Transportation.

(1) Existing law provides that every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights applicable to the driver of a vehicle and is subject to specified provisions in the Vehicle Code, including the rules of the road and specified equipment requirements. Existing law also does not prohibit the operation of bicycles on any shoulder of a highway. This bill would define a "bicycle path crossing" as either that portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of a bike path, as defined, at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles or as any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for bicycle crossing by lines or other markings on the surface, except as specified. This bill would also permit the operation of bicycles on any sidewalk, on any bicycle path within a highway, or along any crosswalk or bicycle path crossing. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the California Transportation Commission, transportation planning agencies, and county transportation commissions and local governments, to develop guidelines for the development of the state transportation improvement program and the incorporation of projects into that program. This bill would delete an obsolete provision of this requirement. (3) Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to park or leave standing any vehicle in a stall or space designated for disabled persons and disabled veterans, unless the vehicle displays either a special identification license plate or a distinguishing placard. A violation of this provision is an infraction. Existing law requires that a distinctive sign be displayed in the stall or the space that clearly and conspicuously states specified information, including, among other things, "Minimum Fine $250" and also requires that a person convicted of this provision be punished according to a schedule of fines for first, 2nd, or 3rd or more offenses. This bill would require that the sign display only "Minimum Fine $250" and would make a conforming, cross-reference change to these provisions. (4) Existing law requires the issuing agency or the processing agency to mail the results of the initial administrative review, including a reason for the denial of a cancellation of a notice of parking violations or delinquent parking violations, to the person contesting the notice of parking violations or delinquent parking violations and places a similar notification requirement on an administrative examiner following an administrative review hearing. This bill would require the issuing agency or the processing agency, following an initial review, to include in the notice to the person notification of the ability to request an administrative hearing, and to include the existing required notice of the written procedure for waiving prepayment of the parking penalty based upon an inability to pay. Because this bill would increase the level of service of a city or county processing agency and because a violation of these provisions would be a crime under an existing provision of law, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Under existing law, the Department of Motor Vehicles is required to obtain the submission of a valid smog check certificate of compliance or noncompliance, as appropriate, upon the initial registration, or upon the transfer of ownership and registration of specified motor vehicles. Existing law exempts the transfer of a motor vehicle that is 4 or less model-years old from this requirement. This bill would provide the above exemption does not apply to diesel-powered vehicles. (6) Existing law creates the High Polluter Repair or Removal Account in the Vehicle Inspection and Repair Fund and creates the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Subaccount in the High Polluter Removal and Repair Account. This bill would correct the name of that account to refer to the High Polluter Repair or Removal Account. (7) Existing law exempts certain vehicles owned by the United States, any state or its political subdivision, or any municipality in this state from fees specified in the Vehicle Code, except for fees for duplicate plates, certificates, or cards. This bill would exempt vehicles owned by a public entity formed by a regional transportation authority as a nonprofit public benefit corporation, designated as a consolidated transportation services agency, and charged with administering a countywide coordinated paratransit plan, from registration fees, except fees for duplicate plates, certificates, or cards. (8) Existing law exempts a driver employed by an electrical corporation, a gas corporation, a telephone corporation, a water corporation, or a public water district from hours-of-service regulations while operating a public utility or public water district vehicle during the emergency restoration of service. This bill would instead exempt those drivers from all hours-of-service regulations while operating a public utility or public water district vehicle. (9) The bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the Health and Safety Code and the Vehicle Code. (10) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.