CHAPTER 203
HB 260-FN – FINAL VERSION
23Feb2005… 0299h
05/19/05 1399s
15Jun2005… 1835eba
2005 SESSION
03/09
HOUSE BILL 260-FN
This bill:
I. Changes the name of the financial responsibility administrator to the financial responsibility supervisor.
II. Permits certain nonprofit corporations to purchase motor fuel from the motor fuel inventory and to receive road toll refunds.
III. Prohibits counterfeiting or duplication of number plates.
IV. Requires inspections for vehicles with dealer plates.
V. Permits white identification lights on certain vehicles.
VI. Authorizes additional vehicle weights on certain highways consistent with federal law.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23Feb2005… 0299h
05/19/05 1399s
15Jun2005… 1835eba
05-0516
03/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to motor vehicle equipment and registration.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
203:1 Financial Responsibility Administrator; Name Change. Amend the section heading of RSA 21-P:9 to read as follows:
21-P:9 Assistant to the Director; Road Toll [and] Administrator; Financial Responsibility [Administrators] Supervisor.
203:2 Financial Responsibility Administrator; Name Change. Amend RSA 21-P:9, III to read as follows:
III. A financial responsibility [administrator] supervisor who shall assume, under the control of the director of motor vehicles, the responsibility of the administration of the motor vehicle financial responsibility law. The director may delegate to said [administrator] supervisor authority to sign and execute any documents pertaining to his or her work and such documents so signed by the [administrator] supervisor shall have the same effect as though signed by the director.
203:3 Motor Fuel Inventory Fund; Sales to Nonprofit Corporations. Amend RSA 228:24-a to read as follows:
228:24-a Motor Fuel Inventory Fund. There is hereby established a motor fuel inventory fund not to exceed $1,000,000, which sum is hereby authorized as a revolving fund comprised of funds in the highway fund that are not otherwise appropriated. The commissioner of transportation may purchase, through the division of property and plant management, such amounts of motor fuels as may be necessary for the operation of an automated state fleet fuel distribution and records management system. The commissioner is further authorized to sell motor fuel from the motor fuel inventory to all departments and institutions of the state, political subdivisions of the state, eligible nonprofit corporations operating transportation under contract with the department of transportation for elderly or disabled persons, and agencies of the federal government. [He] The commissioner is authorized to assess a fair and equitable charge with respect to the sale of motor fuel sufficient to defray all administrative, transportation, storage, amortization, and other costs incurred by the department in administering this account sufficient to fully reimburse the inventory fund.
203:4 Motor Vehicles; Words and Phrases Defined; Implement of Husbandry. Amend RSA 259:44 to read as follows:
259:44 Implement of Husbandry. “Implement of husbandry” shall mean equipment designed, adapted, and used exclusively for agricultural, horticultural, forestry, or livestock operations, for which use on a public way is incidental to its intended function. “Implement of husbandry” shall include a self-propelled custom harvester.
203:5 New Section; Road Tolls; Refunds to Eligible Nonprofit Corporations. Amend RSA 260 by inserting after section 52-d the following new section:
260:52-e Refunds to Eligible Nonprofit Corporations.
I. Eligible nonprofit corporations whose vehicles are registered in accordance with RSA 261:92 shall be entitled to a refund of any tolls paid by them to the extent that their vehicles are being used exclusively for the transportation of elderly or disabled persons by virtue of a contract with the department of transportation. No eligible nonprofit corporation shall be entitled to a refund for an amount less than $10, and no payment of any refund shall be made to any person other than the eligible nonprofit corporation. The entitlement to a refund shall not include a refund on any penalties or interest paid. The application for a refund filed by an eligible nonprofit corporation shall be accompanied by such documentary evidence as the commissioner may require.
II. All applications for refunds shall be made under penalty of unsworn falsification pursuant to RSA 641:3, and shall be filed with the road toll administration no later than the deadline for filing with the federal government for refunds of the federal excise taxes on fuel, and the records of such applicants shall be open to audit by the department at any time.
203:6 New Section; Registration Penalties and Offenses; Counterfeiting or Duplication of Number Plates. Amend RSA 261 by inserting after section 176 the following new section:
261:176-a Counterfeiting or Duplication of Number Plates. No person shall photograph, photostat, counterfeit, duplicate, or in any manner reproduce or display any number plate or a facsimile of any number plate in such a manner that it could be mistaken for an official number plate issued by the department, or possess any such photograph, photostat, duplicate, reproduction, or facsimile unless specifically authorized by the director.
203:7 Inspections; Vehicles with Dealer Plates. Amend RSA 266:1, IV to read as follows:
IV. Notwithstanding paragraphs II and III, newly registered vehicles, other than OHRV’s, snow traveling vehicles, and mopeds, and vehicles, other than OHRV’s, snow traveling vehicles, and mopeds, the ownership of which has been transferred, shall be inspected not later than 10 days after the registration or transfer of ownership of said vehicle, and any vehicle affixed with a dealer plate shall also display a current state inspection sticker. [However, if a vehicle is purchased at retail from a licensed dealer, as defined in RSA 259:18, II, the vehicle shall be inspected not later than 30 days after the date of transfer.] A vehicle for which a dealer has issued a 20-day plate pursuant to RSA 261:109 shall be [presumed to be capable of meeting the vehicle inspection requirements] inspected by the dealer or an authorized inspection station on behalf of the dealer at the time of the attachment of the plate.
203:8 Equipment of Vehicles; Additional Lighting Equipment. Amend RSA 266:45-a to read as follows:
266:45-a Additional Lighting Equipment. Any vehicle 80 inches or more in overall width, if not otherwise required by this chapter, may be equipped with not more than 5 identification lamps showing to the front which shall emit an amber or white light without glare and with not more than 3 identification lamps showing to the rear which shall emit a red light without glare. Such lamps shall be grouped in a horizontal row, with lamp centers spaced not less than 6 nor more than 12 inches apart, and mounted on the permanent structure of the vehicle as close as practicable to the vertical center line. Any vehicle may be equipped with one or more side marker lamps, and any such lamp may be flashed in conjunction with turn or vehicular warning signals. Lamps allowed by this section shall be of a type approved by the director.
203:9 New Paragraph; Weight on Interstate and Defense Highway System; Additional Weight. Amend RSA 266:18 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
III. Notwithstanding paragraphs I and II, for as long as exemptions exist in 23 U.S.C. section 127 that allow maximum gross weights of up to 99,000 pounds on interstate routes 89, 93, and 95 of the interstate and defense highway system, the provisions of RSA 266:18-a regarding weight on the non-interstate and general highway system shall also apply to vehicles or combination vehicles while being operated on any sections of interstate routes 89, 93, or 95 not posted by the commissioner of transportation for lower weights. Such vehicles shall not exceed the weight limits in paragraphs I and II unless they have been certified pursuant to RSA 266:18-d for the higher weights and paid the required fee the same as vehicles operating on the non-interstate highways as provided in RSA 266:18-d.
203:10 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
(Approved: July 1, 2005)
(Effective Date: July 1, 2005)