4905.80 Uniform registration and uniform permitting of persons engaged in the highway transportation of hazardous materials rules.
4905.80 Uniform registration and uniform permitting of persons engaged in the highway transportation of hazardous materials rules.
(A) As used in sections 4905.80 to 4905.83 of the Revised Code:
(1) “Uniform registration” has the same meaning as “registration” as used in the final report submitted to the United States secretary of transportation, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 22 of the “Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990,” 104 Stat. 3244, 49 U.S.C.A. App. 1819.
(2) “Uniform permit” has the same meaning as “permit” as used in the final report submitted to the United States secretary of transportation, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 22 of the “Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990,” 104 Stat. 3244, 49 U.S.C.A. App. 1819.
(B)(1) The public utilities commission may adopt rules applicable to the uniform registration and uniform permitting of persons engaged in the highway transportation of hazardous materials into, through, or within this state. The rules shall include rules staggering the registration date for carriers and reducing or extending, by no more than one year, the permit renewal period for carriers.
(2) For the purpose of minimizing filing requirements regarding any background investigation required for the issuance of a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous wastes, the commission shall accept from any applicant for such a permit any refiling of information the applicant has filed with the office of the attorney general under section 3734.42 of the Revised Code or any reference to such information, if the refiled or referenced information is on file with the office of the attorney general, is accurate and timely for the commission’s purposes under this section, and is supplemented by any additional information the commission requires. The office of the attorney general, as necessary for any such background investigation, shall make accessible to the commission any such information referenced or refiled in an application for a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous wastes that the attorney general determines may be disclosed in accordance with section 3734.42 of the Revised Code. Nothing in sections 4905.80 to 4905.83 of the Revised Code affects any limitations under section 3734.42 of the Revised Code on the disclosure of that information.
(C)(1) The fees for uniform registration and a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous materials shall consist of the following:
(a) A processing fee of fifty dollars;
(b) An apportioned per-truck registration fee, which shall be calculated by multiplying the percentage of a registrant’s activity in this state times the percentage of the registrant’s business that is hazardous-materials-related, times the number of vehicles owned or operated by the registrant, times a per-truck fee determined by order of the commission following public notice and an opportunity for comment. However, the total revenue from the apportioned per-truck registration fee shall not exceed the appropriation of the general assembly for the hazardous materials registration fund created under division (C)(3) of this section. In determining the per-truck fee, the commission shall calculate the difference between the appropriation from the fund for the current fiscal year and the net total of the processing fees collected in the previous registration year under division (C)(1)(a) of this section, fees collected under division (C)(2) of this section, refunds to carriers from overpayments of fees collected under this section, and fees paid to other states under division (D) of this section, and shall divide that calculated amount by the total number of apportioned trucks determined on the basis of information submitted by all registrants in the previous registration year. If the calculated amount is zero or less, the fee shall be zero. Any interested party, in accordance with division (H) of this section, may appeal to the court of appeals of Franklin county an order of the commission establishing the apportioned per-truck registration fee.
(i) The percentage of a registrant’s activity in this state shall be calculated by dividing the number of miles that the registrant travels in this state under the international registration plan, pursuant to section 4503.61 of the Revised Code, by the number of miles that the registrant travels nationwide under the international registration plan. Registrants that operate solely within this state shall use one hundred per cent as their percentage of activity. Registrants that do not register their vehicles through the international registration plan shall calculate activity in the state in the same manner as that required by the international registration plan.
(ii) The percentage of a registrant’s business that is hazardous-materials-related shall be calculated, for less-than-truckload shipments, by dividing the weight of all the registrant’s hazardous materials shipments by the total weight of all shipments in the previous year. The percentage of a registrant’s business that is hazardous-materials-related shall be calculated, for truckload shipments, by dividing the number of shipments for which placarding, marking of the vehicle, or manifesting, as appropriate, was required by regulations adopted under sections 4 to 6 of the “Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990,” 104 Stat. 3244, 49 U.S.C.A. App. 1804, by the total number of the registrant’s shipments that transported any kind of goods in the previous year. A registrant that transports both less-than-truckload and truckload shipments of hazardous materials shall calculate the percentage of business that is hazardous-materials-related on a proportional basis.
(iii) A registrant may utilize fiscal year, or calendar year, or other current company accounting data, or other publicly available information, in calculating the percentages required by divisions (C)(1)(b)(i) and (ii) of this section.
(2) The commission, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, may assess each carrier a fee for any background investigation required for the issuance, for the purpose of section 3734.15 of the Revised Code, of a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous wastes and fees related to investigations and proceedings for the denial, suspension, or revocation of a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous materials. The fees shall not exceed the reasonable costs of the investigations and proceedings. The fee for a background investigation for a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous wastes shall be six hundred dollars plus the costs of obtaining any necessary information not included in the permit application, to be calculated at the rate of thirty dollars per hour, not exceeding six hundred dollars, plus any fees payable to obtain necessary information.
(3) All fees collected under division (C)(1) of this section and all background investigation and permit denial, suspension, and revocation investigation and proceeding fees collected under division (C)(2) of this section shall be credited to the hazardous materials registration fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury. Moneys in that fund shall be used by the commission to administer and enforce sections 4905.80 to 4905.83 of the Revised Code.
(D) The commission, as necessary to implement the rules adopted under division (B) of this section, may enter into agreements, contracts, arrangements, or declarations with other states and with the national repository, established pursuant to the final report submitted to the United States secretary of transportation, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 22 of the “Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990,” 104 Stat. 3244, 49 U.S.C.A. App. 1819. The agreements, contracts, arrangements, or declarations shall include, but not be limited to, the determination of a base state, the collection of uniform registration fees, the frequency of distribution of uniform registration fees, procedures for dispute resolution, and protection of trade secrets and confidential business information.
(E) The first eight hundred thousand dollars of forfeitures collected under section 4905.83 of the Revised Code during each fiscal year shall be credited to the hazardous materials transportation fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury. Any forfeitures in excess of that amount collected during each fiscal year shall be credited to the general revenue fund. In each fiscal year, the commission shall distribute moneys credited to the hazardous materials transportation fund under this division for the purposes of emergency response planning and the training of safety, enforcement, and emergency services personnel in proper techniques for the management of hazardous materials releases that occur during transportation or otherwise. For these purposes, fifty per cent of all such moneys credited to the fund shall be distributed to Cleveland state university, forty-five per cent shall be distributed to other educational institutions, state agencies, regional planning commissions, and political subdivisions, and five per cent shall be retained by the commisson for the administration of this section and for training employees. However, if, in any such period, moneys credited to the fund under this division equal an amount less than four hundred thousand dollars, the commission shall distribute, to the extent of the fund, two hundred thousand dollars to Cleveland state university and the remainder to other educational institutions, state agencies, regional planning commissions, and political subdivisions.
(F)(1) No person shall violate or fail to perform a duty imposed by this section or a rule adopted under it.
(2) No person shall knowingly falsify or fail to submit any data, reports, records, or other information required to be submitted to the commission pursuant to this section or a rule adopted under it. For purposes of division (F)(2) of this section, a person acts knowingly if either of the following applies:
(a) The person has actual knowledge of the facts giving rise to the violation.
(b) A reasonable person acting in the circumstances and exercising due care would have such knowledge.
(G) After notice and opportunity for a hearing, the commission, pursuant to criteria set forth in rules adopted under division (B) of this section, may suspend, revoke, or deny the uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous materials of any carrier that has obtained or applied for such a uniform permit from the commission pursuant to rules adopted under that division, or the commission may order the suspension of the transportation of hazardous materials into, through, or within this state by a carrier that has obtained a uniform permit from another state that has a reciprocity agreement with the commission pursuant to division (D) of this section.
(H)(1) The proceedings specified in division (G) of this section are subject to and governed by Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code, except as otherwise provided in this section. The court of appeals of Franklin county has exclusive original jurisdiction to review, modify, or vacate any order of the commission suspending, revoking, or denying a uniform permit as a carrier of hazardous materials of any carrier that has obtained or applied for a uniform permit from the commission pursuant to rules adopted under division (B) of this section, or any order of the commission suspending the transportation of hazardous materials into, through, or within this state by a carrier that has obtained a uniform permit from another state that has a reciprocity agreement with the commission under division (D) of this section. The court of appeals shall hear and determine those appeals in the same manner and under the same standards as the Ohio supreme court hears and determines appeals under Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code. The judgment of the court of appeals is final and conclusive unless reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal. Such appeals may be taken either by the commission or the person to whom the order was issued and shall proceed as in the case of appeals in civil actions as provided in Chapter 2505. of the Revised Code.
(2) Section 4903.11 of the Revised Code does not apply to appeals of any order of the commission suspending, revoking, or denying a uniform permit of a carrier that has obtained or applied for a uniform permit from the commission pursuant to rules adopted under division (B) of this section, or of any order of the commission suspending the transportation of hazardous materials into, through, or within this state by a carrier that has obtained a uniform permit from another state that has a reciprocity agreement with the commission pursuant to division (D) of this section. Any person to whom such an order is issued who wishes to contest the order shall file, within sixty days after the entry of the order upon the journal of the commission, a notice of appeal, setting forth the order appealed from and the errors complained of. The notice of appeal shall be served, unless waived, upon the chairperson of the commission or, in the event of the chairperson’s absence, upon any public utilities commissioner, or by leaving a copy at the office of the commission at Columbus. On appeal, the court shall reverse, vacate, or modify the order if, upon consideration of the record, the court is of the opinion that the order was unlawful or unreasonable.
Effective Date: 09-29-1999