AN ACT CONCERNING ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES.

This bill requires the registration of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and sets registration fees, paid biennially. It sets fines for failing to register an ATV, or with certain exceptions, a snowmobile. It authorizes the State Bond Commission to issue $ 1. 5 million in bonds for the purchase of two noncontiguous state properties for use by ATV operators. The bill bars ATV operators from driving their vehicles on any other state land. But the law, unchanged by the bill, allows ATV operators to drive on state-owned or –controlled property, with the written permission of the state agency or entity that controls it. The bill also creates an ATV account within the Department of Environmental (DEP) Conservation Fund to be used for ATV-related purposes. DEP uses the fund to administer its central office and its conservation and preservation programs.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2006, except for the provisions concerning the issuance of bonds, which take effect July 1, 2006.

Under current law, ATV owners do not have to register their vehicles if they operate them on land they own or lease. ATV owners who register their vehicles pay a $ 20 fee. The bill requires the registration of all ATVs and sets a registration fee of $ 75 per vehicle for state residents and $ 100 per vehicle for nonresidents. It requires a separate registration for, and exempts from the fee, ATVs used in farm or forestry work. Registrations expire biennially on March 31.

The bill subjects anyone who does not register his ATV, or, with certain exceptions, his snowmobile, to a $ 250 fine for each offense. It requires that $ 100 of the fine be paid to the town in which the arrest was made, except the $ 100 must be paid to the DEP if a conservation officer, special conservation officer, or patrolman appointed by DEP makes the arrest.

The bill creates an ATV account as a separate, nonlapsing account within the Conservation Fund. It requires all ATV registration fees to be credited to this account. The DEP commissioner must use money from the ATV account for (1) expenses she and the motor vehicle commissioner incur in administering and enforcing laws and regulations concerning ATV operation, and damage caused by ATVs; (2) payment of bond debt (see below); and (3) developing and maintaining state property designated for ATV use. Any funds remaining in the account at the end of a fiscal year must be carried forward to the next fiscal year. Investment earnings credited to the account's assets become a part of the account.

The bill authorizes the State Bond Commission to issue bonds of up to $ 1. 5 million for DEP to use to buy two noncontiguous properties for use as ATV riding areas. The bill does not specify a deadline for the purchase.

The bill prohibits people from operating ATVs on any state-owned land except for the two properties requires DEP to buy and designate for ATV use. The law, unchanged by the bill, requires that ATV operators obtain a state agency's written permission when operating on state-owned or controlled land. Such permission apparently is not necessary when operating on the two properties designated for ATV use. The bill also apparently prohibits snowmobile operators from operating on state-owned land other than land set aside for ATV use. The law makes a violation of these provisions an infraction.

Yea

Nay

(03/20/2006)