1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to drivers' licenses; establishing pilot 
  1.3             project to allow certain type A school bus to be 
  1.4             operated by holder of Class D driver's license under 
  1.5             limited conditions; making clarifying changes; 
  1.6             providing misdemeanor penalty; amending Minnesota 
  1.7             Statutes 2000, section 171.02, subdivisions 2 and 2a. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 171.02, 
  1.10  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2.  [DRIVER'S LICENSE CLASSIFICATIONS, ENDORSEMENTS, 
  1.12  EXEMPTIONS.] (a) Drivers' licenses shall be classified according 
  1.13  to the types of vehicles which may be driven by the holder of 
  1.14  each type or class of license.  The commissioner may, as 
  1.15  appropriate, subdivide the classes listed in this subdivision 
  1.16  and issue licenses classified accordingly.  Except as provided 
  1.17  in subdivision 2a, no class of license shall be valid to operate 
  1.18  a motorcycle, school bus, tank vehicle, double-trailer or 
  1.19  triple-trailer combination, vehicle transporting hazardous 
  1.20  materials, or bus, unless so endorsed. 
  1.21  There shall be four general classes of licenses as follows: 
  1.22     (b) Class D; valid for: 
  1.23     (1) operating all farm trucks operated by (i) the owner, 
  1.24  (ii) an immediate family member of the owner, (iii) an employee 
  1.25  of the owner not primarily employed to operate the farm truck, 
  1.26  within 150 miles of the farm, or (iv) an employee of the owner 
  2.1   employed during harvest to operate the farm truck for the first, 
  2.2   continuous transportation of agricultural products from the 
  2.3   production site or on-farm storage site to any other location 
  2.4   within 50 miles of that site; 
  2.5      (2) operating fire trucks and emergency fire equipment, 
  2.6   whether or not in excess of 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, 
  2.7   operated by a firefighter while on duty, or a tiller operator 
  2.8   employed by a fire department who drives the rear portion of a 
  2.9   midmount aerial ladder truck; 
  2.10     (3) operating recreational equipment as defined in section 
  2.11  168.011, subdivision 25, that is operated for personal use; ~~and~~ 
  2.12     (4) operating all single unit vehicles except vehicles with 
  2.13  a gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds, vehicles 
  2.14  designed to carry more than 15 passengers including the driver, 
  2.15  and vehicles that carry hazardous materials; and 
  2.16     (5) notwithstanding paragraph (c), operating a type A 
  2.17  school bus without a school bus endorsement if: 
  2.18     (i) the bus has a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or 
  2.19  less; 
  2.20     (ii) the bus is designed to transport 15 or fewer 
  2.21  passengers, including the driver; and 
  2.22     (iii) the requirements of subdivision 2a, paragraph (b), 
  2.23  are satisfied, as determined by the commissioner. 
  2.24  The holder of a class D license may also tow vehicles if the 
  2.25  combination of vehicles has a gross vehicle weight of 26,000 
  2.26  pounds or less. 
  2.27     (c) Class C; valid for:  
  2.28     (1) operating class D vehicles; 
  2.29     (2) with a hazardous materials endorsement, transporting 
  2.30  hazardous materials in class D vehicles; and 
  2.31     (3) with a school bus endorsement, operating school buses 
  2.32  designed to transport 15 or fewer passengers, including the 
  2.33  driver. 
  2.34     (d) Class B; valid for operating all vehicles in class C, 
  2.35  class D, and all other single unit vehicles including, with a 
  2.36  passenger endorsement, buses.  The holder of a class B license 
  3.1   may tow only vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 
  3.2   pounds or less. 
  3.3      (e) Class A; valid for operating any vehicle or combination 
  3.4   ~~thereof~~ of vehicles. 
  3.5      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 171.02, 
  3.6   subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  3.7      Subd. 2a.  [EXCEPTIONS.] (a) Notwithstanding subdivision 2, 
  3.8   (1) a hazardous materials endorsement is not required to operate 
  3.9   a vehicle having a gross vehicle weight of 26,000 pounds or less 
  3.10  while carrying in bulk tanks a total of not more than 200 
  3.11  gallons of petroleum products and (2) a class C license or 
  3.12  hazardous materials endorsement is not required to operate a 
  3.13  farm vehicle as defined in Code of Federal Regulations, title 
  3.14  49, section 390.5, having a gross vehicle weight of 26,000 
  3.15  pounds or less while carrying in bulk tanks a total of not more 
  3.16  than 1,500 gallons of liquid fertilizer. 
  3.17     (b) Notwithstanding subdivision 2, paragraph (c), the 
  3.18  holder of a class D driver's license, without a school bus 
  3.19  endorsement, may operate a type A school bus described in 
  3.20  subdivision 2, paragraph (b), under the following conditions: 
  3.21     (1) The operator is an employee as of the day following 
  3.22  final enactment of this act of the entity that owns, leases, or 
  3.23  contracts for the school bus. 
  3.24     (2) The operator drives the school bus only from points of 
  3.25  origin to points of destination, and does not drive the school 
  3.26  bus for home-to-school trips to pick up or drop off students.  
  3.27     (3) The operator is prohibited from using the eight-light 
  3.28  system.  Violation of this clause is a misdemeanor. 
  3.29     (4) The operator's employer has adopted and implemented a 
  3.30  policy that provides for annual training and certification of 
  3.31  the operator in: 
  3.32     (i) safe operation of the type of school bus the operator 
  3.33  will be driving; 
  3.34     (ii) understanding student behavior, including issues 
  3.35  relating to students with disabilities; 
  3.36     (iii) encouraging orderly conduct of students on the bus 
  4.1   and handling incidents of misconduct appropriately; 
  4.2      (iv) knowing and understanding relevant laws, rules of the 
  4.3   road, and local school bus safety policies; 
  4.4      (v) handling emergency situations; and 
  4.5      (vi) safe loading and unloading of students. 
  4.6      (5) A background check or background investigation of the 
  4.7   operator has been conducted that meets the requirements under 
  4.8   section 122A.18, subdivision 8, or 123B.03 for teachers; section 
  4.9   144.057 or 245A.04 for day care employees; or section 171.321, 
  4.10  subdivision 3, for all other persons operating a type A school 
  4.11  bus under this paragraph. 
  4.12     (6) Operators must submit to a physical examination as 
  4.13  required by section 171.321, subdivision 2, and meet the 
  4.14  physical qualifications for school bus drivers prescribed under 
  4.15  that subdivision. 
  4.16     (7) The operator's driver's license is verified annually by 
  4.17  the entity that owns, leases, or contracts for the school bus. 
  4.18     (8) A person who sustains a conviction, as defined under 
  4.19  section 609.02, of violating section 169A.25, 169A.26, 169A.27, 
  4.20  169A.31, 169A.51, or 169A.52, or a similar statute or ordinance 
  4.21  of another state is precluded from operating a school bus for 
  4.22  five years from the date of conviction. 
  4.23     (9) A person who sustains a conviction, as defined under 
  4.24  section 609.02, of a fourth moving offense in violation of 
  4.25  chapter 169 is precluded from operating a school bus for one 
  4.26  year from the date of the last conviction. 
  4.27     (10) Students riding the school bus must have training 
  4.28  required under section 123B.90, subdivision 2. 
  4.29     (11) An operator must be trained in the proper use of child 
  4.30  safety restraints as set forth in the National Highway Traffic 
  4.31  Safety Administration's "Guideline for the Safe Transportation 
  4.32  of Pre-school Age Children in School Buses." 
  4.33     (12) Annual certification of the requirements listed in 
  4.34  this paragraph must be maintained under separate file at the 
  4.35  business location for each operator licensed under this 
  4.36  paragraph and subdivision 2, paragraph (b), clause (5).  The 
  5.1   business manager, school board, governing body of a nonpublic 
  5.2   school, or any other entity that owns, leases, or contracts for 
  5.3   the school bus operating under this paragraph is responsible for 
  5.4   maintaining these files for inspection. 
  5.5      Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; EXPIRATION.] 
  5.6      (a) Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 2001. 
  5.7      (b) The amendments in sections 1 and 2 to Minnesota 
  5.8   Statutes, section 171.02, expire July 1, 2003.