Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 1989, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
Laws of Minnesota 1989
CHAPTER 299-S.F.No. 738
An act relating to transportation; providing for
special permits for vehicles transporting pole-length
pulpwood; setting a fee; providing for payment of
costs for improving or establishing railroad grade
crossings; clarifying source and providing for
expenditures of rail service improvement funds;
authorizing commissioner of transportation to enter
into contracts for rail service improvement and to use
federal funds; clarifying purposes of regional rail
authorities; amending Minnesota Statutes 1988,
sections 169.86, subdivision 5; 219.071, subdivision
2; 219.072; 222.49; 222.50, subdivisions 4, 5, and 7;
222.63, subdivision 8; and 398A.02; proposing coding
for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 169;
repealing Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.50,
subdivision 8.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 169.86,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:
Subd. 5. [FEES.] The commissioner, with respect to
highways under the commissioner's jurisdiction, may charge a fee
for each permit issued. All such fees for permits issued by the
commissioner of transportation shall be deposited in the state
treasury and credited to the trunk highway fund. Except for
those annual permits for which the permit fees are specified
elsewhere in this chapter, the fees shall be:
(a) $15 for each single trip permit.
(b) $36 for each job permit. A job permit may be issued
for like loads carried on a specific route for a period not to
exceed two months. "Like loads" means loads of the same
product, weight and dimension.
(c) $60 for an annual permit to be issued for a period not
to exceed 12 consecutive months. Annual permits may be issued
for:
(1) refuse compactor vehicles that carry a gross weight up
to but not in excess of 22,000 pounds on a single rear axle and
not in excess of 38,000 pounds on a tandem rear axle;
(2) motor vehicles used to alleviate a temporary crisis
adversely affecting the safety or well-being of the public;
(3) motor vehicles which travel on interstate highways and
carry loads authorized under subdivision 1a;
(4) motor vehicles operating with gross weights authorized
under section 169.825, subdivision 11, paragraph (a), clause
(3); and
(5) special pulpwood vehicles described in section 2.
(d) $120 for an oversize annual permit to be issued for a
period not to exceed 12 consecutive months. Annual permits may
be issued for:
(1) truck cranes;
(2) construction equipment, machinery, and supplies;
(3) manufactured homes;
(4) farm equipment when the movement is not made according
to the provisions of section 169.80, subdivision 1, paragraphs
(a) to (f);
(5) double-deck buses;
(6) commercial boat hauling.
(e) for vehicles which have axle weights exceeding the
weight limitations of section 169.825, an additional cost added
to the fees listed above. The additional cost is equal to the
product of the distance traveled times the sum of the overweight
axle group cost factors shown in the following chart:
Overweight Axle Group Cost Factors
Weight (pounds) Cost Per Mile For Each Group Of:
exceeding Two consec- Three consec- Four consec-
weight limi- utive axles utive axles utive axles
tations on spaced within spaced within spaced with-
axles 8 feet or 9 feet or in 14 feet
less less or less
0-2,000 .100 .040 .036
2,001-4,000 .124 .050 .044
4,001-6,000 .150 .062 .050
6,001-8,000 Not permitted .078 .056
8,001-10,000 Not permitted .094 .070
10,001-12,000 Not permitted .116 .078
12,001-14,000 Not permitted .140 .094
14,001-16,000 Not permitted .168 .106
16,001-18,000 Not permitted .200 .128
18,001-20,000 Not permitted Not permitted .140
20,001-22,000 Not permitted Not permitted .168
The amounts added are rounded to the nearest cent for each
axle or axle group. The additional cost does not apply to
paragraph (c), clauses (1) and (3).
(f) As an alternative to paragraph (e), an annual permit
may be issued for overweight, or oversize and overweight,
construction equipment, machinery, and supplies. The fees for
the permit are as follows:
Gross Weight (pounds) of vehicle Annual Permit Fee
90,000 or less $200
90,001 - 100,000 $300
100,001 - 110,000 $400
110,001 - 120,000 $500
120,001 - 130,000 $600
130,001 - 140,000 $700
140,001 - 145,000 $800
If the gross weight of the vehicle is more than 145,000
pounds the permit fee is determined under paragraph (e).
(g) for vehicles which exceed the width limitations set
forth in section 169.80 by more than 72 inches, an additional
cost equal to $120 added to the amount in paragraph (a) when the
permit is issued while seasonal load restrictions pursuant to
section 169.87 are in effect.
Sec. 2. [169.863] [SPECIAL PULPWOOD VEHICLE PERMIT.]
Subdivision 1. [SPECIAL VEHICLE.] The commissioner may
issue a permit for a vehicle that meets the following
requirements:
(a) There must be no more than two support points for the
vehicle or for each vehicle of a vehicle combination. The
support point of each axle group must be capable of distributing
the load equally to each axle of the group with a variance of no
more than 3,000 pounds between any two axles of the group.
(b) The maximum wheel load may not exceed the tire
manufacturer's recommended load or the following weight limits,
whichever is less:
(1) front steering axles, 550 pounds per inch;
(2) other single axles, 500 pounds per inch;
(3) tandem axles, 450 pounds per inch; and
(4) tridem or quad axle groups, 425 pounds per inch.
(c) The axle group weights must comply with the limitations
of section 169.825, subdivision 10.
(d) The vehicle may not be equipped with a variable load
axle, unless the variable load axle cannot be operated from the
cab of the vehicle.
(e) The vehicle transports pole-length pulpwood, carries a
gross vehicle weight of not more than 82,000 pounds, and has six
axles.
Subd. 2. [PERMIT RESTRICTIONS.] A vehicle operating under
a permit issued under this section may not travel on an
interstate highway. The permit does not authorize the vehicle
to exceed allowable gross weights that restrict travel on a
highway or bridge under the authority of the commissioner or a
local road authority.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 219.071,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [PAYMENT OF COSTS.] If a grade-crossing surface,
as defined in section 219.16, needs improvement, repair or
maintenance, the cost for the improvement, repair or maintenance
may be paid jointly by the owner or lessee of the track, the
road authority having jurisdiction over the public highway
involved and funds available to the department for
grade-crossing surfaces from the following sources:
(1) money appropriated to the department in the future for
the purposes of this section;
(2) available federal funds allocated for the
grade-crossing program established by this section; and
(3) money acquired by the department by gift, grant, or
contribution from any source for purposes of this section.
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 219.072, is
amended to read:
219.072 [ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW GRADE CROSSINGS.]
The establishment of all new grade crossings must be
approved by the commissioner. When establishment of a new grade
crossing is desired, either by the public officials having the
necessary authority or by the railroad company, and the public
officials and the railroad company cannot agree as to need,
location, or type of warning devices required, either party may
file a petition with the commissioner setting forth the facts
and submitting the matter for determination. The commissioner,
after notice as the commissioner deems reasonable, shall conduct
a hearing and issue an order determining the matters submitted.
If the commissioner approves the establishment of a new grade
crossing, the commissioner may in the same order direct that the
costs, including the costs of the type of warning devices
required, be divided between the railroad company and the public
authority involved as the parties may agree, or, if they fail to
agree, then as determined by the commissioner on the basis of
benefit to the users of each. However, the commissioner may
defer determination of the division of costs to a subsequent
order to be made on the basis of evidence previously taken.
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.49, is
amended to read:
222.49 [RAIL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT ACCOUNT.]
The rail service improvement account is created in the
special revenue fund in the state treasury. The commissioner
shall deposit in this account all money appropriated to or
received by the department for the purpose of rail service
improvement, including bond proceeds as authorized by Article
XI, Section 5, Clause (i) of the Minnesota Constitution and
federal money, but excluding proceeds of state bonds or other
funds appropriated to the commissioner from the state
transportation fund for the acquisition or betterment of
property pertaining to the state rail bank established by
section 222.63, and excluding income of the state rail bank and
any other funds appropriated for its maintenance or
improvement. All money so deposited is appropriated to the
department for expenditure for rail service improvement in
accordance with applicable state and federal law. This
appropriation shall not lapse but shall be available until the
purpose for which it was appropriated has been accomplished. No
money appropriated to the department for the purposes of
administering the rail service improvement program shall be
deposited in the rail service improvement account nor shall such
administrative costs be paid from the account.
Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.50,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. The commissioner may negotiate and enter into
contracts for the purpose of rail line rehabilitation and for
the purpose of assisting in the payment of up to 50 percent of
the nonfederal share of a rehabilitation project under service
improvement and may incorporate funds available from the federal
rail service continuation program. The participants in these
contracts shall be railroads, rail users and the department, and
may be political subdivisions of the state and the federal
government. In such contracts, participation by all parties
shall be voluntary. The commissioner may provide a portion of
the money required to carry out the terms of any such contract
by expenditure from the rail service improvement account.
Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.50,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:
Subd. 5. In making any contract pursuant to subdivision 4
the commissioner may:
(a) Stipulate minimum operating standards for rail lines
designed to achieve reasonable transportation service for
shippers and to achieve best use of funds invested in rail line
rehabilitation;
(b) Require a portion of the total assistance for improving
a rail line to be loaned to the railroad by rail users and
require the railroad to reimburse rail users for any loan on the
basis of use of the line and the revenues produced when the line
has been improved; and
(c) Determine the terms and conditions under which all or
any portion of state funds allocated shall be repaid to the
department by the railroads. Reimbursement may be made as a
portion of the increased revenue derived from the improved rail
line. Any reimbursement received by the department pursuant to
this clause shall be deposited in the rail service improvement
account and shall be appropriated exclusively for rehabilitating
other rail lines in the state pursuant to subdivision 4; and.
(d) Require, in lieu of reimbursement as provided in clause
(c) of this subdivision, that the railroad establish and
maintain a separate railroad fund to be used exclusively for
rehabilitation of other rail lines in Minnesota, to which a
portion of the increase in revenue derived from the improved
rail line shall be credited. The terms and conditions for use
of money in the fund shall be stipulated in the contract. The
contract shall also stipulate a penalty for use of such money in
a manner other than as set forth in the contract and require the
railroad to report to the department at such times as the
commissioner requires, concerning the disbursement of money from
the fund and the general status of rail line improvements.
Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.50,
subdivision 7, is amended to read:
Subd. 7. The commissioner may expend money from the rail
service improvement account for the following purposes:
(a) To pay interest adjustments on loans guaranteed under
the state rail user loan guarantee program;
(b) To pay a portion of the costs of capital improvement
projects designed to improve rail service including construction
or improvement of short segments of rail line such as side
track, team track and connections between existing lines, and
construction and improvement of loading, unloading, storage and
transfer facilities of a rail user;
(c) To acquire, maintain, manage and dispose of railroad
right-of-way pursuant to subdivision 8 and the state rail bank
program;
(d) To provide for aerial photography survey of proposed
and abandoned railroad tracks for the purpose of recording and
reestablishing by analytical triangulation the existing
alignment of the inplace track; or
(e) To pay a portion of the costs of acquiring a rail line
by a regional railroad authority established pursuant to chapter
398A.
All money derived by the commissioner from the disposition
of railroad right-of-way or of any other property acquired
pursuant to sections 222.46 to 222.62 shall be deposited in the
rail service improvement account.
Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.63,
subdivision 8, is amended to read:
Subd. 8. [RAIL BANK MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT ACCOUNTS.]
A special accounts account shall be maintained in the state
treasury, designated as the rail bank maintenance account and
the rail bank improvement account, to record the receipts and
expenditures of the commissioner of transportation for the
maintenance and for the acquisition and betterment of rail bank
property. Expenditures of proceeds of state transportation
bonds and any other amounts appropriated to the commissioner
from the state transportation fund shall be recorded in the
improvement account. Funds received by the commissioner of
transportation from rentals, fees, or charges for the use of
rail bank property shall be credited to the maintenance account
and used for the maintenance of that property and held as a
reserve for maintenance expenses in an amount determined by the
commissioner, and amounts received in the maintenance account in
excess of the reserve requirements shall be transferred to
the rail service improvement account. All proceeds of the sale
of abandoned rail lines shall be deposited in the rail service
improvement account. The improvement account shall be used only
for the acquisition and betterment of abandoned rail lines and
right-of-way. All money to be deposited in those accounts this
rail service improvement account as provided in this subdivision
is appropriated to the commissioner of transportation for the
purposes of this section. The appropriations shall not lapse
but shall be available until the purposes for which the funds
are appropriated are accomplished.
Sec. 10. Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 398A.02, is
amended to read:
398A.02 [PURPOSE.]
The purpose of the regional railroad authorities act is to
provide a means whereby one or more municipalities, with state
and federal aids as may be available, may provide for the
preservation and improvement of local rail service for
agriculture, industry, or passenger traffic and provide for the
preservation of abandoned rail right-of-way for future
transportation uses, when determined to be practicable and
necessary for the public welfare, particularly in the case of
abandonment of local rail lines.
Sec. 11. [REPEALER.]
Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 222.50, subdivision 8, is
repealed.
Presented to the governor May 26, 1989
Signed by the governor May 26, 1989, 5:49 p.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes