How do local law enforcement agencies and district judges handle issues related to the heavy equipment used by gas drilling companies working in the Marcellus Shale region?
That was a question District Judge Kenneth Schriner hoped to answer during a seminar held Tuesday at Little League headquarters in South Williamsport.
About 50 district judges and municipal and state police officers from throughout the region gathered for the seminar, which focused on state laws related to heavy trucks, weight limit postings and related issues.
Schriner said the idea for the seminar came from his own questions of what to do with a request by law enforcement to impound a truck.
"I had been requested to do an impoundment of a vehicle in September and had never done one. I called other judges across the state and they were unfamiliar with the process," Schriner said. "I had to do some research."
Schriner said that because the gas industry is in its early stages in Lycoming County, he wanted to help bring local judges and law enforcement agencies together before the situation got out of hand.
"I wanted to get things early in Lycoming County ... it's just the beginning," he said. "Over the next two or three years, it's going to be booming. We have to look to preserve our roads so they are not torn apart."
The potential for a significant increase in truck traffic in the region is great, Schriner said.
According to Schriner, a single gas well requires hundreds of trips by trucks, some weighing as much as 100,000 pounds. Most of those trip are on country roads not built to handle the weight of the vehicles, he said.
Kevin Stewart, a civilian enforcement officer with the state Commercial Vehicle Safety Section administered by the Pennsylvania State Police discussed laws and regulations associated with weight limit posted roads, bonding, commercial drivers licenses, offenses and penalties.
The maximum allowable weight in Pennsylvania is 80,000 pounds, but a municipality may impose a weight limit on a municipal road if it is believed exceeding that limit may damage or destroy that road, Stewart said.
However, that can only be done after an engineering and traffic study is performed to determine the condition of the road, Stewart said.
Some vehicles, such as school buses, emergency vehicles, public utilities, farm equipment and vehicles making local deliveries, may be exempted from adhering to the posted weight limits, he said.
A municipality may issue a permit to overweight vehicles, such as those associated with the gas industry, but the vehicles may be assessed a bond to cover the cost of repairs and restoration of the road, he said.
There are three types of permits that can be issued to a company, he said.
A Type 1 permit allows a posted highway to be used by an over-posted-weight vehicle but must be carried in the vehicle to be valid.
A Type 2 permit authorizes a number of vehicles to be on a posted road if they are going to and from a common destination. The permit is kept at the destination. Vehicles must contain proof, such as a shipping document, of a need to be on the road, he said.
A Type 3 permit allows a vehicle to use any posted roadway in the county or designated municipality and is usually issued when it is determined damage will be minimal, he said. A Type 3 permit must be carried in the vehicle.
Bonding for Type 1 and Type 2 permits include $6,000 per lineal mile to maintain an unpaved road, $12,500 per lineal mile to maintain a paved road, and $50,000 per lineal mile for roads allowed to be maintained at lower levels consistent with that type of road.
The last category is higher because it assumes the road will be repaired by the bonded company after work is completed at a particular drilling site, he said.
A Type 3 permit may require a $10,000 bond for each municipality covered by the permit.
Penalties for violating a posted weight limit can be expensive. A person convicted of operating an overweight vehicle will be fined $150, plus $150 for every 500 pounds in excess of 3,000 pounds over the allowable weight.
That means someone driving a vehicle weighing 70,000 pounds on a 10 ton posted road could end up paying a $14,300 fine, Stewart said.
Not all of the information presented involved overweight vehicles.
According to state police Sgt. Robert Krol, a supervisor with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Section, other offenses include the transporting of foodstuffs in a vehicle previously used to haul toxic material or waste.
"Penalties are stiff," Krol said, adding a first offense can result in a fine of between $1,000 and $10,000.
A second offense may result in a fine of between $5,000 and $25,000, he said.
A vehicle with a removed or falsified VIN number must immediately be seized by the police and the driver of that vehicle arrested.
"We must seize that vehicle," Krol said. "We are mandated by law."
Krol discussed various commercial motor vehicle licenses and the truck-trailer weight combinations allowable under each license.
According to District Judge Jerry C. Lepley, there is a "zero tolerance for alcohol" for those operating a commercial vehicle.
A driver with a commercial license may not consume alcohol within four hours of driving a motor vehicle, cannot have a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 percent or above, and may not be in possession of intoxicating beverages while driving a commercial vehicle.
"They can't even have a six-pack," he said.
Lepley said a vehicle weighing 80,000 pounds and going 55 miles an hour requires 300 feet of stopping distance.
Alcohol consumption and icy road conditions can slow a driver's reaction time and increase the distance a heavy truck needs to stop, he said.
Lepley discussed offenses that can lead to a driver being disqualified from having a commercial license, including driving under the influence of alcohol, refusal to submit to alcohol testing, leaving the scene of an accident or causing a fatality through negligent operation.
Judges, by law, are prohibited from "masking" violations involving commercial vehicle licenses, he said.
Masking is when a court reduces an offense for the purpose of helping a driver retain a commercial license, he said. Courts cannot get in trouble for masking, but federal money could be withheld for districts that routinely mask commercial vehicle offender violations, he said.
According to Schriner, a vehicle may be impounded if, within 24 hours, a defendant does not pay fines and court costs or defaults on a payment schedule.
If an impounded vehicle is to be sold at a sheriff's auction, all concerned parties must receive notice of the sale 10 days prior to the sale, he said. Proceeds will first be used to pay fines, court costs, towing and storage. The rest will go to the former owner of the vehicle, he said.
According to Krol, his department oversees inspections of all commercial vehicles statewide. Between 80,000 and 100,000 inspections are performed each year, he said.
There are 350 inspectors, including 60 civilians with enforcement powers, he said. The rest are state troopers, 40 of whom are full-time inspectors, assigned to state police barracks throughout the commonwealth, he said.
The need for inspections and enforcement "has always been there," Krol said.
"In areas of the state impacted by Marcellus Shale, that need has been raised a little because of the influx of commercial traffic," he said. "We're working to address that through enforcement and education and outreach sessions like this."
A recent outreach in State College attracted 600 people from the gas industry, Stewart said. The session was designed to educate the industry about commercial vehicle regulations in Pennsylvania.
"We've had several meetings with the gas companies already," said state police Sgt. Todd Weltmer. "We want to start enforcing now so as companies expand, they'll know what they have to do to be in compliance."
