This bill would provide that, notwithstanding any other
provision of state law, and to the extent authorized under
federal law, a person who violates a state or federal
prohibition on entry of a motor vehicle into a state or
federally designated wilderness area is guilty of a public




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offense and shall be punished as follows:

1) A first offense is an infraction punishable by a
fine not to exceed $500.

2) A second offense, within seven years after a
conviction, is an infraction punishable by a fine not to
exceed $750.

3) A third offense, within seven years after two or
more prior convictions, is a misdemeanor punishable by a
fine not to exceed $1,000 or by 90 days imprisonment, or
both.

4) In addition to the fine for an offense, the court
may order impoundment of the vehicle for between one and
30 days, if the person convicted is the owner of the
vehicle and the vehicle is one that must be registered
with DMV or have an Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) indicia
from DMV. The impoundment shall be at the owner's
expense.

COMMENTS:

1.Purpose of the bill . The author states that "illegal
off-highway vehicle use in California has become a serious
problem and law enforcement in the state needs more effective
tools to deal with it." Off-highway vehicles have been
increasingly trespassing onto state and federal wilderness
areas.

Under existing law, fines imposed for illegal intrusions into
wilderness areas can be less than $100, and therefore, the
author believes, do little to deter this illegal activity.
This bill would represent a stronger deterrent to illegal OHV
use, and the author asserts potentially freeing up a portion
of resources currently expended by law enforcement to fund
other necessary operations.

Law enforcement personnel, members of the California OHV
Commission, federal land managers, environmental
organizations, private landowners, and others have identified
the need to enhance law enforcement's capacity to more
effectively curtail illegal OHV use as being one of most
important OHV management issues today. Currently, a state or
local law enforcement officer encounters a person operating a




AB 1086 (LIEBER) Page 3




motor vehicle in federally-designated wilderness area is
unclear that the officer has the authority to cite the person.
This bill clarifies that the officer can cite the person and
what the penalties will be.

The author points out that the bill's language originated
verbatim from an OHV "Stakeholder's Roundtable," which is an
advisory group to the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle
Recreation Division made up of representatives of the off-road
recreation groups, non-motorized recreation groups, government
agencies, law enforcement personnel, environmental
organizations, and other interested parties.

2.Supporters point out that private property owners, public land
managers, and law enforcement personnel have become
increasingly frustrated in their attempt to curtail illegal
off-highway vehicle use throughout the state. When OHVs are
operated outside of designated areas, they can have serious
environmental impacts and can be a significant nuisance.
Currently local, state, and federal law enforcement do not
have the necessary tools to effectively prevent OHVs from
venturing into closed areas, including wilderness areas. This
bill addresses this problem by increasing the authority of law
enforcement to cite OHV operators that ride in restricted
areas on public lands and the penalties associated with a
citation.

3.Question . In addition to the base fine set in law, total
fines for Vehicle Code violations also include penalty
assessments, add-ons that fund a myriad of state and local
functions. Under current law, the $500 fine for a first
offense established in this bill would, with the penalty
assessments, result in a total fine of approximately $1750.
Is this what the author intends? Or does the author or
committee wish to amend the bill to either reduce the fine or
expressly exempt it from penalty assessments?


Assembly Votes:
Floor: 51 - 26
Appr: 12 - 5
WP&W: 9 - 2

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 15, 2005.)




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SUPPORT: Planning and Conservation League (sponsor)
Blue Water Network
California Democratic Party Environmental Caucus
California Wilderness
Coalition
Coalition for Public Access
Contra Costa Humane Society
Defenders of Wildlife
Humane Societ of the United States
Natural Resources Defense
Council
Sierra Club
13 individuals

OPPOSED: None received.