Department of Motor Vehicles.

Existing law expresses the policy of the state to recognize the training and experience that individuals gain while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to develop policies to assist persons who are leaving active duty to obtain commercial driver's licenses, as specified. Existing law prohibits those policies from waiving any requisites, fees, or examinations required by law for a commercial driver's license. This bill would remove the requirement that the policies not waive any fees. Existing federal regulations require a person to pass a knowledge and driving skills test before being issued a commercial driver's license. Existing federal regulations allow the knowledge test to be administered in a written, verbal, or automated format. Existing federal regulations authorize a state to waive the knowledge test and waive the driving skills test, as specified, for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. Existing federal regulations also require a person to pass a specialized knowledge test for a hazardous materials endorsement on a commercial driver's license or a tank vehicle endorsement on a commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit. Existing federal regulations require a person to pass a specialized knowledge test and a skills test for a passenger endorsement on a commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit. Existing federal regulations authorize a state to waive these tests, as specified, for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. Existing state law requires a person to pass a written test and driving skills test before being issued a commercial driver's license. Existing state law authorizes a waiver of the driving skills test for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. This bill would bring state law into alignment with current federal regulations by requiring a person to pass a knowledge test instead of a written test before being issued a commercial driver's license, by authorizing a waiver of both the knowledge test and the driving skills test for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces, and to waive the testing requirements, as specified, for a hazardous materials, tank vehicle, or passenger endorsement for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. The bill would make other nonsubstantive conforming changes.