Committee hears bills to ease axle-weight limits and driver-hour rules during declared emergencies

LANSING — The House Transportation Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday heard testimony on two bills that would relax road and driver restrictions during declared states of emergency to speed emergency response and deliveries.

Representative Borton introduced House Bill 4343 to exempt vehicles assisting with disaster response from Michigan’s seasonal axle-weight restrictions known as the “frost laws” during a declared state of emergency. Representative Preston presented House Bill 4344 to allow commercial drivers responding to emergency operations to exceed normal allowable hours behind the wheel.

The bills follow a major March ice storm in which propane suppliers and other responders said seasonal limits hindered relief operations. Wayne Coley of the Michigan Propane Gas Association said frost-law limits forced trucks to reduce payloads "by approximately 41%," and that during the storm propane trucks had to operate at roughly 50% capacity rather than the normal 85%. "Without the frost law exemption, there would have been customers we weren't able to make deliveries to because we would have run out of time," Coley told the committee.

Preston told the committee that the change to hours-of-service rules would remove the statutory two-hour extension for emergency response and make the extension unlimited during a declared emergency. "What we're doing is we're lifting that 2 hour extension to unlimited," Preston said, adding that the intent is to allow drivers delivering fuel, moving excavators or clearing roads to continue working through atypical delays that arise in disaster zones.

Committee members asked about limits on who may claim the exemption and which level of government must declare the emergency. Representative Koontz asked whether county emergency managers could declare the emergency; Representative Borton said the bill as written tied the exemption to a declared state of emergency at the state level but would work with members on language. Representative Frisbie suggested adding county declarations; Borton said he would accept that friendly amendment for consideration.

Members also pressed whether credentialing or faster permitting would be required to prevent misuse. Borton said the bill does not create a new credentialing process; Preston and other witnesses said local road agencies and county road commissions would retain oversight and that the bills are intended to be narrow, temporary exceptions tied to declared emergencies.

No committee vote was taken on either bill at the hearing. Committee members indicated they would consider amendments, including clarifying whether county emergency declarations should trigger the exemptions and how local road-permit processes would interact with the bills.

The bills were introduced amid discussion of how a March 31 state declaration initially did not include a frost-law waiver and that a separate waiver came the following day; witnesses said the aim is to make such relief automatic as part of an emergency declaration so essential deliveries and recovery work are not delayed.